Today Joe Biden will talk to more Americans at once than he has ever before. Yes, he is a national figure. Yes, he is a family face to any politico. Yes, many Americans do know who he is. But, really, the everyday exposure regular Americans who do not have politics as their hobby have to Joe Biden is in the form of an appearance on Meet the Press or in a soundbite on the news.
Tonight, he speaks to them for an hour as a potential Vice President. How will he craft his speech? What will he talk about?
Other vice presidential candidates’ themes have varied, depending on the circumstances of the day.
In her 1984 acceptance speech, Geraldine Ferraro noted the historic nature of her selection, describing America as “the land where dreams can come true for all of us.”
One of the most memorable vice presidential acceptance speeches was Hubert Humphrey’s 1964 attack on Sen. Barry Goldwater as out of the mainstream, saying most Democrats and Republicans voted for civil rights and Social Security, but “not Senator Goldwater.”
“After a while, he had the crowd saying ‘Not Senator Goldwater,’ ” Goldstein said. “It became a participatory, festive, raucous sort of speech.”
Goldstein said he could see Biden trying to attack Republicans in his speech, but in a nice way. He’ll strike a balance as someone who can work across the aisle while pointing out the problems of “his friend” McCain, he said.
“His style is not to take the low road,” Goldstein said. “It’s to attack the other side but to do it in a pleasant, friendly manner.”
The best Vice Presidential speechs of the last 16 years were Al Gore’s. He mixed in the biographical with the attack dog. The speeches of Lloyd Bentsen, Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle, John Edwards, Jack Kemp and Joe Lieberman were immediately forgettable. But Al Gore’s two speeches left an indelible impression. I expect Joe to follow the template of Al Gore. Will it be memorable? Tonight we will find out.