BIDEN RECEIVES RAVE REVIEWS
Wilmington, DE (October 31, 2007) – Sen. Joe Biden’s performance last night in Philadelphia impressed viewers, pundits—and apparently rivals—alike. Over the course of the debate Sen. Biden’s democratic opponents repeatedly found themselves saying “I agree with Joe.” And as other candidates traded barbs over almost everything, from driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants to social security, Sen. Biden’s ability to build consensus around common sense policy stood out among the crowd. Sen. Biden did all this despite receiving the least airtime of any of the candidates on stage.
“Joe Biden turned in a widely praised performance last night in Philadelphia as he laid out a clear vision for the country on the issues most important to the American people,” said Biden for President Campaign Manager Luis Navarro. “Joe Biden also proved that he is the candidate most capable to take on Republicans in the general election.”
ANALYSTS PRAISED BIDEN’S PERFORMANCE
On National Security: From NBC's Chuck Todd: “Joe Biden continues to sound as the authentic voice on national security issues; he speaks with an authority that makes him believable even if you disagree with his policy proposals.”
“Line Of The Night”: From Time’s Mark Halperin. “Had line of the night slamming Giuliani on 9/11 ("There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11. I mean, there's nothing else") and saying the former mayor is unqualified to be president.”
“One Of The Best Lines Of The Night”: From the Philadelphia Daily News’ Dave Davies and Catherine Lucey. “One of the best lines of the night came from U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., after he called GOP candidate Rudy Giuliani ‘probably the most unqualified man to run for president since George Bush.’”
“Biden Brought Down The Auditorium”: From the Los Angeles Times’ Mark Barabak and Peter Nicholas: “Although most of the debate revolved around the Clinton-Obama-Edwards dynamic -- it was 10 minutes before any other candidate got a question -- Biden brought down the auditorium with two of the most crowd-pleasing lines of the evening. He dubbed Giuliani ‘probably the most unqualified man since George Bush to seek the presidency.’ As laughter died down he added, ‘There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, a verb and 9/11.’”
The Weight of Biden’s Experience: From FOX’s Carl Cameron: “For the first time in memory, Sen. Biden takes a tough question (pledge on Iran nukes) and both answers it definitively and recasts the issue expertly by identifying the larger context of Pakistan and a potentially destabilized nuke-packing country. The flow of the Iran question changed instantly with Biden’s crisp, anti-platitudinous answer.”
On Being Presidential: From NBC's Domenico Montanaro: “Maybe it's his speaking style, and directness, but Biden is the only one on the stage to stylistically match Clinton's clarity. He laid out the reasons against the Iran vote, the consequences, better than Dodd and sounded stronger than either Obama or Edwards in their openings.”
“Deep Answer” On Foreign Policy: From ABC’s Rick Klein: “Give Biden bonus points for a deep answer as well on foreign policy.”
Biden Offered Contrast: From NBC's Chuck Todd: “‘I'm not running against Hillary Clinton’? So says Joe Biden. Campaigns are about contrast. That said, Biden, once again, has one of the more memorable lines of the night and seemed to hit Giuliani better than any of the other Democrats on stage tonight.”
