You can stop worrying that Joe Biden will clutter the Democratic presidential primary ballot. The New York Times reports that Biden was paid $200,000 for a speech supporting a Michigan Republican for re-election, infuriating Democrats who thought they had a shot at unseating Rep. Fred Upton.
Mr. Biden was collecting $200,000 from the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan to address a Republican-leaning audience, according to a speaking contract obtained by The New York Times and interviews with organizers. The group, a business-minded civic organization, is supported in part by an Upton family foundation.
Mr. Biden stunned Democrats and elated Republicans by praising Mr. Upton while the lawmaker looked on from the audience. Alluding to Mr. Upton’s support for a landmark medical-research law, Mr. Biden called him a champion in the fight against cancer — and “one of the finest guys I’ve ever worked with.”…
Mr. Upton alluded to Mr. Biden’s praise in a debate with [Democratic candidate Matt] Longjohn the next day, and his campaign sent out a mailer stressing Mr. Upton’s bipartisan streak, including Mr. Biden’s description of him as “the reason we’re going to beat cancer.”
Biden’s spokescritter chalked it up to Upton’s support for cancer research — as if the Democrat, Matt Longjohn, would be against cancer research. Longjohn lost by 4.5 percent.
Also from the article:
Since leaving office, Mr. Biden has sought out opportunities to earn substantial income — mainly through paid speeches and a multimillion-dollar book deal — and his newfound wealth would be closely scrutinized in a presidential race. …If Mr. Biden were to have charged a similar range of fees for all his comparable speeches since leaving office, he would most likely have collected between $4 million and $5 million through speeches over the last two years.
The proof of that is the story itself — it started with a FOIA request from America First, a RWNJ outfit that’s clearly worried about a Biden candidacy.
Lots of people in Wilmington won’t be surprised by the money-grubbing, but lots of Democrats will be disgusted by it. Those in Michigan’s Sixth District certainly were.
“It just gives Fred Upton cover and makes it possible for him to continue to pretend to be a useful, bipartisan fellow,” [county Democratic chair Eric] Lester said. “I entered the hall with positive feelings about Mr. Biden and felt very frustrated.”
Lots more details at the link.
PS: This illustrates how damaging stories about political figures get produced. It doesn’t start with reporters, it starts with opposition research that’s fed to reporters.