I Was On The Phone...

for about an hour and half with Steve Fallon tonight. Steve is the gentleman that put together the dough4joe.com site. A very interesting discussion.

I contacted him because I did not feel like just sitting here doing nothing on behalf of our candidate. As most of you know, I wrote a short little essay that was designed to express the fatalism I was feeling about all of this. It took TVI and a few days to realize that I'm damned pissed off and I must do something, anything to try and get Biden back in this race. I know that it is near impossible, but I still must try. Hence my call to Steve.

We discussed different ideas on how to encourage Joe to get back into the race. Included was a brief discussion about why he quite so early. Steve and I both felt that Biden might be regretting his decision about now.

Some highlights of the discussion:

Steve was considering changing his website into dough4joe and take committed pledges from the public in the chance that Biden would return. The fact that dough4joe raised around $107,000 in less than a week, he could foresee raising a million in a short period of time. In turn, he felt that Joe had about 3 million left from the campaign. He believes that with enough money, Joe could be encouraged to return...around 3 mil...roughly.

A full page ad in a national newspaper is around $150,000 to $175.00. The ad could be a call to arms so to speak for those out there that have not given up on getting Biden back into the race.

We both agreed that the important thing is to organize a system to keep the many thousands of supporters out there in the loop...a web site or contact point.

Protests are a good idea but it needs to get media attention.

We talked about a deadlocked Convention. Steve believes that the top three candidates will implode over time and their will be a vacuum. We both agreed that we didn't want to rely on Joe getting the nod at the Convention...too much of a long shot.

We spoke about the fact that someone here on the DU has the email lists from the campaign...of Biden supporters. I apologize, but I can't remember who. As a starting point, this email list could come in real handy in organizing the "grass roots" supporters and take in ideas.

Steve and I both feel that the Republicans can't wait to get their hands on either Hillary or Obama. They have ammunition and will use it at just the right time. Biden has no issues and the Right can't lay a hand on him.

We spoke of other related issues...

I just wanted to give you the highlights. Any ideas? Looking for feedback.

-Paige\


On Edite:

I almost forgot. We discussed what the ramifications would be for Joe in getting back into the race. Steve said that most people he spoke with (Biden supporters) felt that Biden might look silly for returning. Steve and I were hard core against this theory. We felt quite the opposite. If timed just right, Joe could garner a ton of publicity upon his return. If he took a "fighting" approach to this as an alternative to the glamour candidates, he could light a fire.

Both Steve and I felt that there are a lot more supporters out there than we are fully aware of. We both agreed that had Biden just hung on through South Carolina, he might have had a real chance...

-P

Ambrose Finnegan - Maternal Grandfather
Catherine Finnegan - Mother
Finnegan Biden - Granddaughter

I am thinking of Ambrose Finnegan and Finnegan Biden. I envision Joe as a bridge between what has been and what will be. Finnegan's Rangers is a veiled reference to supporters of Joe Biden - not only as a candidate, which we all have been; but supporters of Joe Biden as a role model for humanity, and supporters of Joe Biden as a pragmatic visionary for his time.

An on-going, tightly knit but widely dispersed cadre of individuals who are committed to keeping Joe Biden's 2008 campaign initiatives alive in the hearts of the nation, working surreptitiously to effect the inspiration, goals and policy objectives of the greatest statesman of this time, both domestic and foreign.

Beyond that basic concept, I would expect Finnegan's Rangers, as a militia of hope, to develop their leadership, bring clarity to their purpose and define their mission.

Drafting Joe seems to me feasible given the situation. Maybe a deadlocked convention is less likely, but I can see Joe being a broadly accepted second choice, and in the space of a couple days Finnegan's Rangers may well be able to contribute significantly to a brokered candidacy with Joe as the Democratic nominee.

elleng also has an idea for on-going efforts, and is suggesting formation of a group for a specific mission. Perhaps a mission suitable for Finnegan's Rangers, Media Brigade?

Iowa is over, but the campaign to save America lives on until Joe Biden lays down his sword. Finnegan's Rangers is a small band, still, but partisans all!

Thanks for your encouragement in response to my post the other day. It took me a couple of days, but now I'm ready to fight.

