Obama/Biden???

I've never gotten super political with this blog. I offically announced I was supporting Obama awhile back and I've posted a few things here and there. But I just feel political today. Maybe it's the whole conclusion of Olympics and the Chinese gymnast scandle. Maybe it's the People magazine article I read about Elizabeth Edwards and her snake in the grass cheating husband. Maybe it's just watching Mike put desert camoflague uniforms in a bag and learning that listerine is the best thing with which to clean a gas mask's drinking tube with. Ugh. But in any case, I feel political today and I feel like talking about it. So if you think politics is too emotional an issue for you or if you can't be friends anymore with me if we disagree about this stuff than you should just not read any further. I won't hold it against you I promise. For me, I LOVE talking about politics. Most of the people I know don't agree with my positions on most issues so I'm used to being a lone wolf in my beliefs. I respect the heck out of differences of opinions and I think political debate is what made this country great. Without it we would never have had a Declaration of Independence or a Constitution. So I welcome all ideas no matter how radical to be brought to my dinner table. I never allow myself to get upset by them and I hope you feel the same. Let's get started on my ramblings shall we?

I was a little worried about Barack Obama's choice of running mate. Would he choose Hillary? Yee Gads I hoped not. I was hoping for someone like Bill Richardson from New Mexico or Tom Daschle but neither of those choices seemed to be likely to unite the party. Biden has been a front runner since the beginning of this whole thing but I took no time to learn anything about any of these guys because I figured I have too much to learn and I'll catch up once he picks someone. So, now Joe Biden has been selected, I set out to learn a little bit about the Senator from Delaware and what he stands for. Here are some facts...just in case you were curious.

Biography:

Joe Biden has represented the state of Delaware in the United States Senate since 1972, when he was elected at the age of twenty-nine. He wrote the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). He is a huge supporter of the "family farm" and agriculture is one of his big issues. He is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee . Senator Biden and Les Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, have offered a five-point plan that offers a political solution to ending the war - a plan overwhelming endorsed by his Senate colleagues by a 75-23 vote. In 1999, Senator Biden authored a Senate-passed resolution endorsing air war in Kosovo. Today, Senator Biden is the Congressional effort to end genocide, this time in Darfur, Sudan. He supports a high quality VA Medical Care system for our veterans. He is a long standing member and former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 - also known as the Biden Crime Bill - put more than 100,000 cops on America's streets and increased dramatically federal support for innovative criminal justice prevention and rehabilitation. The 2007 Biden Crime Bill goes further by addressing the 21st century crime problems such as computer hacking, on-line child exploitation and teenage prescription drug abuse. He is the Co-Chairman of the International Narcotics Control Caucus. Senator Biden was the first in Congress to propose a "Drug Czar," a cabinet level office to coordinate all federal agencies responsible for drug-related programs and devise a strategy to combat illegal drug use and trafficking in America. He recently introduced the College Affordability and Creating Chances for Educational Success for Students (ACCESS) Act which would increase tax incentives, expand Pell grants, and begin college planning as early as the eighth grade. He authored and chaired legislation to create a Commission on Civil Rights in the early eighties, he introduced the 1986 Global Climate Protection Act, he was the chair for creating a National Mammography Awareness Day and he authored the Rail Security Act of 2007 to regulate transportation of hazardous materials on our railways.
Personal Information
Senator Biden grew up in New Castle County, Delaware. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, and from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. Prior to his election to the Senate, Biden practiced law in Wilmington, Delaware and served on the New Castle County Council from 1970 to 1972. Senator Biden lives in Wilmington, Delaware and commutes to Washington, DC when the Senate is in session. He is married to Dr. Jill Biden, the former Jill Jacobs, an educator in Delaware's schools for over twenty years. She currently is a professor teaching at Delaware Technical Community College. Senator Biden is the father of three children: Beau, Hunter and Ashley. Beau serves as Delaware's Attorney General, Ashley is a social worker and Hunter is a lawyer. The Bidens also have five grandchildren: Naomi, Finnegan, Roberta Mabel, Natalie, and Robert Hunter.

