As most of you already know, Joe Biden -- who among other things is the man who put Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court even though he KNEW that Thomas committed perjury -- is running for president in 2008.
The best way to stop him and other corporate DINO types from running is to find a strong candidate of our own to get behind, as soon as we can. But we also need to be ready with ammo to shoot down the DINO that the corporatists will be trying to shove down our throats. This diary is dedicated to doing both of these things. (More -- including an Update [2005-6-27 14:56:26 by Phoenix Woman]: -- after the jump.)
What I'm looking for is a two-pronged effort. Both prongs are essential -- we can't do one or the other; we must do both.
If we just shoot down the DINO candidacies without having one or two strong Democratic candidates for replacements, we'll just be tagged "obstructionist whiners" and one of the DINOs will end up winning. (In other words, the situation the French were in when they didn't back Jospin and were forced to choose between Chirac and LePen.)
If we push a good candidate without making sure that the DINOs are attacked, our good person -- who at this early stage will likely not have the money of the corporate-backed DINOs -- will go down in defeat. However, it won't cost us much to spread oppo -- especially since the DINOs generate so much of it on themselves.
Let's discuss.
UPDATE: There are those of you who say that Biden's not a DINO. You must not have read the Podvin article to which I linked. Here it is, edited only to conform with fair-use regs:
Clarence Thomas sits on the Supreme Court because Joe Biden is a coward. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Biden allowed Republicans to hijack the Thomas confirmation hearings. He watched passively while the nominee’s perjury was overshadowed by vicious right wing attacks upon Dr. Anita Hill. Witnesses who were prepared to substantiate Hill’s allegations of professional misconduct against Thomas were not summoned because Biden’s top priority was mollifying his reactionary colleagues.
Biden became enraged during the Thomas hearings, but his hostility was not directed toward the Republicans who smeared an honorable woman or at the judicial nominee who lied under oath. Instead, the senator furiously denounced civil rights groups and women’s organizations that claimed they had convinced him to derail the nomination. “Joe Biden is not in anyone’s pocket!” he thundered.
The would-be Democratic presidential nominee may not be in the pocket of the Democratic base, but he is definitely in the pocket of Corporate America. Biden co-sponsored legislation to change bankruptcy law so that it increasingly benefits big business at the expense of consumers. He voted against limiting predatory lending practices and against protecting citizens victimized by identity theft. The senator also endorsed Paul Wolfowitz for the presidency of the World Bank, a position from which Wolfowitz will coercively transfer Third World resources to multinational conglomerates.
A self-described “national security Democrat who favors a muscular foreign policy”, Biden has referred to Ronald Reagan’s 1982 Evil Empire speech as a model of internationalist wisdom. Biden justified his vote to authorize conquering Iraq by citing Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. The senator also warned of the link between Hussein and al Qaida. When these pretenses were debunked, Biden dismissed the relevance of the lies and effusively praised George W. Bush for defying anti-war critics.
Following the revelations of systematic torture at Abu Ghraib, Biden defended Bush by saying that the level of abuse was being grossly exaggerated. He emphasized that American torture is significantly more humane than the torture inflicted during the Hussein regime. He lauded Alberto Gonzales, the author of the administration memo that posited torturing prisoners is permissible under the Geneva Conventions. The senator did seek the removal of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, but his stated rationale was that Rumsfeld’s departure would shield Bush from blame.
... Biden defended Bush’s authoritarian USA Patriot Act against criticism from liberals, falsely declaring that the legislation safeguarded individual liberties. He has consistently voted to help Bush stock the federal judiciary with extremists like D. Brooks Smith, a right wing jurist who disputes the relevance and constitutionality of the Violence Against Women Act.
Biden’s vote to confirm Smith is revealing. The senator was the passionately eloquent sponsor of the anti-violence bill and then supported a judicial nominee who considered the legislation unconstitutional. This duality is hardly aberrant. Biden routinely disagrees with the Bush administration while enabling the very behavior he condemns, as when the senator castigated John Ashcroft’s Justice Department for violating the Constitution and then voted to give Ashcroft more power. Biden’s pattern of taking the progressive position immediately prior to sabotaging it renders irrelevant his high liberal voting rating.
The senator has a reputation for bluntness because he rarely hesitates to be critical, but Biden remains steadfast only in his criticism of Democrats. He has condemned Howard Dean for critiquing the shortcomings of the GOP, warning that Dean’s future as Democratic Party Chairman is at risk. Biden criticized Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice for dissembling during her confirmation hearings, but nevertheless voted to confirm her. It is typical of Biden to threaten liberals for being honest while rewarding conservatives for lying. It is also typical of him to capitulate after acknowledging right wing malfeasance.
[...]
... Rather than drawing clear distinctions between the parties, Biden blurs the divide. The senator insists on referring to conservative failures as “our” failures while he futilely pursues a unilateral end to partisanship. He values “unity” over principle, as demonstrated when he said John McCain should be the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee even though McCain is more conservative than Zell Miller. And while Biden is highly intolerant of flaws in his Democratic allies, he does not apply similar harsh standards to Republicans. His approach to politics exudes weakness. Having experienced the consequences of nominating weak candidates, Democrats would be masochistic to repeat the mistake.
[...]