We need to find out who has that email list from the campaign. It is someone on this board.

-Paige

See my edit, above. Let's move out!

If the media campaign is just Biden related, then Finnegan's Rangers Media Brigade is fine. However, if it's the one that I've been discussing with folks under the "Media Coverage" thread, then the name needs to be separate from the Biden camp as we're trying to enlist other campaigns to join with us. :)

That's one reason I left "Biden" out of the name. It's more generic than the man, JB, himself. It's about his family values, his humanity and what he stands for in the political arena. The name means nothing to me. The missions do. Run with it. I'm certain you'll find plenty of Finnegan's Rangers supporting the mission!

Joe giving a speech about his father telling him to "stand up." We need Joe to stand up...to get up and continue the fight.

-Paige

Finnegan's Rangers will prepare the occupied territories for his return, and recruit partisans blue and red. When the moment is upon us, he will rise up in his Glamour and strike for sanity!

that you and Steve are in touch; he's a mover, and putting him in contact here is a must-do.

Thanks.

Ellen

I respect Joe's wisdom and intelligence, but I really think he shouldn't have prematurely quit the race and if I were him I would be regretting it, especially after witnessing some of the debate today between the candidates. I understand how utterly awful the blow must have felt, but I wish he had taken 24 hours to ponder it, at least clear his mind from the Iowa sadness. I think there are definitely more supporters out there in the country than what people realize. Plus I have a feeling many people are now thinking after Iowa and Biden's subsequent exit, "Oh shit, what have we done?" You don't really miss someone until they're gone. and it's only then you truly realize what you've lost. On the other hand, it could backfire and create a negative image of Joe. I foresee some vitriol from the MSM (who he rightfully criticized) and disdain from supporters of other candidates, they don't want the threat of Joe back in the race, and they would make it a major issue, at least on DU, to ridicule Biden if he were to rejoin the race.

I didn't want to be the first to say it.

Joe has too much pride and class to come back in the race.
He would look like a fool, and he's not. He invested everything in Iowa. He kinda blew off NH. He had a good thing going in SC, but that's it.

I also agree that Biden should have waited 1 more day. Maybe slept on it to think it through. But the fact that he would not have been at the debate tonite would have been devastating for him.

That's just my opinion. If you want to go ahead with it - then please do it.

I agree that it sucks that just one state could do this to a qualified candidate like Joe, and I agree that the stooges that are left can't hold a candle to Biden. I just don't see him coming back.

If nothing else, he probably would be flattered if alot of us asked him to come back.

if he'd waited until the next day, he would have left all his supporters and staff hanging. The mood was bad enough at the time and a prolonged silence on his part would have been inappropriate and ungracious on his part. That certainly is not his style.

to get some rest, and that he would hold a press conference the next day.

Maybe then someone would have actually covered it.

That was my fantasy.
But it was not reality.

he had said; "no matter what", he would be staying in. No matter what. So, what happened between, "no matter what", and the end of the caucus? When he said that, I'd like to think he considered even the worst case scenario.

I know I didn't and I was prepared to be somewhat disappointed.

the outcry was so great that it moved the responsibility from Joe, to his supporters...meaning, hundreds of thousands INSISTED he got back in, and it was well publicized. I don't think he would even consider it, unless it was overwhelming nationwide.

I read the 'this can't hurt us' chapter again in his book last night. Joe has always had issues with the press. They've always treated him like shit. This is something that has gone on his whole career. Maybe it's about time Joe did something about the media...

Bottom line, Joe poured his heart, and soul into Iowa, but they gave in to the media hype for the other 3. They want change, they got it. They just gave the bag boy the general managers job.

i know many others, also.

stlsaxman
"Get Up, Joe! in MO"

is a "keep your powder dry" mindset.

The family got together and persuaded him to run. The family got together and agreed to drop out.

He has said he made a personal decision to stick to doing the best he could in the Senate after the previous try. They persuaded him to put himself out there and jump into that toxic arena again; he did, and the results were discouraging, to say the least. From what little interaction I had with them (Jim, Hunter) it was clear they were 1000% on board with the effort, proud as peacocks. I am certain that if he had said he wanted to hang in there they'd have been for it.

