Live Blog: Speeches of Joe Biden and Barack Obama - Wall Street Journal (blog)

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Biden has finished speaking. Now on is Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois. Barack Obama is after him.


Biden tears up when talking about those who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan. This convention has emphasized the role of veterans and the military. Perhaps an effort to address the fact that Democrats have sometimes been seen as less than strong on defense issues.


The thrust of the speech is fairly clear: The Republican Party is the party of the one percent, while Democrats are the party for everyone else. But his remarks seem to be lurching awkwardly from one topic to the next, from the economy to women’s health to the sacrifice of the military. It’s hard at this point to say there’s a clear takeaway.


Biden’s estimate that Romney’s international tax plan would create 800,000 jobs overseas comes from an estimate by an academic economist who has given a small amount of money to the Obama campaign. The Romney campaign suggests that her work is biased; the economist, Kimberly Clausing of Reed College, says her research is sound. 


The platitudes are coming fast and furious now, but with the underlying theme that things will get better with another four years for the Democrats. Biden just said “America is coming back,” and “We have no intention of downsizing the American Dream.”


Biden’s ode to the resilience of everyday Americans sounds an awful lot like Republican attacks on the president – his line about not betting against the American people was frequently used as a reason for ousting Barack Obama. Obviously, the two parties have a very different view of what that wager entails.


Biden snuck in a reference to the Democratic charge, at least partly discredited, that Bain was a pioneer in outsourcing U.S. jobs to overseas locales. And he’s continuing to attack Romney by claiming a cold-blooded emphasis on the bottom line, while Obama focuses on families. 


Biden’s criticism of Romney’s international tax plan overlooks the fact that the Obama administration seriously considered a version of the same idea, which lots of countries already have adopted for their businesses. But Obama’s advisers decided, probably correctly, that offering corporations another tax break wouldn’t look very good politically, and also would rob them of a weapon to use against Republicans – a weapon Biden just used. 


Bain made its appearance in the Biden speech earlier in an interesting way:  Saying it was the “Bain way” that led Romney to oppose a bailout of the auto companies. “I think he saw it the Bain way.” 


Biden so far has not talked much about how much the economy has struggled in the past four years. He’s not directly answering, not yet at least, the Republicans’ major argument—that what Obama has tried hasn’t worked.


Biden says Republicans didn’t have the courage to spell out the tough calls they would make – a reasonable charge in some cases. But Republicans say the same thing about the Obama administration, particularly when it comes to Medicare


Biden is now one of several Democratic speakers to call Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan “Voucher Care.” That seems to be the way Democrats have settled on to convey their criticism of the Ryan plan.


Is it wise for Biden to refer to the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission, if the president also brushed aside its recommendations?


At times, Biden refers to the president like he’s a comic book hero, with a steel spine and bravery residing in his heart.


Biden’s line that “We know we have more work to do” appears to be the theme of the convention. 


Biden’s mission is contrasting the characters of Obama and Romney. The idea is presumably to build on what Democrats see as an Obama strength—that voters like him better. “I watch it up close. Bravery resides in the heart of Barack Obama.” Exhibits A and B: saving GM and taking out bin Laden. It’s become one of Biden’s favorite slogans: “Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive.”


Biden is working hard to say Obama’s successes are about something bigger: the auto bailout wasn’t just about cars, killing bin Laden wasn’t just about taking out a terrorist leader. 


Biden just did a long version of the bumper sticker: General Motors is alive, and now saying Bin Laden is dead. Can he cite the Bid Laden success without seeming to politicize it? 


Biden kicks it up a notch after his fairly muted opening, as he starts the tale of the operation to kill Osama bin Laden.


Biden’s talk about balance sheets and writeoffs is an effort to turn Romney back into the chilly master of the universe – the image that Romney fought so hard to warm up last week.  


Several speakers have made a point of saying Mitt Romney is a good man who loves his family. Voters like to hear that. But of course Democrats have not hesitated to go after Mr. Romney as a cold-hearted plutocrat who has left workers to suffer and likes firing people.


Democrats talk about Romney like he talks about the president – “He’s not a bad guy” – before they go on to bash him like Republicans so often assail Barack Obama.


Biden is now talking about the auto bailout—a theme Democrats have hammered on relentlessly. It’s a three-fer; they hope it persuades voters that Obama will make hard decisions, they hope it shows he has a better sense of what will help the economy than Mitt Romney does. And oh yes, it’s a subject that could win votes in Ohio.


There are Romney attacks coming, just wait.


