Easy response from Biden:

I'd still run with John McCain from 2000, but even he wouldn't endorse John McCain from 2008.

hw bush slammed reagan and together they won!

mccain has no choice but to pick romney and they both cant stand each other

It should be pretty easy to turn the 2005 quote around: "I said that before the senator abandoned his principles and turned himself into a Bush Republican."

The experience quote is a little tougher, but he can wiggle out of it. If this is the worst of it, I'm not worried.

I have no doubt that team Obama knew this attack was waiting in the barrel for them. I'd bet good, hard-earned money that they already have the workings of an ad answering this attack, and you know that Biden will be doing the rounds on the talk shows this weekend. By the time the convention kicks off, this quote will be pretty much annihilated by Biden's own take on the John McCain of today vs the John McCain that existed before turning to Schmidt and his minions to control his political campaign.

As several people have already said, this stunt is easily refuted by McCain's insane number of policy position changes as brilliantly outlined by Steve Benen of CarpetBagger Report (and now Political Animal of the Washington Monthly).

Hey Biden, no time like the present to go for the jugular!

I like Biden and have always stated that I would support him as a POTUS candidate, in fact I think that in many respects Biden is one of the smartest people in the Senate.

I think McCain trashing Biden will alienate moderates.

This is really an interesting development, vote traditionally independent and conservative ticket and get a neocon instead? Support USNA grads and that traditional vote and get another administration that trampled civil rights?

Or go with your gut to Obama-Biden?

I swore never to send another cent after what club for growth did in the MD congressional 1st.

I can say this, Biden is probably the most qualified candidate for the VP spot and the ad should be by McCain, I wish he were on my ticket as VP.

You start the mud machine on Joe you will alienate Delmarva and their sensibilities.

all biden has to say is that he admired mccain until mccain flip flopped on every issue that was important for a safe and working america.

I can't wait for Biden to response to some crazy charge from the McCain campaign with something like, "Well, that's just nuts". One thing you can count on with Joe is that he may talk too mcuh, but he can use plain english, some of it very colorful.

membengal
when you said ..."It gives him a chance to frame what he came to learn about Obama, and that he was dead wrong on his assertions." I had an epiphany; an elected official actually admitting he made a mistake in his judgment publicly. The American public hasn't heard such truthfullness in the last 7 and a half years. That could very well be a turning point for many undecided voters.

Politics as usual...excellent selection by the way... http://www.enewsreference.wordpress.com

Does anybody else think McCain didn't wait long enough before airing this. The general public still doesn't know yet..

It just seems weird that he didn't really let the news marinate before he started attacking.

JOE BIDEN IS MY KIND OF GUY
HE'LL HELP BARACK MAKE MCCAIN CRY
HE KNOWS THE VALUE OF ISRAEL TO US
THOSE OF YOU DON'T LIKE IT-- CAN SUCK PUS!

Excerpted from Jewish Daily Forward, March, 2007:

Delaware Senator Joseph Biden rejected the notion that the U.S. needs to become a more neutral player in the Middle East, while criticizing the White House as uninvolved and ineffective. He spoke to the Forward for 45 minutes over oatmeal at Manhattan’s Regency Hotel yesterday morning,

"In my 34 year career, I have never wavered from the notion that the only time progress has ever been made in the Middle East is when the Arab nations have known that there is no daylight between us and Israel," said Biden, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "So the idea of being an ‘honest broker’ is not, I think, like some of my Democratic colleagues call for, is not the answer. It is being the smart broker, it is being the smart partner."

Biden, a dark-horse Democratic presidential contender known for straight talk (and the occassional gaffe), has long been a strong supporter of Israel in Congress and is now aggressively courting Jewish voters and donors for his 2008 bid. The debate over the U.S.-Israel relationship, meanwhile, has reached a fevered pitch in the wake of last week’s Washington conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee: On Sunday, New York Times columnist Nick Krisof published an op-ed in the paper that argued that the country lacks a serious debate over Israel, and needs to back away from its "crushing embrace" of Israeli hardliners.

Biden argued that the U.S. doesn’t need more distance, but does need to become a more effective, proactive partner for peace.

"We contract our foreign policy, and that is a dangerous situation," Biden said. "Do you think there’s any reasonable prospect that the Saudis are going to push Hamas to recognize Israel? So now we have a quote unity government and we’re going, ‘Oh my goodness, we have a problem.’"

To jbrandonf:

Yes, it seems a little soon to me, but I have to admit I'm in a kind of Obama bubble (going to my work my local Obama office opening today - then off to voter registration). I'm real concerned about eventually turning our state (GA)legislature back blue - so voter reg is so important.

But: I'm trying to imagine McCain's response from another point of view, and if i'm a mildly-interested observer, waiting for the debates to make up my mind - I don't have any real context for the ad. Biden will respond today/tomorrow - he's great with one-liners (for better or worse) -and then...what does McCain do? Get into a battle of wits/wit/words with Biden?? hmmm....

