Biden shushes wife after secretary of state slip AP – 1 min ago - Big Big Forums

Jolie Rouge · 01-19-2009, 07:19 PM

Biden shushes wife after secretary of state 'slip' AP – 1 min ago

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090119/...K6fMPwGLKs0NUE

WASHINGTON – Joe Biden's wife said Monday that he had his pick of being Barack Obama's running mate or the secretary of state nomination that eventually went to Hillary Rodham Clinton, a slip that the vice president-elect immediately tried to shush.

Jill Biden's comment came during an appearance with her husband on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," taped at Washington's Kennedy Center on the eve of the inauguration.

"Joe had the choice to be secretary of state or vice president," she said. Her husband turned to his wife with his finger to his lips and a "Shhhh!" that sent the audience into laughter. "OK, he did," Jill Biden said in her defense.

The vice president-elect blushed, grimaced and gave his wife a hug while the audience continued to erupt in laughter. "That's right," he finally said to his wife. "Go ahead."

Mrs. Biden said she told him vice president would be better for the family.

"If you're secretary of state, you'll be away, we'll never see you, you know," she said. "I'll see you at a state dinner once in a while."

After the exchange aired on television three hours later, Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander denied Jill Biden's account in a statement e-mailed to reporters.

"To be clear, President-elect Obama offered Vice President-elect Biden one job only — to be his running mate," the statement said. "And the vice president-elect was thrilled to accept the offer."

While the statement denies that Obama ever offered Biden the secretary of state job, it doesn't rule out that the two discussed the possibility. Obama's transition office did not respond to questions about their private discussions.

Clinton's spokesman declined to comment about the suggestion that she was the second choice.

Joe Biden said he didn't immediately take the vice presidential offer since he wasn't sure it was the best place for him to serve. But Biden, who ran against Obama in the Democratic primary race, said he agreed after getting some assurances from Obama about his role.

"This is a partnership," Biden said. "He's president of the United States, but as I said to him when he asked me, I said, `Barack, don't ask me unless the reason you're asking me is you're asking me for my judgment. I get to be the last guy in the room when you make every important decision. You're president. Any decision you make, I will back.'

"He said he wanted to have a confidant and somebody who wouldn't be a yes man. He's pretty sure about that last part," Biden said with a laugh.

Alexander's statement said, "Like anyone who followed the presidential campaign this summer, Dr. Jill Biden knew there was a chance that President-elect Obama might ask her husband to serve in some capacity and that, given his background, the positions of vice president and secretary of state were possibilities. Dr. Biden's point to Oprah today was that being vice president would be a better fit for their family because they would get to see him more and get to participate in serving more."

The Bidens made a surprise appearance on Winfrey's show. The celebrity-filled show also included the premiere of "America's Song," performed by Faith Hill, Seal, Bono, Mary J. Blige, Will.i.am and David Foster in honor of the occasion and available for free download on Winfrey's Web site for 24 hours.

Winfrey also interviewed movie star couple Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher about how Obama has inspired them to pledge to help end slave labor around the world and encourage other people to make a pledge to improve their communities. Other celebrities, including Scarlett Johansson, Justin Timberlake and Forest Whitaker appeared by videotape to talk about what Obama's election means to them.

Winfrey, who made her first ever presidential endorsement for Obama, heralded the significance of the moment particularly coming the day after Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

"I feel like I am better because of his being elected," Winfrey said. "And I think that the country is going to be better. I feel like it is a beautiful thing, and we all start to see ourselves differently, the possibility."

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On the Net:

http://www.oprah.com

Jolie Rouge · 10-29-2009, 04:05 PM

Bill Clinton nixed wife's VP chances: Obama campaign manager
Thu Oct 29, 11:14 am ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Barack Obama seriously considered picking former foe Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate last year but rejected her because he was worried about controlling Bill Clinton.

In a new book, the US president's 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe reveals the behind-the-scenes calculations as Obama searched for a vice presidential nominee and finally settled on Joe Biden.

"If his central criterion measured who could be the best VP, she had to be included in that list," Plouffe wrote in advance excerpts of the book "Audacity to Win" published in Time magazine.

"She was competent, could help in Congress, would have international bona fides and had been through this before, albeit in a different role.

"He wanted to continue discussing her as we moved forward," Plouffe wrote.

Despite still bitter feelings over the fierce Democratic primary duel, Obama continued to be intrigued by Clinton as the process progressed, saying she had "smarts, discipline, steadfastness," Plouffe wrote.

But in the end, concern over ex-president Bill Clinton's larger-than-life presence and political maneuvering cost Clinton a chance at the job -- which she had already signaled publicly she did not want.

"I think Bill may be too big a complication. If I picked her, my concern is that there would be more than two of us in the relationship," Plouffe quoted Obama as saying.

Plouffe also said that in their first meeting with Biden to discuss the vice presidential nomination, the former senator lived up to his reputation as a long-winded speaker, with a 20-minute monologue.

"It confirmed what we suspected: this dog could not be taught new tricks."

The magazine's excerpts from the book, published next week, also reveal that Obama overruled the disquiet of his advisors in scheduling a major speech on race after film emerged of rants by his ex-pastor Jeremiah Wright.

The Time account also details the surprise felt by the campaign when Obama's Republican rival John McCain chose then Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential pick.

"Given her life story, coupled with the surprise nature of her selection, her entrance to the race would be nothing short of a phenomenon," Plouffe wrote.

"But I also thought it was a downright bizarre, ill-considered and deeply puzzling choice," he added, noting that McCain had spent the campaign slating Obama as inexperienced only to pick a novice politician himself.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091029...xsY2xpbnRvbm4-

Can't say I blame Obama there; who wants the Ex hanging around the house, telling what to do ...