Issues (this is a poor summary of his stance on these issues. go to http://biden.senate.gov/ for complete information on his views and positions):

His big issues seem to be to re-establish the middle class, to build a larger volunteer force military and to properly fund it. (YAY) He believes it is vital to finish what we started in Afghanistan but that we abandoned what we set out to do in Afghanistan when we entered into the war in Iraq. He believes Afghanistan is a vital area in which we need to establish security. He believes we need to withdraw our troops in Iraq in a way that won't leave total chaos but that Iraq needs to become the world's problem and solution rather than just ours. His 5 point plan that he authored with Les Gelb is supported by the Congress with a 75-23 vote. As far as civil rights go, he believes we should not deny legal rights to same sex couples as far as taxes, adoption, laws etc. He thinks it should be up to the individual states as to how to recognize civil unions and define marriage. He believes in ending the don't ask don't tell policy of the military . He believes turning away patriotic Americans that want to serve based solely on their sexual orientation is wrong. He believes in the Paycheck Fairness Act due to the fact that women still earn 77 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. He supports investing in alternative fuel sources and increasing our use of renewable energy. He supports incentives to companies that decrease their environmental footprint.

Amy's take on it all: Although I disagree with some of Joe Biden's positions on civil rights and the definition of marriage, this is not a one issue election for most people. For me however, this is very much a one issue election. We are at war. Friends of mine are dying. Children I know are being orphaned. Mothers and Fathers are having to leave their children with Aunts and Uncles or Grandparents to go serve in Iraq for reasons I just don't understand. The reasons we went into Iraq don't exist. They never existed. And we are losing. And I believe we cannot win. I don't believe there will be peace in that region. Mike is going to miss my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, his birthday and countless moments, hugs, kisses, snuggles and memories. And he's not the only one getting jipped. My girls are getting jipped out of their Dad. Sure, Mike signed up to serve. And he's more than willing to go wherever he is sent. And I support him going to places in which we are set up for the purpose of defending our freedom. But to protect our oil interests? Is that worth his life? My answer is no, especially when we have more than enough oil here in our own country. It's just not worth it. We have technology that enables us to listen to over 500 songs on a device the size of a postage stamp. But we can't figure out how to make cars run on something besides gasoline? Come ON. We have the most brilliant minds in the world in this country. Minds that invented TiVO and Diet Coke for crying out loud. The age of the gasoline powered car is over. Let's move on. And all of a sudden, if we did, the Middle East wouldn't matter so much anymore would it? So for me, this IS a one issue election. It's about Foreign Policy and who I think will end this war faster and protect my husband from having to go away from our family the least often as possible. Sending people into harms way is the number one most sacred duty a President has and when they take that responsibility too lightly in my opinion, we have to stand up and say "no". John McCain said the other day that "we will never retreat in Iraq". To me, what that said is "I will sacrifice as many lives as necessary to ensure we never back down even if we are out numbered, out matched and can never stabilize this region." A similar position was taken during Vietnam. We never won there either and over 55,000 lives were lost. Are we really going to repeat that? How can an issue like whether or not two chicks can claim each other on their W-4's take precedence over that sort of issue? It can't, at least not for me. As for you, you have to decide what it the most important thing facing this nation. I hope you study the issues. Really study them. I think the best way to do this is to not listen to negative ads and campaigning. Go to the candidates websites and find out what they stand for and what their official political viewpoints are. Then, see who lines up with you the most. For the record, I think John McCain is a great American and there are a lot of things he stands for that I believe. But we've had the Washington status quo for a long time now. I just think it hasn't really worked that well. And I think Bush has really let us down. So someone who is so entrenched in the machine that is Washington and someone who is vowing to continue a lot of Bush's programs and policies just isn't for me. Whatever you decide...PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH. I'm still in the middle of mine.

By the way, I voted for George Bush. Twice. I am not a party Democrat. 99% of the people who read this blog are Republicans and VERY conservative. Most of them call me their left wing liberal friend or family member even though I am pretty conservative if you look at the rest of the world. But in this election like I said, it's just about war for me. As Mike prepares to leave I can't help but only be able to think of that. Sorry if your political sensibilities were disrupted by this post. Feel free to blast away in the comments section..