Biden to remain silent until January 2015.
Molly Magarik told me Beau Biden would not be available to further discuss his political intentions as long as he remains Attorney General (No surprise!). But we have a circular loop, because – as noted earlier on this blog – the Attorney General has been noticeably unavailable for media interviews ever since his hospitalization in Texas.
Loudell also wonders if Biden can simply not campaign and not make any appearances and just rely on the Biden name to get elected. The answer to that is a resounding no. And Biden and his people need to understand that. Because I am sure it has crossed some mind somewhere in the Biden camp. I will vote Republican if that is his plan, and I will work tirelessly for that Republican, and encourage everyone I know to vote Republican. Even if that Republican is Christine O’Donnell. Even if Sarah Palin herself moves to Delaware to hunt foxes and decides “you betcha this state is small enough for me to be Governor in.” I would place “Evil (R) for Governor” bumper-stickers all over my car. And the reason is that if Biden follows the Loudell hypothetical, it will be a sign of such disrespect for all Delawareans that the shower of that disrespect will need to be destroyed, in the figurative sense of course.
And there are other reasons too why the Loudell hypothetical is a non starter. It will send the message that Biden is not healthy enough to campaign. And if he is not healthy enough to campaign in the vast expanse that is Delaware, then he is not healthy enough to be Governor. It’s a stressful job. You have long days. Sleepless nights.
And I going to stop here for a moment and address what I now call the “Don’t-Mention-His-Health-We-Don’t-Need-to-know” scolds out there. Some of you think Biden is perfectly within his rights to not disclose any detail whatsoever about his health. If Mr. Biden were a private citizen not in a position of executive office, and not seeking another executive office, I would absolutely agree with you. Hell, if Mr. Biden had decided to not run for reelection and to retire from public office, I would let the issue drop. But he has announced that he is running for Governor. Our state’s Chief Executive. And he has a history of strokes. And then he disappeared to Houston for weeks to undergo an unexplained yet serious procedure on his brain, a procedure so serious and dire it required the Vice President of the United States to cancel his schedule and fly immediately to Houston to be at his son’s bedside. And then he disappears for months from public view, and the next time he is seen, his appearance is pale, gaunt, and his head is shaved.
And now he decides to skip a campaign in 2014. El Somnambulo is right. He is not skipping the 2014 campaign because he feels it would be dishonorable to think about running for one office in two years while campaigning for another four year term now that you know you may not complete. He would do that in a heart beat if he was able to. It was the plan as of last year. He is skipping the campaign because he is not healthy enough to do it.
And the very same scolds who say we are not entitled to know about Beau Biden’s health because it violates his and his family’s privacy will now scold me for engaging in what they call unfounded speculation over why Beau Biden made the announcement he did yesterday.
Well, if you don’t want me to engage in speculation then disclose. You can’t have it both ways.
And neither can Beau.
He cannot run for public executive office and keep his medical condition a secret, all the while using that medical condition as a reason to not make public appearances.
Running for public office involves sacrifice. Sacrifice of time away from your family. Sacrifice of long hours you rather spend watching baseball instead of another rubber chicken dinner at another RD fundraiser. And you sacrifice some of your privacy.
And I am not even talking about full disclosure. I don’t need every medical record, every prescription, every boo boo Biden has ever had.
No, we are entitled to know what procedure Biden underwent. What the diagnosis was. What the prognosis is.
All Biden would have to do to satisfy me is to come out and say, “Look, I have a condition called Arteriovenous malformation (Brain AVM). It can be life threatening. I could just drop dead with no warning like Nate Fisher on “Six Feet Under.” More than 50 percent of patients with an AVM have an intracranial hemorrhages. 20 percent to 25 percent have focal or generalized seizures. I could have an AVM in my brain right now, and not know it. And tomorrow, I could have a stroke. Sometimes, surgeries on the brain can correct some malformations, depending on where they are. Sometimes there is no surgical option. So that is what I have. But I still want to serve as your Governor, because I feel I have something to offer. And so I will be joining this campaign in earnest, and I look forward to meeting as many Delawareans as I can. And it will be up to them whether they want me to serve as their Governor.”
