No Biden Rumor: No Obama-Biden Campaign Materials in Obama Offices
Joe Biden to Become No Biden?
* Rumors Persist of ‘October Surprise’
* A Visit to Barack Obama Campaign Offices
* A Visit to the Campaign’s Website
What did we find?
[Click images to enlarge.]
UPDATES at end of story.
UPDATE #1: 1320 EDT
UPDATE #2 2055 EDT
Will Joe Biden become No Biden?
As reported earlier [No Biden: Rumors Swirl Over Obama Dumping Biden for Hillary Clinton], rumors have been circulating about that the Obama-Biden ticket is about to become the Obama-Clinton ticket.
Is it really “Bye Bye Biden”? Is this the rumored “October Surprise”?
The scenario: Sometime between October 2 and 5, Joe Biden will plead poor health and drop off the ticket. Hillary Clinton will then ride to the rescue of the Obama campaign that earlier spurned her. The Democrat ticket will then sweep to victory in an unprecedented, albeit Machiavellian, move.
We received this email a few days after our last story:
I got this email over the weekend from retired USAF friend, have no idea as to its authenticity. Been told it’s from excellent sources within the DNC:
“On or about October 5,2008, Sen Joe Biden will excuse himself from the ticket, citing health problems, and he will be replaced by Hillary R Clinton.” This is timed to occur after the VP debate on 10/2.
[Joe Biden’s Near-Fatal Brain Aneurysms: MSM Tells Two Different Tales of Recovery]
Thinking, “this is how rumors get started,” a little road trip seemed to be in order.
If Joe Biden were not the solid VP pick–and due to be replaced in the rumored “October Surprise”–it would seem that there wouldn’t be much of an investment made by the Obama campaign in Obama-Biden campaign materials and merchandise.
We visited three Obama campaign offices in three different states, called several others in a few states picked at random and checked out Barackobama.com’s online store to see what the situation was.
There seemed to be plenty of campaign material for Barack Obama, sans Biden. In fact, “Obama-Biden” didn’t seem to be much on display at all in any of the offices.
It’s been nearly a month since Barack Obama named Joe Biden as his vice-presidential pick: what’s the hold-up with the Obama-Biden campaign materials? Why is there almost no Obama-Biden merchandise available?
This is a candidate whose campaign has planned for this race for months–some would say years.
As was stated, there is no end to the “Only Obama” campaign materials.
Joyce, in the Portland OR Obama office told us that, “No one has any (Obama-Biden campaign merchandise)”.
“We don’t have any Obama-Biden stuff. The national campaign says it’s sold out and back-ordered. It’ll be about two weeks until we get any.”
Two weeks?
That would place the date around the 4th or 5th of October, incidentally.
Joyce did note that she herself was wearing an Obama-Biden T-shirt.
We talked to Paul in the Washington PA Obama office–which was busy at the time–and he told us that there wasn’t any Obama-Biden signs, t-shirts or stickers in that office, at least right now.
We were told that there were “some Obama-Biden buttons. We’re asking a $50 donation for them.”
Paul noted that there were “street signs coming in on Monday” (September 22). He was pretty sure they were Obama-Biden.
We’ll check back then.
Dan, at the Belmont office in Bellaire OH, said, “No, we don’t have any Obama-Biden signs or T-shirts. They’re supposed to be coming in the next couple weeks.”
We talked to Al and Ramona in the Wheeling WV Obama office. They informed us that they were told “Obama-Biden merchandise would be available the first week of October”.
Again, that “first week of October” date is cited.
Maybe the campaign offices are caught in a supply problem. Maybe not.
But, we’re not conspiracy theorists, so we decided to check out Barackobama.com’s store at the website.
On the right sidebar is a list of merchandise categories. The fifth one down is for “Obama-Biden”. We skipped that category–for now–to check out the “New Arrivals” in Obama campaign merchandise. The merchandise is a major source of funds for the campaign.
Not only are all of the hats and t-shirts for sale, but also the signs, stickers and buttons. All of the Obama offices we visited were separate from the local Democrat Party campaign offices.
What’s the ‘New Arrivals’ at BarackObama.com?
All of the “new arrivals”, with the lone exception of a Obama-Biden yard sign, feature Barack Obama–by himself.
So, the Obama campaign’s not exactly going overboard to promote the Obama-Biden ticket.
