Is "Joe Being Joe" Good for Gun Control?

By Samantha Scinicariello on February 26, 2013

So does vice president Joe Biden really need to be the mouth piece for the White House regarding gun policy? It would appear that “Joe being Joe” may not be the best way for the administration to convince the public to support their ideas. In the past he has had a habit of giving speeches riddled with gaffes, so much so that you often find yourself wondering how the administration is not embarrassed by them. He has in the past asked a man who was in a wheelchair to stand up, a crowd that did not have chairs to sit down, and said that he was very proud to be president. So do you really want to put him in charge of trying to sell policies that, according to Gallup, at least half of Americans are not in favor of?

Maybe, maybe not. This past week Biden made headlines for making a comment that some believed was sexist to Parent’s Magazine. Speaking about guns he told the questioner that AR-15′s are unnecessary and if a woman believes there is an intruder she should simply fire two warning shots with a shot gun. The woman who asked this question later told fox news that his comments were, “poor advice that comes off a little sexist, like let me tell you what you need’ verses arm yourself or protect yourself in the way you feel necessary”. We may not all agree with her interpretation of what was said, but if someone feels this way, it reveals that Biden’s comments are sometimes more hurtful than helpful.

So what is the point of all this? My point is to show that while I am concerned about the vice president’s role in speaking on gun control, the administration does not seem to be worried at all. It appears as though they simply have come to expect the vice president to say things that will at the very least keep people from taking his words seriously. So why are they so confident given his track record? My guess is that this administration is not as concerned about the nation’s approval as many of us would like. Governor Cuomo’s popularity took a nose dive after pushing through harsher gun laws in New York, and he is not exactly in a conservative state. One would hope the administration would look at this and maybe tailor their message, or just drop it entirely, but they have not. So if they are not concerned about our approval, then who is it that they’re trying to please?

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