With Senator Barack Obama choosing Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential choice, he has chosen a powerful partner to help win back the White House in November.
But, before I discuss Obama’s choice, I want to clearly state that those who still support Hillary Clinton are being selfish at this point, especially when this one comment came into my email box from a Clinton supporter, “If Hillary is not the nominee then her supporters must not vote for Obama. Voting for Obama would be stabbing Hillary in the back.” I would like to remind Clinton supporters of this quote, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one,” which was cited by Captain Spock towards the end of the Star Trek movie, “The Wrath of Khan.” I know citing a quote from a movie is simplistic; but applicable at this moment in time.
The needs of those most needy in this country, the middle class, those who are going through foreclosure, those without health insurance, those of us who are paying higher gas prices, higher food prices, et al are far more important than any one elected official, even Hillary Clinton. I do not think that some Clinton supporters are thinking of the bigger picture at this point. The fate of this country and its direction are far more important than one individual.
This election is far greater than just one person and no one person is preordained to hold the office of the President of the United States. That office belongs to we the people.
By the way, this one Clinton supporter continually floods my email box with anti-Obama emails which puzzles me greatly since I feel that she is only trying to help McCain. While she has been highly critical of both Bush and Republicans, shouldn’t she instead help Obama who has called Bush and Republicans on this war in Iraq and many other issues that are plaguing our country?
During the 2004 presidential campaign as a supporter of former Governor Howard Dean who is now the DNC chair, and as it became apparent that he would not be the nominee of the Democratic Party, for the good of this country, many Dean supporters like me threw our support behind Senator John Kerry. In my opinion he was not the best candidate that the Democrats could have chosen, but it was a chance to take back the White House from both the Republicans and, more importantly, President George W. Bush who is responsible for the deaths of over 4,000 soldiers and one million innocent Iraqis. A war, by the way, that Senator Hillary Clinton voted in support of without reading the intelligence report proving Bush’s assertions a lie.
During the primaries when so many thought it inevitable that Senator Clinton would become the nominee of the Democratic Party, I wrote this article, Is Pres. Bush endorsing Senator Clinton? Within this article, I did show the cozy relationship between both President Bush and Senator Clinton by citing an article proving that fact. It was alarming to read a Times Online article written by Sarah Baxter where she wrote, “Bush believes Clinton will win the Democratic nomination and has privately advised her not to voice antiwar rhetoric on Iraq that she may come to regret, according to a new book, The Evangelical President, by Bill Sammon. “It’s different being a candidate and being the president.”
In juxtaposition to this cozy relationship, there was a speech given by Senator Joe Biden in the well of the Senate which can be viewed on YouTube.com. This is the passion we need to finally end this war in Iraq which, to me, is still the most important issue that will face the new president of this country; and while John McCain was a promoter of Bush’s surge strategy, senators like Biden were not. In this feed the operative word he uses is courage, and we need courage to face what has gone wrong in this country and how we deal with other nations. Courage means that in order to fix what has gone wrong in this country, it will take a great deal of sacrifice from all of us and not the kind where we are told to go shopping.
I seem to remember in one Democratic debate when a question was posed to all prospective nominees about how they would deal with the turmoil taking place in Pakistan, it was Senator Biden who said that he had been on the phone with the former president of that country. This is the experience he brings to the table.
In an article written by Brent Budowsky for the Huffington Post, he wrote of Biden, “It was Joe Biden and Joe Biden alone among the presidential candidates in both parties who warned, and warned again about the dangers of Pakistan, who offered constructive proposals to get out of Iraq, and opposed the Iran hysteria of Lieberman-Kyle.”
Speaking of Lieberman, there had been speculation that he would be chosen as McCain’s vice presidential choice and, as we all know, he also has a cozy relationship with not only Bush but senate Republicans.
In an AP report announcing Biden’s selection as Obama’s running mate, they wrote, “Across more than 30 years in the Senate, he has served at various times not only as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee but also as head of the Judiciary Committee, with its jurisdiction over anti-crime legislation, Supreme Court nominees and Constitutional issues.”
In addressing the Constitution as it applies to warrantless wiretapping, this CBS article reported of Biden, “We all share the goal of capturing the terrorists and protecting national security and we can do that without violating the privacy of the American people," he added. "Like President Bush, Sen. McCain is presenting the American people with a false choice—national security or civil liberties. We need a President who understands that we can have both. It’s what our values and our Constitution demands.” They also quoted Biden stating this of Bush, "President Bush chose to ignore the law and now it seems Senator McCain will continue this policy."
While some articles such as the one above cite that Biden is a long orator, perhaps it is time for this country to pay attention to the intricacies of our shared destiny instead of sound bites. It is, after all, our future that is at stake.
Some are speculating that McCain will choose his former rival Mitt Romney as his running mate and I do think that Biden can go toe-to-toe with him citing his foreign relations experience to Romney having no such experience. Romney is a not yet ready for prime time running mate. We have already experienced what a lack of foreign relations experience can do this country and we need a vice president who is ready to hit the ground running upon being elected.
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