Here we have reached the big day and we have essentially a showdown of two titans, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Others have come and gone, but these two remain. Supporters of both candidates seem me unusually vitriolic about the other candidate. They are nothing, apparently, if not loyal and vocal.
Here's my take:
They are both excellent leaders, and we'd be lucky to have either represent our nation to the world.
I like this outcome to a degree. I wish it wasn't so vitriolic, but at minimum I think it's a huge plus that people are so engaged. I am truly happy with either one -- I like many things about Mrs. Clinton -- I think she is articulate, intelligent, realistic and hopeful. I like many things about Mr. Obama -- I find him fun to listen to, wise, and thoughtful -- I am truly thrilled with how he is trying to cross boundaries of race and class. He is truly trying to bridge a divide.
But I shall vote for neither of them. I will cast my vote for Joe Biden.
Joe Biden is the smartest member of the U.S. Senate since Lyndon Johnson.
He is the candidate I would have voted for in 1988 (I was 1 month too young). In the 1992 election I supported, proudly, Paul Tsongas. I later was duly impressed with Hillary Clinton, commenting on election night, "my god, I wish SHE was going to be president, we'd all be better off."
While I am aware of several things,
- Mr. Biden's withdrawl from the race
- his basic snowballs chance
- his controversial nature and big mouth
- he's from Delaware, the most meaningless state in Electoral Politics
Here is why I will vote for Mighty Joe nonetheless.
I am truly convinced he would make the best president. I believe he offers the wisdom and experience our nation needs and I believe Joe would offer hope for peace and prosperity to our nation. He is strongly pro-Union, he is strongly in support of a women's right to choose, he is wise, articulate and a visionary.
He, among all others, is the candidate Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton quoted in the debates. He is a leader among leaders.
If you are like me, and you often stay up all night watching CSPAN -- then you have seen Joe go toe-to-toe with Dick Cheney and the Bush cronies and seen him defend what is right with passion.
You may have also been lucky enough to catch him during the hearings on crime & victims rights, where he offered incredible tenderness and compassion to victims of horrific crimes who had the strength to walk up those steps and tell their stories to the entire nation.
If you saw that, you probably noticed something very important about him during those hearings:
He wasn't making speeches and politicing. He was LISTENING to them.
I believe in my heart that both Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton have the potential to be great presidents.
But I also believe that they have learned from the best -- that the ability to LISTEN to the people is what sets Joe Biden apart from the rest -- that ability to HEAR the people rather than talk AT them. I see now Mrs. Clinton emulating that day after day. And I know it is something Mr. Obama's impassioned supporters are cueing him to as well.
I respectfully acknowledge that both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama will take what they learned from Joe Biden through the rest of this campaign. And I swear, I will proudly cast my vote for one of them this November without reservation or hesitation.
But this is the last chance I will have in my life to vote for Joe Biden for President. I know he will not carry my current state (NY) or my home state (LA) -- it was unlikely at best he would even have carried Delaware. But I will still proudly cast my vote for Joe Biden.
I am voting for wisdom. I am voting for the thinker. I am voting for substance instead of style. I am voting for a person who could get us out of Iraq rather than someone who could TALK about getting us out of Iraq.
If everything bears out that we are reading today, Democratic primary participation is way up, which means voter interest and participation is way up -- this is the legacy of Joe Biden in action -- he has long complained that what the status-quo Democrats are doing is turing people OFF politics not ON -- listening, thinking, and hearing -- that is what I believe will bring voters to the polls on November 7th.