And then he can refuse to talk further about it, because we all will know the score. See how fucking easy that was.
People will respect him. People will admire the bravery and courage. People will have sympathy for him.
But when you think that the people are not entitled to know. When you treat the voters as children who cannot ever know the truth, then there is no trust. No trust, no sympathy, no respect.
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Just a detail: If he had an AVM, they would know it at this point because of all the imaging of the brain they’ve done.
Being an “R” means I will likely vote the same way, but only if there is a viable candidate. I don’t have a problem voting Demo if he/she is what I consider the best candidate to move Delaware forward. If I do vote Repub though, I won’t vote for COD.
I would disagree that Biden can get elected without any serious campaigning. Truth is D registrations still outnumber the R registrations and I believe we can agree that there is a not insignificant number of voters who vote the party vs. the candidate.
“No, we are entitled to know what procedure Biden underwent.”
You may feel entitled. I do not. If a medical authority declares him fit for the office he holds or aspires to hold, that is sufficient for me. If he is at death’s door, I would expect him to not run. Any one can drop dead in a moment for a host of reasons. I, for one, will not practice sickism (or whatever the word would be that is similar to ageism). Jobs, including political office, have physical and mental demands. Any person able to meet those physical and mental demands, who are otherwise qualified, can expect me to seriously consider them for the office.
“If a medical authority declares him fit for the office he holds or aspires to hold, that is sufficient for me.”
C’mon, this isn’t that hard. If a person isn’t going to be forthcoming about this, you think he’s going to be inclined to favor transparency in government? Indeed, as far as transparency is concerned, the damage already has been done. At this point I wouldn’t believe another word about his health from anyone in his camp, and that includes whatever doctors he hires.
Let’s not forget the central point, guys: General availability to the public and the media.
Prior to the Texas hospitalization, the Attorney General was usually available for a brief phone interview about something coming out of his office. In fact, sometimes his office even “pushed” a Beau Biden availability. That was so after his previous health scare.
Prior to his most recent hospitalization, the Attorney General addressed a Society of Professional Journalists gathering, an event I happened to moderate.
Beau Biden’s most recent hospitalization changed everything. Undoubtedly, if the Attorney General were still doing interviews – even if not answering direct questions about his physical condition, but about the work of his office – some of the health questions might recede. But, his office appears to have put Beau Biden in a cocoon. (In contrast to, for example, Mike Castle after his stroke!)
So, this is about more than the debate about what obligation a publicly elected official has, to talk about his/her physical condition.
True. Which raises even more dire questions. Now, he has made appearances, one at a school, where we got pictures of his current appearance. Has there been any other appearances, where he has spoken? The dire question I have is, can he even speak right now? Or is there some kind of speech impediment? I honestly cannot remember if he has had any public speaking engagements.
“At this point I wouldn’t believe another word about his health from anyone in his camp, and that includes whatever doctors he hires.”
And there it is folks, “don’t try to change my mind with facts or complete disclosure no matter what.”
Whats next, gonna ask for his birth certificate? And, of course, still not believe its validity.
Is he still in the National Guard and attending drills? Or is the National Guard in on the conspiracy, too?
If he isn’t drilling with his unit, then something is definitely up.
Whatever the case, its lose-lose for Beau with this blog.
Denn 2016
No, SussexAnon. Not with this blog. With Geezer. If Biden follows my advice, then I will give him a fair hearing in any race he declares himself for. I may still vote for him. Indeed, my preferences for Governor in 2016 can be described this way:
Denn > Biden > Carney > Gordon.
But only if he discloses. If he does not, then it is curtains for him as far as I am concerned.
Although I am in the camp that believes his health issues are his own business, I agree with Alan Loudell. Beau has been remarkably unavailable and, IMO, not doing a great job of running the AG’s office. I was totally disheartened by his unavailability to fight for his own gun bill and what seems to be a pattern of throwing others under the bus for his failures. These are good reasons to argue he should not run for governor.