Also: I wonder if making the campaign about Obama (Rove, right?), has yielded about all it's going to yield. August just seems early to rerun Wright(old news)/Rezko (what? who?)/Ayers (who??? what???). Rezko you have to explain - and even I get confused in the details and I'm paying attention. Weathermen? That's a stretch for me and I'm 54 years old...

But that's just me trying to think through how someone else would see things...

BTW: Isn't there some persuasion research (psychology/sociology/business/political science) that suggests that negative works for a while - and then it starts to turn in on itself???

The more I watch that ad, the more convinced I become that McCain just walked into a trap.

The ad poses a question: "Why is Biden Obama's running mate if he used to doubt Obama's experience and praise McCain?." But it doesn't propose an answer.

Had the ad gone on to answer the question on McCain's terms ("Because Biden is a hypocrite," or, "Because Biden will say anything to be veep.") it might have put the Obama campaign on the defensive tomorrow.

But by leaving the question open, the ad just handed Biden a perfect opportunity to launch a new line of attack on McCain AND make the case for Obama's readiness for the job. "I dumped McCain because he sold out. I jumped Obama because he's smart, has solid policies, and will get plenty of advice from old hands like myself."

The reason why this attack will not work is that they are trumpeting Biden's judgment in saying "Obama is inexperienced" and "He'd run with McCain". So then when he comes out and says "In case you didn't know, I was out of the primary pretty early, and sat as an unbiased spectator without endorsing anybody and I was amazed by Barack Obama. He gets it, this man is the next great American President" and then "McCain of 2008 is a sell-out, McCain in 2000 condemned George Bush for running a low road smear campaign and then at the first sign of trouble in the polls runs and hires the same people who ran Bush's campaign"

The McCain camp got this out early, because it's just the automatic first volley - use rivals words against each other. But it also shows that Biden will challenge Barack, and will speak him mind and isn't some partisan hack.

I read where possible VP candidates were put in front of a focus group and Warner scored much better than Kaine because Kaine was seen as too much of a kiss ass. One think about Biden, you can never call him a kiss ass.

The thing with this ad is, it leaves the door open for Biden to explain how much McCain has flip-flopped in the past few years.

Did you hear the latest: Biden once praised John 'Jekyll/Hyde' McCain. OMG! I just don't know how the Obama Campaign will respond.

The smell of fear and desperation coming from the McCain camp is palatable....

I would expect nothing less from an angry, jealous asshole like McCain

Is this the best McCain got? Bring it on!!! There is an easy response to that Ad...Biden should admit he was wrong and use that opportunity to slam McCain's hot head.

"I would be honored to run with or against John McCain because I think the country would be better off."

When you think about the possibility of any of the other Republican candidates running, I'd pick McCain. He's the least bad of the lot.

I hate that shot of McCain at the end of those ads.....he looks like a smug asshole. They could have chosen better, although it is true to life.

It's easy enough to respond to this. A Biden add that introduces him and says something like "In 2005 John McCain blah blah blah but in 2007/08 John McCain blah blah Bush, McSame, betrayed ideals, pandering to interest groups, etc. Now I see it as my duty to run against John McCain, who has fallen so low."

The one thing that Obama has to get across in this election is McCain is not the man he was in 2000 because many people are still seeing him with as the maverick. McCain just helped give Biden the dialogue that needs to be hit on.

"I have been disappointed to see the type of campaign that McCain has run, attacking a colleague's patriotism and trying to portray him as somehow unAmerican in order to win an election. Everybody knows that McCain was smeared in 2000 by Rove and his kind and it is disappointing that McCain is working with the same people and using the same type of divisive campaign tactics. That and adopting the Bush country club economic policies just shows me that McCain is not the man I once thought he was. I would not vote for McCain today, and I don't believe the McCain of 2000 would vote for himself today either. He's just offering more of the same, a third term Bush."

Both these statements are polite politics at best. Nothing meaty here. He didn't say that Obama couldn't be president, he said that Obama might need to learn a bit to become president. Now that Obama has picked him for VP, that might change Biden's mind about Obama's judgment. No?

In the who supports which McCain debate Biden need simply say that it was the "other" McCain, the younger less hostile less freaky one.

BRING

IT

ON

Why is it that the media provides McCain so much free air time for these ads. At this rate it is if the National media is funding Mccains campaign.

If the election gods are merciful, Mitt Romney will be the pick. Please let it be Mitt. I NEED to see a Biden/Romney debate. I've been good all year. Please.

In my opinion, the Obama campaign should make an ad about Republican ads. According to the latest Washington Post poll, 48% of the voters believe McCain is more interested in attacking his opponent than discussing the issues. Almost half of the people recognize the negative attacks for what they are.

The strategy for Republicans for many years has been to "drive up the negatives" of their opponents - rather than to build themselves up. Their techniques are well-known. They take the strongest asset of their opponents and turn it into a negative, just as they are taking the charisma and the ability to draw huge crowds by Obama into the "celebrity" meme. It is "bad" that Obama is good.