When I was younger I took notice of Joe Biden in 1987, as he geared up for his first (and most disastrous) campaign for president. I really liked what I saw at first until things went sideways and speeches were given that had been given by other politicians before and...well it was a whole thing and then he was no longer running for president. But he seemed earnest and generally likable, if a bit goofy and always struck me as a pretty solidly liberal senator. Flash forward to 2020 and the narrative is Biden is not just a moderate but “barely different than Trump” and actually a “conservative” (as a fan of Medicare for All {I am Canadian by birth, after all}, I find it odd how things have tracked so fast that seeking a public option instead of MfA RIGHT NOW, marks one as a raging conservative). I found a list compiled by the crazed right wing campaign manager for the crazed right wing opponent of Biden’s, from his last campaign for Senate, the infamous Christine O’Donnell, and damn if it doesn’t make Biden look awfully good to me again (I’m not linking, would prefer not to provide the traffic) . All the right people rank him low, all the right orgs give him high scores. This was meant as a dig but it does give us some perspective on his record:
- On November 29, 2007, Biden announced plans to impeach Pres. Bush for any military action to halt Iran's development of nuclear bombs threatening U.S. cities. Details here.
- Biden was then the third most liberal U.S. senator, according to The National Journal, based on Biden's 2006 voting record. Biden's U.S. Senate votes were rated more liberal than Ted Kennedy's.
- The non-partisan National Journal found that Biden voted for liberal positions in Congress 76.8% of the time.
- Biden received an 8% approval rating for his votes in the Senate by the U.S. Border Council, showing Biden's support for unsafe, uncontrolled borders in an age of terrorism.
- Biden earned an "F" (11%) from the National Taxpayers Union for his Senate votes in 2006, as a "Big Spender."
- Biden voted to provide social benefits to illegal aliens in May 2006.
- Biden supported a path to citizenship for illegal aliens.
- Biden received an "F" from the National Rifle Association.
- Biden received a rating of 16% by the Christian Coalition for his anti-family voting record.
- Biden voted to allow gun-manufacturers to be sued by trial lawyers.
- Biden was given a 32% approval rating from the United States Chamber of Commerce, indicating an anti-business voting record.
- U.S. senator Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) said Biden is "ultra-liberal."
- Biden voted against parental notification before underage girls have abortions (which could be covering up statutory rape by older men).
- Biden voted no in July 2006 on notifying parents of minors who are taken to another state for an abortion (which could be coerced).
- Biden was the most pro-abortion senator in the U.S. Senate, not only for his beliefs, but because of his relentless manipulation of the confirmation process for judges, to frustrate the will of the American people, and his distortion of the legal system to promote abortion.
- Biden received a 100% approval rating for his votes in the Senate from NARAL Pro-Choice America in four of the last five years (36% in one year, 2003).
- Biden led the left-wing political lynching of Robert Bork in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- Biden received a 0% rating from the National Right to Life Committee for his votes during the 107th Congress.
- Biden voted against criminal penalties for harming an unborn baby during the commission of another crime in March 2004.
- Biden voted against a ban on abortions on military bases.
- In 2007, Biden voted against a congressional resolution designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
- Biden said in July 2007 that he really voted for the Congressional Authorization for military force in Iraq (effectively a declaration of war)...not to go to war in Iraq.
- Biden wanted to end America's efforts to isolate Iran and its efforts to restrain Iran's imperialistic and colonial ambitions in Lebanon and Iraq.
- In June and July 2007, Biden called for immediately deploying U.S. troops in Darfur (Sudan). Biden foolishly says Muslim jihadists can be stopped in a religious civil war in Darfur with only 2,500 U.S. soldiers. This would be a repeat of the "Black Hawk Down" disaster in Mogadishu, Somalia, in Clinton's first year, with too few U.S. soldiers under-equipped.
- Biden opposes U.S. financing of abstinence programs to combat HIV-AIDS in Africa. In 2007, he cosponsored the HIV Prevention Act, which would end President Bush's mandate that one third of funds be earmarked to abstinence-based prevention programs.
- Biden demanded that the Pentagon under President George W. Bush announce our plans for winning the war in Iraq in public (including to our enemies), merely to satisfy liberal curiosity and impatience, rather than allow President Bush to make plans in secret for military security and the protection of our armed forces.
- In September 2000, Biden voted to allow proliferation of military technology by China. That is, he voted against trade sanctions on China even if China is caught selling high-grade military weapons around the world.
Hell yeah! I’m in. While the concept of “the center” has moved far to the right in this country, it feels like the same line has moved to the left in our party. I’m as left as they come, but even by my standards, Joe Biden may be less to my liking on several issues, but he’s not that far away on many, many more…
(Edited to add: Again, this is not my set of bullets, but from a right wing blog called American Thinker with their very worried take on Biden {and again again: not giving them a link}.)