Iowa is not necessarily a good predictor of future success, but the fact is that it is very highly weighted toward his style of campaign - the barnstorming, close up and personal stuff - and it did not succeed. Granted, the caucus process obscures whatever first-round support a non-viable candidate had, so he well may have garnered over 10% initially, for all we know. May have been stronger than Richardson, but just distributed such that his support evaporated differently, leaving Richardson slightly more puddles. With the luck of a coin toss, their results might have been reversed and he might have been the fourth one in last nights debates. Had that occurred, he'd have cleaned the floor with the others, particularly on the Pakistan portion. It was a venue where he'd have gotten equal time for a change.

For want of a nail...


I expect he and the family are acutely aware of this and as frustrated by it as we. But it is what it is. If he had not withdrawn, he still would not have been there. He'd be lumped with Gravel and Kucinich by the general public as the "idiot fringe" or whatever most of the sheeple think of the non-American-Idol candidates.

I want a competent president. I was a Gore supporter well before Clinton got the nod, and was hoping against hope he'd enter the race. I still wish Joe or he would somehow get anointed - preferably Joe.

Damn, it is sad to watch America being consumed by the Oligarchs before our very eyes. Of those left standing, there is only one who at least acknowledges that is a problem. I don't know whether it is opportunism, as many here seem to think, or real commitment. I do know that the others talk far too much about accommodating the enemy (the oligarchs) and the MSM is striving mightily to get one of them anointed.

I truly believe now that the best hope for the country is to work like hell to get Edwards the nod (yes, hold your noses if you have to), and cross our fingers that Joe and Al would both have big roles to play in the administration (or in Joe's case, as SFRC Chair, if he prefers).

The steamroller is just about finished with the coup. This is the last election with any hope whatsoever of stopping it. Obama is not that hope. Clinton clearly is not. Continuing to devote energy to getting Joe (or Al) into the WH is about as useful as fighting for Kucinich or Gravel, IMO.

I guess I'm humming that song "Know When to Hold 'Em" and I am not the least bit happy about it.

Maybe, just maybe, the planets will align and there will be a deadlocked convention. Or who knows what? Who would have thought when Nixon/Agnew were elected that before 8 years was up Ford would be President?

jeez, this is frustrating.

Edwards will be done after NH, and so will Hillary. The media has choosen Obama for us.

I have read all the posts and see both sides... but its worth a shot... at this point voting is pointless right now to me because I just can't see it...

Bring back Joe.

in the NH debate, then that would have been a different story. But since he wasn't included, what on earth could he do? The nation would be watching the NH debate and not getting a dose of Joe at all. And then, what next? So I think with the situation as it was, he made the wisest choice.

I was reading a snip of dialogue from the debate on cnn.com this morning. My level of frustration is indescribable. Knowing what could have been, and knowing that we're facing unknown times with people who aren't qualified to be in the lead...

I think the only realistic way to get Joe back in would be a huge Draft Joe movement, like Draft Gore. It wouldn't be demeaning for Joe to answer the call of the American People.

The problem I see is, if he wasn't able to garner that support before, how could we hope to garner it now? In order for it to truly work, it would have to sweep the country. How do we get the media to acknowledge/cover it? How do we get the tens of millions we weren't able to raise before? What is different now? I just don't have high hopes we could succeed.

That being said, if there were to be a major event, where Joe was Right, and the candidates' approaches would have been wrong, maybe...

What I'm thinking of, is that last night Pirhana said they were talking about Pakistan at the debate :eyes:. Today I read the following headlines:

US weighs CIA, military push in Pakistan

Pakistan says it will not allow US forces to hunt militants on its soil

IF something were to happen, where our country en masse turned to Biden for guidance, then maybe a case could be made to the masses that we NEED him as our leader now. If lots of high-powered politicians, etc., came out in support and stressed the need for Joe at this time.

Other than that, I don't hold out much hope.

If they didn't give him exposure before, they will probably continue to marginalize him and put the focus on the front-runners who all of sudden are aware that Pakistan exists.

They were saying the story would still be about Hillary and Obama.... and they were right.

just look at what they are doing to Edwards.