Yes, it’s too early to talk in-depth about the 2016 presidential race, but with Joe Biden publicly telegraphing his interest and Hillary Rodham Clinton back in the national spotlight with today’s Benghazi hearings, why not speculate on what a Clinton-Biden matchup could look like?
We don’t have to go that far back in time to get a sense of it -- the two already ran against each other in 2008, although Biden wasn't considered a leading candidate back then. Here’s a look back at some choice Biden-on-Clinton comments from the presidential primaries. And as you'll see, there wasn’t that much mud being slung.
Biden questioned Clinton's bipartisanship on health care.
In a 2007 debate in Iowa, Biden questioned Clinton’s ability to pull in Republican votes for any kind of health care reform. But before doing so, he professed his love for Clinton: “I love Hillary Clinton. I’ve been getting beat up because I’m always saying nice things about her because they think I want to be her secretary of State. It has nothing to do with that.”
Biden questioned if Clinton could handle the pressure of the White House.
Biden told the Huffington Post on the eve of his announcement that support for Barack Obama and Clinton was "thin," and that the "more people learn about them and how they handle pressure, the more their support will evaporate."
That prediction clearly didn't pan out. Biden also told the Huffington Post that voters were a “lifetime” away from making Clinton the 2008 nominee. "I think she's incredibly formidable and the odds-on pick right now. But this is a marathon."
Biden thought Clinton should have his job.
Two months before the 2008 general election -- and after he became Obama’s running mate -- Biden suggested that Clinton would make for a better vice president than he would. Try running away from that quote.
“Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me,” he said at a town hall-style meeting in New Hampshire. He added to the compliments by saying, “She's qualified to be president. I mean that sincerely, she's first rate.”
Biden ripped Clinton’s support of the Iraq war.
After officially filing to run for the Democratic nomination, Biden appeared on Good Morning America and said that Clinton’s plan for the war in Iraq would be a “disaster” and that it was “counterproductive.”
Biden waxed sarcastic on Clinton’s Iraq proposal.
Biden told the New York Observer: "From the part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, 'We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.' We’re not going to equip them? O.K. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea."
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