A Reason to Like Joe Biden

Do you remember the CNN debate last November (no, not the one I was in!), where some audience members were allowed to ask questions of the Democratic candidates? I was reminded of this tonight, seeing CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the convention.

Malveaux offered the microphone to an audience member who asked, "if you are elected President, what qualities must the appointees possess?" Malveaux directed the question to Senator Dodd, and said, "in answering that question, also tell us require whether or not you would require your nominees to support abortion rights."

That laugh you hear in the background? That's Joe Biden. When the question came to him, Biden said, "Suzanne's decided. I'm not answering her question. I'm answering the question of the woman who was there, OK?"

Now, in fairness to Malveaux, it seems to me that it's likely that CNN had vetted these questioners previous to the debate, and that the woman was "supposed" to ask about Roe v. Wade, so she was just adding to the woman's question what she already knew the woman wanted to ask. Of course, that's a questionable practice too.

Regardless, it's an admirable characteristic of Biden that he is willing and able to stand up against the media like this. Frankly, Biden is a lot like Donald Rumsfeld in dealing with the media, and I say that as a true compliment to both men.

(Side note: Dodd's answer to the question, where he basically accused Chief Justice John Roberts of saying he would not overturn precedent, is a big fat lie, and Dodd knows it. He was taken to task by liberals for voting for Roberts, and he needed to come up with an excuse: Roberts said he wouldn't overturn precedent! He lied! It's not my fault! Except, of course, that not only did Roberts never say he would not overturn precedent, and not only did Roberts explicitly say he WOULD NOT say whether he would overturn precedent, but NO Supreme Court nominee would EVER say they would never overturn precedent. Dodd was just lying, pandering to people he hoped were ignorant.)