Senator Joe Biden April 28, 2008
The next President will have an awesome responsibility – but also the greatest opportunity since FDR – to change the direction of our country…and the world. So much is at stake. Our national security. The physical security of our children. The retirement security of our parents. The economic security of our families. If we don’t get the Iraq exit strategy right, our children and grandchildren will be fighting there for a generation to come. If we don’t solve the health care crisis now, we may never get it under control. If we don’t get an education system in place that begins to reflect the 21st century, it will be a generation before we’re able to gain hold. If we don’t put an end to George Bush’s assault on our civil liberties, we will forfeit a piece of our soul. So when people say ‘this is the single most important election in my lifetime’, they’re exactly right. After eight years of the Bush Administration, our country is less secure and more isolated than it has been at any time in recent history. This administration has dug America into a very deep hole – with very few friends left to help us climb out.
And so, we are facing a very difficult decade ahead….but I believe with a Democratic president and a Democratic majority in Congress – we can turn the corner. I believe with every fiber in my being that as families… as communities… as Americans… we will meet the challenges we face. I believe that if we use the power of our principles and ideals, instead of the force of our arms alone – our nation can help re-shape the world. We all share the conviction that our tomorrows will be better than our yesterdays. The missing ingredient these last eight years has been leadership – but that’s about to change. *** It’s about to change because we are at an incredible moment in history. Hillary and Barack are two talented; qualified; inspirational candidates. Together they have harnessed an un-definable energy that could only be captured now. If I went to sleep in 1972 when I first ran for the Senate, only to wake up in 2008 and someone told me an incredibly talented woman and an incredibly talented African American were the two Democratic candidates for President – I’d say great! That’s what I fought my entire career for. But as you all know, Barack and Hillary are a little busy right now – and I can’t fault them for that and I give them tremendous credit for building excitement for the Democratic party all across the country. But my friend John McCain is getting a bit of what some might call – a free pass. So while Barack and Hillary are on the campaign trail, it’s up to us Democrats to take the fight directly to the Republicans. And that ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what I intend to do.
*** Last month, as some of you may know, Senator McCain -- a man I greatly admire – set out his foreign policy vision. To his credit, Senator McCain repudiates some of the Bush administration’s approach to the world. But Senator McCain shares the Bush Administration’s myopic view of a world defined by terrorism and a foreign policy driven by fear. It is time for a total change in Washington’s world view. That will require more than a great soldier. It will require a wise leader. Nowhere is this truer than in Iraq. The war dominates our national life. It stands like a boulder in the road between us and the credibility we need to lead in the world and the flexibility we require to meet our challenges at home. And George Bush has confirmed for us that he has no plan to end this war – his plan is to muddle through and then hand the problem off to his successor. Mark my words – when it comes to Iraq, there is no daylight between John McCain and George W. Bush. They are joined at the hip. There will be no change in Iraq policy with a McCain Administration…and so there will be a real and profound choice in November. *** When I ride the train home every night to Delaware – I look out the window at the houses I pass and wonder what they’re talking about at the kitchen table after they put the kids to bed. I believe that, like millions of other Americans they’re asking questions as profound as they are ordinary:
• Should mom move in with us? • Is it safe to let our kids use the internet? • What about the company cutting health care?
• Can we afford to fill up the tank or buy groceries? • Will we have enough money to retire one day? • Can we afford to send one kid, much less two kids, to college? • Will this war ever end?
The people who ask these questions used to vote Democratic. Too many of them don’t anymore…but they will again if we remember that it’s just as important to speak to their hearts…as it is to speak to their heads. Democrats have solutions – but we must remember that government isn’t just about helping people solve problems. It’s about showing people we understand their problems. We know the Republican playbook. They’ll say we’re weak. They’ll play on people’s fears, not their hopes. But we won’t let them – not this time. Our two candidates for President are strong; they are definitely battle-tested; and they are ready. *** And so folks, I’ll end where I began. This is the most important election of our lifetime. We are at a fault line in American history. I feel more passionate about the opportunities for this country than ever before. The American people want this war to end but they are not defeatists. They’re patriots who understand the national interest – and the great things Americans can achieve if we responsibly end a war that we should not have started. I believe it is fully within our power to do that. Then, with our credibility restored, our alliances repaired and our freedom renewed, we will once again lead the world.
That is my hope for next November – and for the country we all love. The opportunity’s immense, the obligation is real. A famous Irish poet named Seamus Heaney, wrote the poem that won the Nobel Prize and I think there’s a stanza that best sums up the state of the world and the state of the nation:
“History teaches us – don't hope on this side of the grave. But then, once in
a lifetime that longed-for tidal wave of justice rises up, and hope and history rhyme.” Join me in making hope and history rhyme. Because we can. Thank you.