Delaware Dem says:
“April 18, 2014 at 1:30 pm
True. Which raises even more dire questions. Now, he has made appearances, one at a school, where we got pictures of his current appearance. Has there been any other appearances, where he has spoken? The dire question I have is, can he even speak right now? Or is there some kind of speech impediment? I honestly cannot remember if he has had any public speaking engagements.”
Attorney General Biden attended the April 5th Sussex County Democrat’s Spring Dinner. He and I engaged in conversation. He circulated from table to table and engaged the 200+ attendees. He exchanged conversations. He joked with some people. Other than his buzz haircut, he was as thin as he has always been and nothing about him was amiss.
He did not give a speech, but the speeches were limited to myself, Congressman Carney, who introduced the keynote speaker, and that speaker-Senator Chris Coons.
Can my comments at least put to rest the nonsense that, like JFK, he is lying in a coma at a secret location?
Yes, Mitch. I trust your word, and I will put to bed that line of speculation. But I am afraid that still leaves us with this unexplained radio (no pun intended) silence and his non-disclosure.
He could win the general without campaigning. I wouldn’t vote for the R, so the D primary would be the real race.
Sorry, Mitch. The only guy who can make it clear that he’s in good health and in full command of his faculties is Biden. Surrogates need not apply.
BTW: I have a question for Molly, who I really like and who is in a no-win position. Who is running the office on a day-to-day basis?
Can verify everything Mitch says about Sussex “spring” dinner a few weeks ago. He was definitely “campaigning” during the happy hour of that event . Totally respect Beau and think he is doing honorable thing on AG race to allow others to come forward and start the next transition . Hope he will realize as I am sure he does that family and health come first and think about what he can accomplish as GOV that MATT DENN can’t …… to: Matt Denn . If you do not run for GOV in 2016 you are crazy. We survived Carney/Markell primary and we can survive another primary .Only MATT DENN can do best job FOR Delaware .
So…he’s not speaking to the press and not making public appearances…why? He’s a man of mystery? And, as Allan Loudell pointed out, why the change since his medical emergency?
Just doesn’t compute.
I would like to echo what Mitch shared. I have met AG Biden at two or three events in the past few months, and each time I shared a brief conversation with him. The quantity of interactions is lower than this time last year, but the quality of interactions is unchanged, in my first-hand experience.
“And there it is folks, “don’t try to change my mind with facts or complete disclosure no matter what.””
You mean, “And there it is. When someone lies to you repeatedly, you stop trusting them.”
Lies by omission are still lies. Last time I checked the court made you tell the truth wholly and in its entirety. Should I accept a lower standard just because he has the name Biden?
All the politicians can stop with the endorsements, too. It’s pretty clear that any Democrat in this state has to kiss the Biden ring if they want to steer clear of trouble.
If his health isn’t compromised, this all becomes far more troubling than it already is. That means this could all be a strategy for keeping the Richards affair from spoiling the family business.
“No, SussexAnon. Not with this blog. With Geezer.:”
Check the comments again. Mine might be uglier and are derived from an animus towards this family, but I’m hardly alone in getting tired in this politician-manque being foisted upon us because, as Sam Hoff put it to Allan Loudell the other day, “he has decided to spend his life in public service.”
Public fucking service. I guess Sam Hoff is now a professor of Public Service Science instead of political science.
True enough Geezer, but I just wanted to make it clear to SussexAnon, that the harsher criticism of Biden come from you and not DL itself. Not because I don’t agree or that I am a-scarrred of the mean Bidens, but because many times people attribute comments from commenters to DL itself. It never fails everytime I attend a meeting someone will say “I didn’t like what you said,” and I said, “well, I didn’t say it.” Blogs are still alien to some of the blue hairs in the party.
I am very hopeful there will be a primary so we can see both Denn and Biden court the education vote. I want to see if either will run as the anti-corporatist/Rodel, high-stakes testing, unproven accountability guy or if one will break left and actually be a progressive. For either, it will be a break as Denn has foisted competitive grants that provide programming for some and ignored others (by definition) and Biden has held campaign donor chats with Arne Duncan