At least, that’s our observation.
Then, the Obama-Biden section of barackobama.com was visited.
There are eight items in the section: a few buttons, a few stickers, the yard sign mentioned above and a thin paperboard rally sign.
There are over 100 t-shirts for sale on the site–only one of them mentions “Obama-Biden”.
Since we last visited the site and took the above screenshots, more new merchandise is posted as available. What was it?
Three more shirts plugging Obama only.
On September 11, Bill Clinton met with Obama in NYC. What did they talk about? The Times of London gets no linkage here, but did have the story.
THE former president Bill Clinton is to ride to Barack Obama’s rescue in the coming weeks by holding joint events with the Democratic presidential candidate.
The Obama team hopes the “Bubba factor†– Clinton’s appeal to white, working-class voters – will revitalise its campaign and staunch defections to Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee.
A source close to the Obama campaign said: “Bill Clinton is on board. He’s making all the right moves and he and Barack Obama are going to campaign together.â€
Is Bill the only Clinton who will ride to “Barack Obama’s rescue in the coming weeks”?
It’s been 30 days since Obama picked Joe Biden for the ticket–there are 44 days left until the election–almost the halfway point.
That Obama-Biden campaign materials will be available in the “next couple weeks” or “by the first week of October”–which is way past the halfway mark between the election and when Joe Biden was picked.
McCain-Palin signs were evident the first weekend that John McCain announced his pick for vice-president.
Despite Obama-Biden having almost a week’s headstart on McCain-Palin, a visit to johnmccain.com shows the site has been transformed into “McCain-Palin”. There nearly 30 McCain-Palin items for sale at the McCain website store. “McCain-Palin” is the first category of merchandise listed at the site.
A look at the websites themselves might be instructive.
McCain, who the Obama campaign paints as “Internet-challenged” has transformed the site into “McCain-Palin”, with the ticket at the top of every page we visited.
Obama-Biden was featured at the top of every page but one at barackobama.com
That lone exception: the site’s on-line store, a campaign cash cow.
So, maybe the Obama campaign is simply going with what sells best.
“Obama” is a winner, merchandise sales-wise.
“Obama-Biden”, not so much so.
Which is either grist for the rumor mill–or a sign of “CHANGE”.
The readers can decide for themselves: will there be an ‘October Surprise’?
We’ll all know for sure in a “couple weeks”.
UPDATE #1 – 1320 EDT
Just a week ago, the buzz was starting when Joe Biden called Hillary Clinton, “more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America”.
UPDATE #2 – 2055 EDT
Jack Kelly, in the Washington Times, also has heard things about the Obama ticket duress.
But my friend Steve Maloney (who first got me interested in Sarah Palin) says his sources in the Democratic Party tell him Barack Obama is being pressured to dump Sen. Joseph Biden from the ticket and replace him with Hillary Clinton, the switch to come just after the vice presidential debate Oct. 2. Speculation about such a switch has emerged on several left-wing blogs.
“It’s time to dump Biden and replace him with Sen. Hillary Clinton,” said Andy Ostroy on the Huffington Post Monday. “I’m starting to think that if Team Obama doesn’t do something dramatic fast, it’s gonna lose this election.”
As noted in the article, the “Dump Biden” noise is coming from (mainly) “left wing blogs”.
by Mondo
images: dbkp
Biden and Clinton were impressed by Obama’s skating skills. They forgot to look at the skates he was wearing. The other team is playing hockey, and Obama is figure skating.
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[...] Continue reading: No Biden Rumor: No Obama-Biden Campaign Materials in Obama Offices [...]
[...] “Rumors persist that Joe Biden will be dropped from the Obama-Biden ticket” deathby1000papercuts.com [...]
Wow ! Now that’s an interesting bit of investigation. I woudn’t be at all surprsed at an October surprise. Geat work and keep us posted.
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Let’s look at the other side of this disturbing possibility.
When Gov. Palin was announced, to the surprise and angst of the Liberals, they saw Biden with a brighter light shined on his hair plugs and noticed their error. The internal LibTard polls are also telling them of the huge mistake made in selecting Biden.
Now Biden is shipped off speaking to crowds of 2,500 or less and the Obama camp is in a near panic state.