Vice presidential candidates often act as attack dogs, saying things that presidents can’t. So far, though, Biden’s been pretty polite. He and President Obama are opening this fight cautiously – no first-round knockouts tonight.  


Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, who will debate Mr. Biden next month, would be well-advised to study Biden's performance tonight.
Voice rising, Biden testifies to the president's character and concern for "the average American." 
"That's what's inside this man!" Biden said.
Biden is a seasoned public speaker who knows how to deliver a line.


Biden joins Bill Clinton as someone Democrats hope can reach out to blue-collar white voters, a group Obama urgently wants to do better with. “A job is about a lot more than a paycheck—it’s about dignity, it’s about respect, it’s about your place in the community, it’s about being able to look your wife in the eye and say, ‘Honey it’s going to be okay,’ and mean it,” Biden says. The idea is to create a feeling of empathy with the working class that they hope voters don’t see in Romney.


Indeed, Biden's “America has turned the corner” lined echoes some of the feistier themes of Bill Clinton’s show-stopping speech on Wednesday night. 


Biden’s “America has turned the corner” is about as upbeat as Democrats’ appraisal of the current economy has gotten. They’re being careful not to overstate any progress.


Biden’s emphasis on the dignity of working seems to be a subtle jab at the largely discredited GOP charge that Obama has weakened the work requirements for welfare recipients. 


Obama always asks, “How is this going to affect the average American?” Biden says. More vouching for Obama’s sensitivity to middle-class problems. 


Biden's aim is to show in vivid detail how Obama makes decisions and sets an agenda. White House aides hope the speech will portray a side to Obama that the public doesn't always see. 


Obama’s “profound concern for average Americans” – Biden is trying to push back on the GOP argument that Obama is an academic and a dreamer, and out of touch with kitchen-table problems. 


Governing is learning, and Biden says he has learned about the “depth of (the president’s) heart” and Obama has learned about his vice president’s loyalty.


Like Michelle Obama, Biden’s role is to provide a testimonial to President Obama’s character—among other things, to draw a contrast with Mitt Romney, whom Democrats have worked hard to portray as lacking in strong character. “I sat beside him as he made one gutsy decision after another,” Biden says about Obama’s actions during the economic crisis.


Just about every speaker tonight has referred to the stakes and the challenges that faced the president when he first took office. Biden is now offering his own insider’s account of those struggles. The Obama team is clearly using this context for his launch pad to talk about the future.


Biden refers to President Obama as his "friend." That friendship took some time to grow and evolve.
An aide to Biden once told me that Biden and Obama had the "marriage" before the "honeymoon." In other words, they didn't know each other all that well when Obama asked Biden to be his running mate in 2008.


Biden’s reference to “promise and prosperity” suggests Democrats will try hard to answer the GOP’s emphasis on restoring economic growth. The question is, can they convince voters their solutions will really make a difference, after four years of trying.


At the outset, Biden makes it clear that he’s devoting the bulk of his speech to his partner, President Barack Obama. “I don’t see him in sound bytes…I watch him in action.”


Joe Biden accepts the nomination for vice president. Will that simple act put to rest all the baseless speculation over the past few years about Hillary Clinton replacing Biden on the ticket? We hope so.


Biden is starting off his acceptance speech with a decidedly subdued tone. But it’s only a matter of time before he livens things up.


The Biden clan is watching the vice president’s acceptance speech from a section in front of the stage.


“You give me confidence,” Biden says to his wife, suggesting he’s had some self-doubts along the way – it’s likely an early signal of the more down-to-earth tone we’re likely to hear tonight, compared to 2008. 


The Democratic faithful in the arena are hoisting signs that read “Ready for Joe” and “Fired Up.” Let’s see if Joe can ignite this crowd. Here he is.


As we noted earlier this week, the bond between Biden and Obama has been tested at times. White House aides have bristled at Biden's penchant for veering off-message. Senior White House aides were livid when Biden jumped the gun and declared his support for same-sex marriage earlier than had been planned.


Joe Biden, who teared up when his son Beau nominated him for vice president, takes the stage as the opening act for President Barack Obama on a night when the arena is charged with emotion. But the veep occasionally tends to get ahead of himself in highly emotional settings. The big question is whether Biden can stick to the script on a night that is all about Obama.


More background on Biden's speech: The speech will come right before the president's, a sequence meant to underscore that the two men have forged a strong working partnership. Indeed, the opening film talks about their partnership "forged in fire."


Jill Biden mentioned Joe's childhood in modest Scranton, Pa. -- and so does Biden film rolling now.


Wlecome to the live blog. Jill Biden has just begun speaking. Her husband, Joe Biden, will be on after her.


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