The liberal magazine Harper's last month ran a cover story on "Joe Biden’s disastrous legislative legacy" recounting his tough-on-crime initiatives and chumminess with banking interests. For example:
Despite pleas from the NAACP and the ACLU, the 1990s brought no relief from Biden’s crime crusade. He vied with the first Bush Administration to introduce ever more draconian laws, including one proposing to expand the number of offenses for which the death penalty would be permitted to fifty-one. Bill Clinton quickly became a reliable ally upon his 1992 election, and Biden encouraged him to “maintain crime as a Democratic initiative” with suitably tough legislation. The ensuing 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, passed with enthusiastic administration pressure, would consign millions of black Americans to a life behind bars.If current Democrat voters are unaware of Biden's checkered past, I'm sure his competitors for the nomination will be ready to remind them.
Extra - Ace: "Don't call Joe Biden a hero."
And this - LA Times: "The burden of a 40-year career: Some of Joe Biden’s record doesn’t age well." "Biden opposed school busing for desegregation in the 1970s. He voted for a measure aimed at outlawing gay marriage in the 1990s. He was an ally of the banking and credit card industries."
2 comments:
He also voted against the original Alaska pipeline. Long-term visionary, he is not.
I will say this about Biden, though - I fully expected Paul Ryan to mop the floor with Biden during the 2012 VP debate. Instead, I thought Biden beat him pretty solidly. I figured a guy who's been doing debates for forty years should be able to do that.
The last time a debate cost anyone an election was Ford in 1976, and even that's highly debatable.
Of course Biden will take a hit by announcing. Prospective candidates always poll better than actual candidates. And amorphous candidates like Generic Democrat and Generic Republican poll the best of all.
I don't know why Generic Opposition Candidate never ends up running. He'd crush the actual incumbent. I suppose he doesn't want to put his Generic Family through the strain.
Post a Comment