Daily Iowan Manufactures Joe Biden's Presidential Candidacy Announcement

How pathetic is it for a candidate to announce his intention to run for the presidency and the few who have heard about it greet the announcement with almost universal derision? Not quite as pathetic as a newspaper reporter who stretches a not-quite announcement into a full blown story about that candidate running for president. Such was the case with Dean Treftz of the University of Iowa student newspaper, the Daily Iowan.

In a bid to make news where none really existed, the Treftz story begins with this bold headline: "Biden says he's going to run." The story itself, like the headline, starts out boldly enough:

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., bucked a trend by announcing his intention to run for president over the weekend - distinguishing himself from other visiting hopefuls who have dodged the question on their respective visits to Iowa.

That sounds pretty positive but when you get to the actual Biden quote, it sounds like much less than an announcement of presidential candidacy:

"I'm coming back next year to do something else," Biden said near the end of his speech in Cedar Rapids, referring to next fall's run-up to Iowa's January 2008 caucuses, which signal the official start of the presidential election cycle.

Since this falls into the category of manufactured news, Dean Treftz might have gotten himself a headstart in getting a real job with much of the MSM since they have not shown themselves to be averse to manufacturing news. The one positive side effect of this "announcement" for Senator Biden is that this manufactured story was picked up by the news services as a legitimate story and has been commented upon in the blogosphere. As a result, Biden can see that he might as well spare himself the money and effort because, if the comments by his fellow liberals are a guide, there is almost no enthusiasm for his presidential bid. Here are just a few comments from the leftwing Democratic Underground about Biden:

blah. The less you know about Biden the better he looks.

Freakin' bloviating blowhard.

War on Plagiarism Threat Level: Red: Severe Risk

The most dangerous place in America, is between
Joe Biden and a television camera...

Every time Biden opens his mouth it just seems way more obviously calculating and designed to get him press and attention than it does for most other people.

So perhaps Senator Biden should be grateful for this bit of manufactured news from the Daily Iowan. It shows that he has almost no support for his presidential candidacy even from his fellow Democrats. To see more scornful commentary about Biden from the Democratic Underground, check out the DUmmie FUnnies.