So, maybe HRC can save them or maybe the less seen of Biden and his gaffe machine and the more of The One by himself allows them to sell Brand Obama all by itself. Winning with Hill and Bill in the West Wing may still be more than The One and his self-centered ego can take.
And….don’ forget…Michelle “hate mongor” Obama wants no part of Hillary Clinton. She doesn’t want to share the spotlight with Hillary. What would they do with Slick Willie? Make him ambassador to Siberia?
DB at LC
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I think Obama will announce that he doesn’t need any stinking VP. He is the Messiah.
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I don’t believe Biden will drop out of his own volition. He’s waited too long to have come this close.
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Hillary wants Obama to lose so she can run in 2012, Being VP would eliminate such a possibility if the “October Surprise” should work and get Obama elected. Hillary won’t bite.
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It could just be a healthy dose of Obama ego. After all, this is the same guy who had to have an outdoor stadium in which to house his ego.
I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Obama is very thin skinned. The thought of sharing the spotlight with Hillary is not in him. The thought of admitting bad judgement is not in him- and lets face it, a Biden change, despite the reason is an admission- at least if he picks Hillary.
Of course it has been shown that Obama does not act- he reacts. We will see in a few weeks.
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I’m surprised you’re still flogging this dead horse.
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[...] By 1000 Papercuts reported on September 21, 2008, No Biden Rumor: No Obama-Biden Campaign Materials in Obama Offices. Signs anew of rumor? Rather odd for a presidential campaign supposedly in full swing. Rumor [...]
“I’m surprised you’re still flogging this dead horse.” Ha! Ha! Ha! PJ, that’s priceless! “Queen of the Sarah Palin rumour mill” questioning the veracity of someone else’s speculation. God love ya’, grrrrl!
Someone please correct me: swapping-out VPs post-convention has never worked at any level of governance in the history of American politics.
My guess is the Democratic party is running on the age-old theorem that no one votes for VP, and that’s basically true. Puting Biden’s name on merchandise does nothing but remind people that “change” in Obama-speak actually translates to “not so much…”. Biden’s purpose in life is to be the guy Dems can point to, when the occasional rogue reporter reminds them of how INCREDIBLY thin Obama’s resume’ is.
That aside, It’s a fun rumour to bat around. Much more plausible than the ‘Sarah Palin is a vindictive bitch bent on world domination’ rumours, but it’s fun anyway.
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[...] to check out Barackobama.com’s store at the website. What did we find there? Continue reading: No Biden Rumor: No Obama-Biden Campaign Materials in Obama Offices __________________ Voting for Obama is like putting a gun to your head and hoping he calls [...]
You all seem to neglect the simple fact that even if she were asked, she would refuse.
She can’t wait 8 years for the nomination, folks. She wants it in 2012 and is rooting for
a communist defeat.
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[...] absence of ANY 0bama-Biden campaign paraphernalia? Would you not agree the absolute absence of any 0bama-Biden campaign materials it is very suspicious? [...]
I am for Obama all the way. I think it’d be great if it’s H. Clinton for VP. Whoever, whatever, it’s always Obama for me. It won’t make a difference to me. It might make a difference to some women and some democrats. Whatever brings us all together is just great!
Obama 08!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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By the way…Hillary might want to run in 2012, but that’s a long ways off. She knows that today is NOW. She’s here now, her opportunity may be now. She doesn’t want Palin to be first. Hillary wants to be first. She’ll take it.
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YIKES:
Vegas is all for Obama:
“Whatever brings us all together is just great!”
How does Obama bring US together? We all live in Communes and sing Kumbaya?
We all live in Gulags and die slow deaths?
We all lose our freeedom and happily accept the Bolshevik (Obama) Revolution and Leninism?
Please, get off your crack pipe, please! Know history and don’t repeat it. Progressive means Obama, Progressive means Socialism. It’s a fact!
DB @ LC
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[...] This is just bad reasoning. The Obama campaign has been plagued by short supply and backorders of signage all year. It took us a couple of months to get a box of merchandise. [...]
[...] By 1000 Papercuts reported on September 21, 2008, No Biden Rumor: No Obama-Biden Campaign Materials in Obama Offices. Signs anew of rumor? Rather odd for a presidential campaign supposedly in full swing. Rumor [...]
