For those of you who have seen my comments on this website, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve gone through almost the entire Democratic field (and slightly outside of it if you count my support for Vice President Gore) in search of a candidate. Recently, I have come to the conclusion that Senator Biden was my best choice for a Presidential candidate.
My issues in this election are simple: Foreign Policy and Executive Power. In my mind, we need a President who not only knows that there are messes, but one who has put forth plans to clean them up. Senator Biden is the candidate who – in my mind – is best capable of doing so.
First, let’s start with his answers to a recent Boston Globe questionnaire. While some of the candidates have given good answers and – as I am typing this – there is a diary on the recommended list detailing the answers which Senator Obama provided. Senator Obama’s answers are indeed worthy of praise, but, they are not the best set of answers provided.
Senator Biden’s answer to question 1 sets the tone for the rest of the 12 questions.
No. The President is not above the law, he is bound by valid acts of Congress. Our laws state clearly that no one can wiretap Americans without a warrant. By willfully authorizing warrantless wiretaps of Americans, the President violated the law, and he should be held accountable.
Isn’t that what all of us have been championing all along? An Executive that is not above the law, and who says that he is not above it. This runs directly counter to the claims of previous (and current) Administrations have claimed during the course of my life. Though I wasn’t cognizant of it during the first few years of my life (which started at the end of Ronald Reagan’s second term in 1988) Executive Power has been expanding. It hasn’t been gradual, and it – sadly – hasn’t been confined to one Party. Presidents have claimed the right to go it alone against the Congress and against the rule of law. They have claimed the unilateral right to decide and President Bush has taken that claim to a new extreme. Senator Biden would change that.
Those Presidents have claimed that so-called ‘surgical strikes’ are the best method of diplomacy. Senator Biden understands that – in addition to being unconstitutional – these strikes are a terrible method of diplomacy. In his answer to question 2, Senator Biden says what most of us have been saying since we first heard about President Bush’s plans for Iran.
*What looks "limited" to us almost certainly would be seen as something much bigger by the Iranians and could spark an all-out war.*
There’s only thing worse than a poorly planned, intentional war: an unplanned, unintentional war.
Senator Biden’s views on Executive Power do not stop there however. In answering Question 4 (which dealt with signing statements), he gave an excellent response. In it, he came out and said "I will not use a signing statement to attempt to override a valid act of Congress." Now for me, that’s marriage-talk.
Furthermore, Senator Biden has come out quite clearly against President Bush’s systematic disregard for international treaties. In his answer to question 8, Senator Biden – after declaring that, as per Article VI of the Constitution – said that treaties are the law of the land and that the President "has no power to disregard treaties."
I recommend that anyone interested in seeing more of Senator Biden’s responses visit the Boston Globe page (here’s another link for your convenience). If you visit that page, you will learn that Senator Biden has introduce the National Security With Justice Act which explicitly prohibits torture and which extends Habeas Corpus to America’s detainee population.
Senator Biden’s views against the consolidation of information do not stop with the restrictions he would place on the Executive Branch, but extend into other areas as well; for instance, to ban genetic discrimination by employers. Senator Biden recognizes that the genetic code of an individual is something which belongs to them (and in some cases, to their identical twin!), not to their employer or insurance company. Senator Biden recognizes that the type of information contained in an individual’s genetic code is not something which should be of any interest to corporate America – and considering that Senator Biden is from Delaware, that’s a pretty courageous stance.
Finally, I must admit to having a much more personal reason for settling on Senator Biden: he reminds me of my father. My father is a public school teacher – and has been for more than 35 years. He (obviously) didn’t go in it for the money, but he did it because he wanted to help kids. In order to do that, my father taught in the Philadelphia school system for nearly a third of his adult life before he was forced to leave after my mother died and he needed to find a way to pay not only for her remaining medical bills, but for his two sons as well (I was just out of 2nd grade, and my younger brother was just getting finished with kindergarten).
Senator Biden underwent a similar route. His path to public service was not through urban education, but through politics. Serving first on the New Castle Country Council, Senator Biden later ran for Senate – and won – at the remarkable age of 29. Shortly after, tragedy struck. Senator Biden’s wife and youngest daughter were killed in a car accident. Unlike my father – who had time to prepare for the inevitable – Senator Biden had no time to say his goodbyes.
After such a tragedy, a weaker person would have crumbled. Senator Biden, however, with the support of his family, did not. After being sworn in at his son’s hospital bed, Senator Biden went on to serve in the Senate. He now has over 35 years of public service in elected offices to his name, and has led a distinguished career in the Senate. He wrote the Violence Against Women Act and guided it through the Senate in spite of Republican opposition. This act followed on the heels of the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 which concluded that domestic violence was a concern to world wide civil society. Here, Senator Biden demonstrated an eagerness to work with the International community for human rights.
Some Candidates talk an awful lot about family values: we call them Republicans. Other Candidates live the values that other candidates crow so loudly about: we call them Democrats. Senator Biden is one such Democrat. Following his first wife’s death, Senator Biden and his family pulled together to raise his two sons. Senator Biden, in keeping with those family values, has commuted home to Delaware each night from Washington DC, and has done so since 1973 when he took office.
Senator Biden, like my father (and like every other candidate), is not a flawless person. They have both made their mistakes, and I have serious issues with those mistakes. But, at the end of the day, if asked ‘do you respect this man’, I would answer an unequivocal and resounding "yes". If asked ‘would you vote for this man’, I would answer the same.