OTTUMWA, Iowa -- Joe Biden on Wednesday argued that he was the
Democrat best prepared to face off against leading Republicans, and
in an interview following the event, he questioned the depth of
experience of his Democratic rivals.
"Who do want in the ring with my friend John McCain debating
national security?" he asked a crowd of about 80, crammed into the
library of an elementary school here. "Who do you think has enough
stature to stand toe to toe with him? Who do you want standing in
the ring when Rudy Giuliani starts talking about his experience
with terror? The other candidates or the guy who the day before
9/11 occurred made a speech at the National Press Club predicting a
terrorist attack…when it came would come in the belly of a
plane? I've forgotten more about dealing with fighting terror than
Rudy Giuliani will know."
Biden also said he would relish the opportunity to debate
"family values" with Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.
Following the event, I asked Biden why the Democrats who are
leading in polls are the ones with the least experience in the
field of candidates. He argued that his main problem is that people
don't know him as well, because he hasn't been getting enough media
coverage.
"If I ever get to the point where it's me and Hillary, me and
Barack, me and Edwards, I win that race, because you can't hide it
then" he said, in a reference his broader experience relative to
his rivals. "What happens then is you all cover me every day."
I followed up by asking him whether he thought that Hillary
Clinton's background as First Lady was relevant to her presidential
aspirations.
"I don't discount that experience any more than I discount the
experience of someone who's never played, but who walked into
Madison Square Garden in the middle of the game and felt the feel,
and knew what it's like, so when they get into there to play it's
not all of a sudden a shock," Biden said
"(Clinton) says, 'you know, I've been doing this for 35 years, I
was protecting children with the Children's Defense Fund'" he
noted. "That's when I wrote the Child Predator bill. Her experience
was real, but I was actually a United States Senator, actually
writing the first child protection legislation."
He continued, "So the idea that her experience is not real, it
is. And it's relevant, but it is not sufficient. It is not
sufficient to claim that she's ready from day one to sit down
behind that desk and make these hard decisions."
Biden then offered a broader critique of the lack of legislative
accomplishments of the three frontrunners in Iowa.
"Hillary's been there eight years," Biden said. "I don't know a
single major piece of legislation Hillary has authored, passed, and
got done. John Edwards was there for six years, he's passed three
things. He's passed, I think, four post offices…Barack Obama
hasn't passed anything that I'm aware of. So, you know, it's not
that they're not making significant contributions, but it's
relative. Is her experience nearly as consequential for being
president as the experience I have? Or Chris Dodd has? Or others
have? The answer is, I think not."
He also critiqued some of the positions taken by his Democratic
rivals on Iraq.
"John Edwards…said he'd remove every trainer from Iraq
immediately--I don't quite get that," Biden said. "It's like when
Hillary said you cut off money for funding the Iraqi military
forces. I thought the deal was we were supposed to be building
these guys up so they could replace us, so chaos is not left
behind…The first people you are going to withdraw are the
people training an Iraqi military that's supposed to be helping
us?"
Though not by name, he took issue with Edwards's brand of
populism for being too divisive. "The idea that all business is
bad, the idea that every corporation is corrupt…," Biden
said, "I'm not saying the guy who is saying it doesn't believe it,
but I don't believe it."
Biden predicted a fourth place showing would give him a "ticket
out of Iowa."
topics:
John McCain, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Business, Military, Iraq, NATO
