Reply #22: I don't have a horse in this race yet... but I don't count out Biden. [View All]

There are several things I like about him (and, obviously, some things I don't). Let's not forget that in 1972 when he could have gone home -- and probably should have gone home to care for his two sons after the death of their mom and baby sister -- he did what the leadership asked him to do and kept his Senate seat. Each day, however, he commuted by train from his home in Wilmington to D.C. -- he did so until '77 when he remarried.

I doubt there any Democratic candidate who can rival Biden's knowledge of civil rights, Constitutional law or foreign relations. It is because of his knowledge and expertise in these areas that he has garnered much support from both sides of the aisle.

While some cannot see past the bankruptcy bill, we should not forget that he was the author of the Violence against Women Act of 2000 (the first legislation to combat domestic violence -- he went so far as to protect women with that bill that parts of it have been since struck down as unconstitutional).

As for the whole plagiarism BS -- Biden gave a speech in Iowa during his 1988 run for President (a run that ended when he was hospitalized for two brain aneurysms) in which he adapted parts of a speech made by British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. Biden had given this speech numerous times without an eyebrow raising because he had previously credited Kinnock. That day it Iowa, however, Biden neglected to publically credit Kinnock. Further it was a senior aide of Michael Dukakis who recorded and distributed the speech to the press -- essentially running the whole mess up the flag pole. (Anyone for eating their own?) Once it was learned that the aide had been waiting for Biden to neglect to credit so that he could accuse him of plagiarism, Dukakis found the incident so distasteful that he he fired him.

Supposedly 20 years earlier in a first-year legal-writing class Biden had also plagiarized. In actuality, Biden used a single footnote for all instances rather than multiple citations. Both Syracuse University Law School and the Delaware State Bar Association cleared Biden of plagiarism charges.

As I said, I don't have a horse in this race yet. Biden is, however, at the starting block -- and I'm pretty happy to see him there.