Quote:
Originally Posted by KSigkid
One thing that struck me as incorrect off the bat...I didn't think Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism. If they're talking about the '88 Presidential campaign, I thought he stopped the campaign because of the aneurysm.
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From Wikipedia FWIW:
Main article: Joe Biden presidential campaign, 1988
"In 1987, Biden ran as a Democratic presidential candidate, formally declaring his candidacy at the Wilmington train station on June 9, 1987.[83] When the campaign began, Biden was considered a potentially strong candidate because of his moderate image, his speaking ability on the stump, his appeal to Baby Boomers, his high profile position as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the upcoming Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination hearings, and his fundraising appeal: he raised $1.7 million in the first quarter of 1987, more than any other candidate.[84][85] Biden received considerable attention in the summer of 1986 when he excoriated Secretary of State George Shultz at a Senate hearing because of the Reagan administration's support of South Africa, which continued to support a system of apartheid.[86]
By August 1987, Biden's campaign, whose messaging was confused due to staff rivalries,[87] had begun to lag behind those of Michael Dukakis and Richard Gephardt,[84] although he had still raised more funds than all candidates but Dukakis, and was seeing an upturn in Iowa polls.[88][85]
In September 1987, the campaign ran into trouble when he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party.[89] Kinnock’s speech included the lines:
"Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? [Then pointing to his wife in the audience] Why is Glenys the first woman in her family in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Was it because all our predecessors were thick?"
While Biden’s speech included the lines:
"I started thinking as I was coming over here, why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university? [Then pointing to his wife in the audience] Why is it that my wife who is sitting out there in the audience is the first in her family to ever go to college? Is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright? Is it because I'm the first Biden in a thousand generations to get a college and a graduate degree that I was smarter than the rest?"
Though Biden had cited Kinnock as the source for the formulation many times before, he made no reference to the original source at the August 23 Iowa State Fair debate in question or in another appearance.[90][91]
While political speeches often appropriate ideas and language from each other, Biden's use came under more scrutiny because he somewhat distorted his own family's background in order to match Kinnock's.[5][91]
A few days later, Biden's plagiarism incident in law school came to light.[15]
It was also revealed that when earlier questioned by a New Hampshire resident about his grades in law school, Biden had inaccurately recollected graduating in the "top half" of his class when he actually graduated 76th from 85, that he had attended law school on a full scholarship, and had received three degrees in college.[92] In fact, he had earned a single B.A. with a double major in history and political science, and had received a half scholarship to law school based on financial need with some additional assistance based in part upon academics.[92]
The Kinnock and school revelations were magnified by the limited amount of other news about the nomination race at the time,[93] when most of the public were not yet paying attention to any of the campaigns; Biden thus fell into what Washington Post writer Paul Taylor described as that year's trend, a "trial by media ordeal".[94] Biden lacked a strong demographic or political group of support to help him survive the crisis.[88][95]
He withdrew from the nomination race on September 23, 1987, saying his candidacy had been overrun by "the exaggerated shadow" of his past mistakes.[96] After Biden withdrew from the race, it was revealed that the
Dukakis campaign had secretly made a video showcasing the Biden–Kinnock comparison and distributed it to news outlets.[97] Also later in 1987, the Delaware Supreme Court's Board of Professional Responsibility cleared Biden of the law school plagiarism charges regarding his standing as a lawyer, saying Biden had "not violated any rules".[98]"
FWIW: About the aneurysm, again from Wikipedia: "Biden had felt poorly physically during parts of the campaign, suffering repeated headaches and at one point in September 1987 having to halt a speech in New Hampshire for 15 minutes after feeling faint.[27]
In February 1988, he suffered the first of two brain aneurysms that required life-saving surgery and seven months away from the Senate in order to convalesce from.[35][36][37] Biden and others would speculate that had his campaign not ended early, the aneurysms might have been more severe or detected later and that he might not have lived out the year.[7][27]"
I think the poll question had it right. But then I think the media played a huge role in this election. The coverage was in no way equally as critical of the candidates.
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