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http://www.cq.com/flatfiles/editorialFiles/temporaryItems/biden_gives_odds_on.html?do
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Biden Gives Odds on Messing Up
By Edward Epstein, CQ Staff
CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
Feb. 6, 2009 12:15 p.m.
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is nothing if not optimistic. So it was a little surprising when he hedged a bit earlier today, telling House Democrats there is "30 percent chance we'll get it wrong."
He was referring to efforts by the new administration and the Congress to address what he called a "constellation of crises" at home and abroad that pose great risks for the nation.
"If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there's still a 30 percent chance we'll get it wrong," he told the lawmakers at their policy retreat in Williamsburg, Va.
Biden, who stopped at the meeting on his way to an international security conference in Munich, said "not since World War II, at least, has a caucus gathered with so much at stake for our country, with the stakes so high." He listed the economic crisis and ongoing fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan as the most pressing issues.
Biden used a football analogy to describe the situation in Iraq, saying the United States is "on the 20-yard-line" and "driving toward the goal." But sticking with his football metaphor, the vice president said the situation in Afghanistan is much more serious now. The effort there, he said, "is on the 20-yard-line with 80 yards to go. We've got a long, long way to go."
He also warned that the United States will have to extend a new aid package to Pakistan to help fight the Taliban influence.
He thanked the lawmakers for passing an $819 billion stimulus bill (HR 1).
"In these uncharted waters, you stepped up in a big way," he said.