Joe Biden: Most Significant Struggle Since 1932

By: Lowell
Published On: 2/6/2005 2:00:00 AM

In a 45-minute speech at last night's Jefferson Jackson Day dinner in Richmond, covered by two members of RaisingKaine, Joe Biden gave a powerful, blistering keynote address which tore into the Republicans as dangerous extremists who "say things that sound crazy, but are absolutely serious."

Before getting to the core of his speech, Biden teased the crowd that he and Mark Warner could run in 2008 ("My name is Joe Biden and I'm here to audition for Vice President of the United States of America" and even more obviously, "When I'm Mark Warner's Vice President").  Biden also hinted strongly that Mark Warner might run in 2008, and that if he did he would make a fine candidate.

In the core of his speech, Biden focused on the Republicans' plans for this country and how we Democrats underestimate them to our own grave peril.  Some of Biden's key points included:

  • He has studied neoconservative philosophy (Strauss, etc.), and has concluded that these are "serious people," albeit greatly misguided, who believe in "leveraging power" - using our military strength UNILATERALLY, even better in the face of the world's' opprobrium, to send a message to our enemies (Iran, North Korea, etc.) that we are not afraid to act and that nobody can stop us so they had better "fall in line."
  • In ominous tones, Biden stated bluntly that the neo-conservatives had "badly miscalculated," specifically in that they did not have a big enough military to do the job, and also that they have overextended America and created huge budget deficits as far as the eye can see

  • The Iraq war has been incredibly mismanaged.  In particular, the United States has "mortgaged our credibility at a time when we may need it badly." Biden specifically pointed to a scenario in which North Korea threatened to launch one of its No Dong long-range nuclear tipped missiles at the West Coast. In that case, if we go to our allies, "who's going to believe us" after we lied to them on Iraq?
  • The chances in success in Iraq at this point -- and he's been to Iraq more than any other Senator by a factor of two -- are at best 50/50, even after the election.
  • In Iraq, we are at serious risk of creating "an Afghanistan in the Middle East"
  • Domestically, the neo-cons believe in "devolution of government," which basically says that "anything that CAN be done at the local level should NOT be done at the Federal level."
  • Neo-cons are so committed to their domestic "devolution of government" ideology that they are even willing "to vote against things that are popular in their states and that they know will work!"
  • The Bush Administration is "the most ideological...in modern history."
  • The assault on Social Security is "not a scare tactic," but "about eliminating Social Security" and the New Deal in general." This is a "direct assault on everything we stand for;" aimed "consciously and strategically at unraveling the social contract" - and along with it the Democratic Party.
  • Democrats should "beware: this is the single most significant political struggle between the two parties since 1932"
  • The next four years are not going to be "business as usual," so the Democratic Party "better figure out what in the hell we stand for."
  • Right now, the United States finds itself in a "full blown war" against "radical fundamentalists," yet "none of us -- except for the families of soldiers in Iraq -- are asked to make any sacrifices."
  • 9/11 was an "epiphany" for the United States, in which non-state actors "became an existential threat to a nation state for the first time in history"
  • Bush should have, but didn't, call for us to get off foreign oil
  • "Our [Democratic] values are under wholesale assault by leading right-wing ideologues." The battle is, among other things, over "how we value work," the "relative place of women in society," and the "elimination of collective action abroad as a means of enhancing our security."
  • "The world has changed utterly in the last decade," and "what [will] win the day will not be our necessary military might, but our values."
  • We must engage the "1 billion, 120 million" Muslims of the world
  • "Today offers us a unique opportunity to can change the world for the better"

    • Comments



    I was at that dinner also (Scott Surovell - 8/23/2008 8:09:38 AM)
    That was the first time I'd heard Biden speak in person as well and I thought he gave a very powerful speech.

    I also had no idea Biden was as thoughtful as he was in that speech.  The guy is clearly smart as whip, well read, and a powerful advocate.  



    I remember the audience being spellbound (Lowell - 8/23/2008 8:10:41 AM)
    Is that how you remember it too?  


    Absolutely (Scott Surovell - 8/23/2008 8:14:25 AM)
    I had been ready to be bored to death after listening to Ed Rendell pontificate the year before, but Biden was just deadly in his content, analysis, and his delivery.

    I left the room a big fan.



    Me too. (Lowell - 8/23/2008 8:15:39 AM)
    At the time, I thought it was one of the best speeches I'd ever heard, although it certainly was not short!  


    I also was there and it was spectacular...... (Used2Bneutral - 8/23/2008 9:01:43 AM)
    My middle daughter is very active in the anti-Domestic Violence movement. Biden has been an amazing friend of that and many other similar programs. I had the amazing pleasure of spending about an hour and a half with him in-person with Mark Levine in the lobby of the Ramada hotel in DC about a couple of months after that. He is brilliant and was very very approachable..... His understanding of the tough and complicated subjects not just international is amazing.


    McCain's first post-Biden misstep (jsrutstein - 8/23/2008 9:28:06 AM)
    I won't embed it, because it's just that lame, but McCain has already issued a 30-second ad with two Biden clips.

    The first is from an early debate this cycle where Biden stands by his statement saying Obama isn't yet ready to be President.  Of course, Biden likely will say that was in the heat of battle, that he's come to know Obama better, and that he's confident now that Obama is ready to be President.

    More important is the second clip which is the reason I'm commenting on it in this thread.  The second clip is from The Daily Show in 2005 where Biden says he'd be honored to run with or against McCain.

    The door is now WIDE open for Biden to say that during the exact same period in which Obama has proven he is ready to be President, McCain has changed from the honorable maverick Biden knew and loved to a captive of the very neocons who have driven this country to the brink of ruin.

    No matter how respectful and careful Obama is when he prefaces his attacks on McCain by noting how Obama honors McCain's service, calling McCain an American hero, Obama will not be able to escape looking insincere.

    Biden, on the other hand, truly has been a long-time friend and colleague of McCain.  In that same Daily Show interview, McCain said he advised McCain to be Kerry's running mate in 2004.  Biden will look very sincere when he describes how far his friend has fallen.

    McCain himself has demonstrated the limits of running on his POW experience.

    I think McCain abandoned his maverick cape when he instantly went from railing at the intolerant religious right that doomed him in SC in 2000 to hugging Bush tightly and campaigning furiously for Bush.  In fact, I think it safe to say that if McCain had sulked and sat out the rest of that cycle, Gore would have won that race in a way that even Jeb Bush and Nino Scalia couldn't undo.

    Biden's close embrace of McCain in 2005 demonstrates just how clubby the U.S. Senate is, but I'd be surprised if Biden's speech this afternoon didn't already have an attack on McCain that acknowledged how Biden once admired McCain and still has great affection for him personally, but how a President McCain in 2009 would be a disaster.  Biden will be somber and quiet as he delivers this message.

    Biden will pause perfectly, raise his head, flash that big winning smile, and pivot to persuade us that a President Obama in 2009 will not only prevent more misrule but will lead us and the world to a much brighter future.



    Thanks for reposting - it brought back memories... (Shawn - 8/23/2008 2:51:58 PM)
    of that JJ ... during that speech I thought it was clear that ... Joe Biden had not given up following the 2004 elections ... and that he was even more determined to do his part to push the Democratic party and our core values ... he was an excellent choice for VP then and is even a better one today!