Will old plagiarism story plague Biden?

Add Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., to the list of 2008 hopefuls in the exploratory committee phase. He told Tim Russert on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that he is running. “I’m going to be Joe Biden, and I’m going to try to be the best Biden I can be,” he said. “If I can, I got a shot. If I can’t, I lose.” He’s long been a clear and candid Democratic voice in the Senate, and his new chairmanship of Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be a prominent stage. But nothing has changed about the charges of plagiarism of speeches and law school work that dogged his 1988 bid. Will 20 years make voters more forgiving?
Posted by Rhonda Holman

14 Comments

  1. paralgl
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 3:12 am | Permalink

    Unless the allegations of plagarism of law school work are proven and compromise his degree and standing with the bar, they should be immaterial to his reelection bid. What should not be forgotten is his televised ranting like a lunatic at congressional hearings several years ago. He looked and sounded certifiable. We don’t need that in a president.As a young senatorial candidate, Biden seemed to make sense and have integrity. I voted for him when I lived in Delaware. I have followed his career with interest and no longer respect or trust his judgment. He reminds me of Ted Kennedy wannabe.

  2. Jim G.
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 7:38 am | Permalink

    Well said Paralgl. Question – have you voted for GWB in either of his two Pres. elections?

  3. fleettwood
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 8:45 am | Permalink

    It’s not the plagarism that will hurt him. It hasn’t hurt Martin Luther King. Being a flaming Lib from a flaming Lib state will stop him.

  4. JM
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 8:51 am | Permalink

    I’m not particularly fond of the Senator as I think he can sometimes be more hostile than intellectual.

    Here’s what Wikipedia said on the plagiarism charges. (Yeah I know Wikipedia.)

    “It had also been alleged that Biden had plagiarized while in law school 20 years earlier in a first-year legal-writing class. Unaware of appropriate standards for legal briefs at the beginning of his legal training, Biden used a single footnote rather than multiple citations required to cite five pages from a legal article. Both Syracuse University Law School and the Delaware State Bar Association cleared Biden of plagiarism charges.”

    So what’s fair is fair, not gonna bash someone on what appears to be a naive mistake of a young law student.

  5. Joe Williams
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 9:29 am | Permalink

    I don’t think any Senator is going to have a chance. They never do.

    Look at the governorships if your looking for the next President.

    Bill Richardson I believe can make for a sleeper win for the Presidency.

  6. paralgl
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 9:41 am | Permalink

    Jim6- Let’s just say I voted against John Kerry in the last election. I felt the devil I knew was better than the devil I didn’t believe at all. That said, please do not accuse me of being a card carrying Republican conservative. I am an independent with views that frequently cross party lines and ideologies. I have NEVER registered as being a member of any party – despite numerous accusations by posters on Opinion Line.

  7. fleettwood
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 9:41 am | Permalink

    I’m with you Joe. I don’t think Hillary or Obama or Kusinich or Biden have a chance if nominated. My fear is Richardson or Edwards.

  8. fleettwood
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 9:42 am | Permalink

    Ah, another unaffiliated voter. I’m so damn smart.

  9. Ben Huie
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 10:53 pm | Permalink

    I agree with Joe and JM. The charges seem to amount to nothing but the Senate is not the source of successful presidential runs. Also, Biden is ‘old’ – he has been around in the spotlight too long.

    Richardson, Vilsack, Napolitano …

  10. J R
    Posted January 13, 2007 at 11:40 pm | Permalink

    I like Biden.

    He goes after the con bastards with the zeal that is needed.

    Oh and Rhonda? Your right wing is showing again. Button up dear! It’s cold.

  11. Leave
    Posted January 14, 2007 at 1:54 pm | Permalink

    Rhonda Rhonda

    what is next? Smear Obama? Hillary?

    hum puff piece about brownstain?

    your right wing is coming through

  12. GaryC.
    Posted January 15, 2007 at 2:29 am | Permalink

    Biden is intelligent and competent and guys on the right dont like him because your party has no one to compare to.

    Biden would be a good president, but you fail to realize that because he has a D in his name.

    Hes thoughtful, caring, and has had the best ideas on Iraq. But once again you look the other way because he has a D in his name.

  13. Leave
    Posted January 15, 2007 at 9:50 am | Permalink

    ha…I knew that puff piece on brownstain was coming

  14. Lee
    Posted October 21, 2007 at 10:02 am | Permalink

    Public figures commonly use anonymous speech writers. If a speech uses copied material, however, it is the public figure who will be embarrassed. Delaware Senator Joe Biden was forced out of the 1988 US Presidential race (but remained in the US Senate) when it was discovered that parts of his campaign speeches were plagiarized from speeches by British Labour party leader Neil Kinnock and Robert Kennedy.