BIDEN SHOOTS, BIDEN SCORES…. It’s a shame Joe Biden hasn’t been getting much attention lately; he’s actually quite good on the stump.
In his remarks in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, Biden said, “John McCain has confessed, and I quote — I want to make sure I get it right — he said, ‘It’s easy for me to be in Washington and frankly be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have.’ Well, he’s right. He’s right. If all you do is walk the halls of power, all you’ll hear is the wants of the powerful. Ladies and gentleman, I believe that’s why John McCain could say with a straight face as recently as this morning, and this is a quote, ‘the fundamentals of the economy are strong.’ That’s what John said. He says that we’ve made ‘great progress economically’ in the Bush years. Ladies and gentlemen, I could walk from here to Lansing, and I wouldn’t run into a single person who thought our economy was doing well — unless I ran into John McCain.”
He added, “What is John’s response to the state of the economy? Let me quote him: ‘A lot of this is psychological.’ Let me tell you something: losing your job is more than a state of mind. It means staring at the ceiling at night thinking that you may lose your house because you can’t get next month’s mortgage payment. It means looking at your pregnant wife and not knowing how you’re going to come up with the money to pay for the delivery of your child, since you don’t have health care anymore. It means looking at your child when they come home from college at Christmas and saying ‘Honey, I’m sorry, we’re not going to be able to send you back next semester.’ It’s not a state of mind; it’s a loss of dignity.”
The whole thing is worth reading; it was arguably one of the better economic speeches, if not the very best economic speech, I’ve heard all year. Biden was especially strong in highlighting the Democratic ticket’s alternative to McCain/Palin: “Yes, this campaign is about change, but it’s about even more than that. It’s about what we value as a people. It’s not just about a job, it’s about dignity. It’s not just about a paycheck. It’s about pride. It’s not just about opportunity. It’s about respect. That’s why Barack and I are in this race. We know we need change if we’re to restore dignity, pride, and respect. We know America’s best days are ahead of us, and we know why we’re here. We’re here for the for the cops and firefighters, the teachers and assembly line workers, the engineers and office workers, the small business owners and the retiree. All of the folks who play by the rules, work hard, and do what is asked of them. They deserve a government as good and an economy as strong as they are.”
I have no idea if the networks carried any of this, but it’s awfully strong. The more Biden travels delivering this exact same speech, the better off the Democratic campaign will be.