The October 5th date (heard this before from a couple other folks) puts it on the weekend after the debate (Thursday the 2nd). Let’s see, Biden falls ill on Thursday night or Friday (blood pressure?, stress?), hospital on Saturday and pulls out of the race by Sunday, just in time for everyone to feel sorry for him and welcome the ‘exciting new choice’ on the talk shows. The Dems would get a 4-week period for ‘explanations’, etc. plus an ‘excitement bounce’ out of this, putting them in fair shape for the Tuesday of the 5th week (Nov. 4). Don’t laugh, these folks are ‘masters of timing’.
For real drama, Joe could have a ’seizure’ Thursday night during the debate.
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What a bunch of idiots you all are. Checking the merchandise and counting how many shirts have Biden on them. The reason most of the merchandise says Obama, is because that is who is running for president. Of course McCain is going to pump Palin. That’s the only thing he’s got.
I think you all are the desperate ones for starting or believing such an idiotic rumor.
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[...] analysis I’ve found that I got the biggest kick out of was from Death by 1000 Papercuts. “Mondo” does a detailed examination of Obama and McCain’s web sites and [...]
Biden cannot be dumped with the medical excuse since he will have to lose his senate seat as well.
Biden has no interest in being dumped either.
Biden would have to be kicked off.
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[...] blogs wonder why rumors continue to fly about Joe Biden being replaced on the ticket in an “October [...]
[...] No Biden Rumor: No Obama-Biden Campaign Materials in Obama Offices [...]
Well for starters this wouldn’t be a bad move for Obama. If they can somehow get a possitive spin on the switch then he may just win by a landslide. I like Obama for the simple reason that the Republicans have mest up these past 8 years and frankly we need a break from the Republican rule for a bit. I would love to see Hillary on the ticket. I love the Clintons I made good money when Bill was in office the same does not hold true with Bush.
So if Obama drops Biden it has to be that somehow Biden decides to remove himself from the race on his own accord. If Obama drops him then McCaine can use that against him by pointing out his lack of judgement. We will see how it all pans out. And just to add to one of the comments on here. Were are not idiots for wanting Hillary on the ticket Bill did a great job and so would Hillary.
So Bill likes the laddies big freaking deal I like them too that doesn’t mean jack.
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you guys fall for any and everything. do you realize that back in june, the ‘october surprise’ was michelle saying ‘whitey’ on tape? you follow any and all rumors that may or may not get HRC on the ticket.
you guys are pathetic
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IF THIS WERE TO HAPPEN, OBAMA IS BEING SET UP. BILL AND HILL WOULD BE SAYING YES SHE WILL TAKE HIS SPOT IF HE DROPS OUT, THEN REFUSE. THUS PUTTING THE OBAMA CAMP INTO A TAIL SPIN AND PAVING THE WAY FOR HILL IN 2012.
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I wish it were so. I’m voting for Obama either way but think he made a HUGE mistake in not picking Clinton. Beyond me personally having voted for her, I think we wouldn’t be in this Palin mess had he just sucked it up. Don’t know if there’s any turning back now. And there is, for me, a question mark in your theory. Why would Obama wait until AFTER the Vice Presidential debates to drop Biden and replace him with Clinton. If anything a Clinton/Palin debate would get HUGE viewership and show the obvious intellectual and experiencial differences between a spectacular woman and a mediocre woman. That’s one I’d love to see by the way.
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Yves,
I don’t really have a “theory” on this. I heard the rumors and set to see what the situation was at the Obama offices.
More than one liberal site have ridiculed the story, but it is factual: anyone reading it will see that we clearly say Obama dumping Biden is a rumor and we don’t know. But the lack of Obama-Biden campaign materials is not a theory and is fact.
Thanks to Yves (and everyone!) for stopping by, reading and taking the time to leave a comment!
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I think the Obama/Biden ticket is the only way we are going to have real change in Washington. Obama is a very intellegent, well spoken, diplomatic person and God knows with the way our standing is globally, we defintely need that. Biden has much to bring to the table. He has Washington experience although in these days and times, that may not be an asset in the minds of some people. Washington has become a “dirty word” in the minds of the people. However, these are perilous times for this country and we need serious people to lead us out of the quagmire of the last 7+years of the Bush administration. As far as having no Obama/ Biden material, it is out there and you can go to Obama’s website to acquire it.
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