Associated Press: Biden Touts His Experience at Iowa Stop
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Associated Press: Biden Touts His Experience at Iowa Stop
By TONY LEYS
Americans must not vote for inexperienced, likeable presidential candidates, then hope the candidates can get up to speed after the election, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said in Des Moines on Saturday.
"The next president of the United States better be as smart as his or her advisers," he said. "The next president of the United States better know what he or she believes. The next president of the United States better understand their view of the world before they take the job."
Biden, who hopes to be the next president, spoke to about 100 people at a Des Moines restaurant Saturday morning. He touted the lessons he's learned as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "The problem is a lot of people in our party and the other party, but particularly the other party, do not read history," he said.
He said Americans have been offered a false choice of continuing to follow the Bush administration's failed policies in Iraq, or simply "leave and hope for the best."
Biden said he wants to end the war quickly by forging a political solution that would give the warring parties control over their own areas. He said some U.S. troops would have to remain to help maintain order.
The senator said the next president also must deal with other international problems, plus domestic issues such as health care. Those matters depend on a solution to the Iraq war: "It sucks all of the oxygen out of the air. It's sucking the money out of the system."
Democrats must reconnect with middle-class voters by demonstrating understanding and passion for their troubles, he said. "I think they wonder if we really know what's going on in their lives."
Women for a Stronger America, a group founded to help U.S. Sen. John Kerry run against President Bush in Iowa in 2004, sponsored Saturday morning's event.
Chairwoman Nancy Bobo of Des Moines said the group will not endorse a candidate before the Iowa caucuses. After Biden's talk, she said the senator's main strength is his experience in foreign relations, which could prove crucial during the coming election. She noted that he is less well known than some of his Democratic rivals, and she said he would have to overcome Americans' historic aversion to electing senators as president.
Bobo said her group hopes to meet with all the Democratic candidates for president. She marveled at how many Iowans are showing up for campaign events so early in the year. "I think that speaks to the level of discontent people have with the current leadership of this country," she said.
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