BIDEN staying in!!!!!!!

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880103046

Underdog Biden sticking with race beyond Iowa
By NICOLE GAUDIANO • GANNETT NEWS SERVICE • January 3, 2008

No matter what caucus-goers decide Thursday night in Iowa, Sen. Joe Biden said he?s in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination until late January.

Biden has said previously that it would take a fourth-place or better showing in the caucuses to keep him competing.

But after seeing growing crowds at his events and a surge of cash coming in over the Internet - $80,000 in donations on Dec. 31 - he said he would evaluate his position after contests in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina where he has organizations.

"My intention is at the end of that time to sit down and say, 'OK am I in this or am I not in this,' " he said during an interview at the Polk County Convention Center. "Something?s happening. You?ve seen the crowds - they?re real."

Biden had been counting on a surprise showing in Iowa to bring him media attention that to date has been showered on frontrunners, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards.

To him, a surprise would mean beating New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who has surpassed him in fundraising and most Iowa polls.

"I don?t think anybody thinks I'm going to come close," he said shortly before the caucus. "I think they think, Joe Biden, he's the qualified guy to be president, but he has no money, and he's a good guy but he just hasn't gotten any traction. That's what I think the expectation nationally is."

Biden has spent his campaign fighting that perception, telling audiences most recently that they will be surprised how many stand with them if they stand for him.

"You can't tell me this race is over," he told a crowd of about 170 gathered at a cozy Irish bar called Jameson's in Waterloo Thursday morning.

Roger Goudschaal, a retired teacher from Tripoli, said after the event that hes convinced Biden is the most prepared candidate. But he still thought he?d be in the minority in his caucus.

"I'll do my best but I?m also realistic to know it will be difficult to move Hillary and Barack supporters,? he said. "I just think Joe's got a really uphill battle."

In the days before the caucus, Biden's momentum seemed to pick up with larger crowds, including more than 500 who turned out for a noon event in Des Moines on New Year?s Day.

While supporters at the Waterloo event held signs that read ?shock the world,? Biden emphasized that he?s best prepared to go toe-to-toe with Republicans in a general election and deal with world crises, including instability in nuclear-armed Pakistan and the war in Iraq.

One of his biggest laugh lines has been about Richardson's comment that the president should send Vice President Dick Cheney to help settle the crisis in Pakistan, where riots followed President Pervez Musharraf?s suspension of the constitution and the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

"God love him," Biden said to a laughing crowd.

Richardson said Biden shouldn?t talk.

"Senator Biden's been chairman of the foreign relations committee and he hasn't done much to get Musharraf to stop being a tyrant?," he said during an interview.


Biden said this is his last run for the White House.

He spent a total of three months campaigning in Iowa since declaring his candidacy in January, racking up endorsements from local leaders and 16 state legislators who helped build his organization throughout the state.

His family played a huge role in his campaign here, from keeping him on schedule to speaking on his behalf as surrogates.

Fundraising has been difficult. Biden ended the last fundraising quarter with little more than $800,000 to spend on the primaries, but he had enough for his family to zip around eastern Iowa on Thursday in a charter jet.

He was certified in December for an additional $857,189 by the Federal election Commission, but hasn?t announced whether he will take public matching funds.

Biden has been telling supporters that the first poll is the Iowa caucus. He said he has believed all along that he would beat any of the frontrunners if able to go head to head with them on issues and receive media coverage.

Why stick with the race?

"I think I'm uniquely qualified based on what I?ve been doing to lead the country at this moment," he said.

I hope that this is true.

-P

The text says;

No matter what caucus-goers decide Thursday night in Iowa, Sen. Joe Biden said he?s in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination until late January.


So he said it before the end of the results.

I'll stay with you as long as you stay with me.

-P

but it looks like he said that this morning. Shit.

I doubt he will chnage is mind now....we need him to go on. So the actual votes will be counted. People need to see that people were for him. Before they caved. Many people don't understand the caucuses. They don't know the way the votes are counted. NH needs to be heard first. And Joe has some support in NV as well. SC, remember he was at 10%.

Joe; "I don?t think anybody thinks I'm going to come close," he said shortly before the caucus. "I think they think, Joe Biden, he's the qualified guy to be president, but he has no money, and he's a good guy but he just hasn't gotten any traction. That's what I think the expectation nationally is."

I'm apprehensive, but unless he gets talked out of it, I say he's in.

what?

don't do this to me.

I really do....

Yay!

she is on it!

But it sounds as though she'll confirm or not when Joe shows up. I wonder if he's deciding right now....

We still have a chance. Maybe they can now get off the stage show and get down to issues that matter.

The caucuses and primaries are not American Idol.

The other problem is that we had too many good candidates at once.