Biden: Campaign About Ideas, Not Money

Democratic Candidate Discusses Fundraising, Iran And Foreign Policy

(AP)  Democratic presidential contender Sen. Joseph Biden on Monday decried the vast amounts of money being raised by White House hopefuls but said he is confident that ideas still matter to American voters.

“I am absolutely convinced that this is about ideas, and it's not about money,” Biden told a crowd of about 900 people at the Delaware Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner. Money and prestige have dominated the race so far, he said, but ideas will matter.

Biden, who trails far behind Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards in fundraising, said voters in early primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada are looking for a knowledgeable candidate who can lead the country through what he said would be a difficult decade.

He said the idea of a candidate raising $85 million to $90 million is “astounding,” but that he still considered it a level playing field in the early primary states and voters in those states care what a candidate has to say.

“The American people know that this president has dug us into a very, very deep hole,” said Biden, who described the Iraq war as the single biggest foreign policy mistake in U.S. history.

“The next four years is going to determine whether or not America regains its footing and reinvigorates the middle class or continue on this spiral that this administration has put us into,” said Biden, adding that the next president has the greatest opportunity since Franklin Roosevelt to “change the direction of the world.”

Before he gets to the White House, however, Biden faces a tough battle against his Democratic rivals, including front-runner Clinton. He compared the Democratic primary to his successful 1972 Senate race as a 28-year-old upstart taking on popular Republican incumbent and former Delaware governor Caleb Boggs.

“I am not on a fool's errand; I realize I need your help,” said Biden, who predicted that the top three finishers in the Iowa caucuses will live to fight on, but that those who don't will not be viable candidates.

Talking to reporters before his speech, Biden criticized Hillary Clinton for a recent vote in favor of a Bush administration effort to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

“I think it was a very bad vote to cast,” said Biden, who voted against the measure and chastised Obama for missing the vote in favor of campaigning.

“If we move to attack Iran, the consequences in the Muslim world would be significant,” said Biden, adding that it could further destabilize the Middle East and complicate matters for Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Pakistan president Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said lawmakers should be wary of following the administration's lead vis-a-vis Iran, given what he said was misuse of congressional authorizations regarding Iraq.

“I don't have any trust in the president's judgment and this administration's judgment, so I think it was a very serious mistake,” he said, accusing Clinton of a “serious lapse in judgment.”

Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, also has criticized Clinton for her vote.

Clinton, the only Democrat running for president to support the Senate measure, has said she doesn't believe that the vote on the Revolutionary Guard would lead to U.S. military action, and that she was voting for stepped-up diplomacy and economic sanctions.

“This administration is seriously devoid of any diplomatic skills and has an approach that I think is extremely dangerous,” Biden said.

America is most isolated now than it ever has been during his political career, Biden said, adding that the American middle class is uncertain about its future. 2008 will be the single most important election than any of the others his audience has voted in, he said.

Too many of the presidential contenders have not leveled with the American people about the sacrifices that will be required for America to regain its standing in the world, Biden said, adding that the challenges the country faces also present new opportunities.

[p-syrus]

It''s good to remember that the Republican Party of Lincoln was a party of radical liberal progressives, not a party advocating market mayhem and complete control of international economies by corporate interests.

[gunownerdan]

Joe Biden is just another rabid gun-banning extremist. That''s what made Gore and Kerry lose and I guess a lot of democrats are too dumb to learn from history. Biden is also a member of the CFR just like Bush, Giuliani, Romney, McCain, and Thompson.
The only anti-war and pro-liberty candidate running for president is Dr. Ron Paul.
ronpaul2008.com

[watcher269-2009]

What about this quote from Biden - just goes to show how right leaning CBS news is for not reporting this in the dem debate!!!

Biden: %u201C%u2026And the irony is, Rudy Giuliani, probably the most under qualified person since George Bush to seek the presidency, is here - talking about any of the people here. Rudy Giuliani. I mean think about it, Rudy Giuliani, there%u2019s only three things he mentions in a sentence %u2014 a noun and a verb and 9/11 and I mean, there%u2019s nothing else. There%u2019s nothing else.%u201D

[usaprophet]

Some people say, "a Republican? I''d never vote for a Republican." Let me remind you folks that Abraham Lincoln, who freed the slaves, and who won the war to preserve our Union, WAS himself a Republican. Would you have voted for Stephen A. Douglas, who was ardently pro slavery, against Lincoln simply because he was a Democrat. Of course you wouldn''t. It''s the man your voting for, and the ideas he represents, NOT the party. Paul represents a different Republican Party from the one that Iraq, deficits and corruption have soured the country on. The Republican party has "lost its way," he said recently during a GOP debate. Like the limited federal government principles espoused by Dwight D. Eisenhower, his school of Republicanism stands for a certain idea of the Constitution that much of the power asserted by modern Presidents has been usurped from Congress, and that much of the power asserted by Congress has been usurped from the States. Though Paul acknowledges flaws in both the Constitution (it included slavery) and the Bill of Rights (it doesn%u2019t go far enough), he still thinks a comprehensive array of positions can be drawn therefrom: against gun control; for the sovereignty of States; and against foreign-policy adventures like the ones currently being played-out in the Mid-East. After ten terms of service as a U.S. Congressman, Ron Paul has demonstarted a consistent track record of adherance to The Constitution which is unmatched by anyone in either party. Ron Paul has my vote!

[cfin5]

Senator Biden is correct, but too late.....Ron''s the man with the voting record proof I need to put my trust in. He''s earned it fair and square.

[usaprophet]

You get the sense that the country is desperate for someone to show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW WAY. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50 years. Tens of thousands of them. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of Iraq, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas Republican Presidential candidate, Dr. Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. Ron Paul has been married to the same woman for more than 50 years, which means he doesn''t come to the race with the sort of baggage some of the other candidates for the White House do. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. He was once a pious Lutheran, but now attends a Baptist church. He never travels alone with women, and once even dressed-down an aide for using the expression "red-light district" in front of a female colleague. I support the 2008 candidacy of Congressman, Ron Paul for President of The United States. Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and track record of adherance to The Constitution Ron Paul always demonstrates only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky. Go Ron!

[signof4]

2nd Biden ''puff piece'' in as many weeks. The LAMEstream media''s bias is showing again!