Topic: 2008 US Presidential Election
On October 2nd, US Democratic vice presidential candidate joseph robinette attended the debate in St Louis, Missouri. Xinhua News Agency/AFP
Joseph robinette, the vice presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of China, was the youngest senator in the US Congress when he entered politics.
In a blink of an eye, more than 30 years later, Biden is 65 years old and became the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, relying on his rich experience in politics for many years.
Biden is good at diplomacy and defense, which makes up for Obama’s "weakness" of limited experience and poor diplomacy. In addition, regardless of background or personality characteristics, Biden and Obama are quite different. However, it is precisely because of this difference that the two-person combination is bound to cover a more comprehensive voter class, making it possible for Obama to win the White House and become the youngest US president.
The main attack of eloquence
Biden is a famous quick talker in American politics. He is good at arguing and being alert and humorous in his words, but he has repeatedly "made trouble from his mouth" because he is outspoken.
At the beginning of this US presidential election, Biden was also one of the Democratic candidates. Although Biden didn’t win the pre-election, his eloquence was impressive. John H. Broder, a journalist from The New York Times, believes that "two memorable words" came from Biden’s mouth in the whole pre-election. One of them is that he satirized Rudolph Giuliani, the former mayor of new york and a Republican candidate, for his experience in national security. Biden said: "There are only three things in his sentence: nouns, verbs and’ 9.11′."
When Biden was a child, he was inarticulate. School students nicknamed him "Long stroke", one of Morse code symbols, and satirized him for being vague like a telegraph code. With tenacious perseverance and firm confidence, Biden finally overcame this problem and showed his talent.
Born in 1942, Biden was elected as a federal senator from Delaware at the age of 29, and defeated the popular incumbent senator at that time with his fluent speech and quick response. Biden had just reached the minimum legal age of 30 when he was sworn in two months after his election.
Unlike Obama’s calm and reserved speech style, Biden’s speech is humorous and full of passion. For Obama, Biden’s eloquence is both a blessing and a curse. In the debate with Republican vice presidential candidate sarah palin, Biden’s charming and infectious speech undoubtedly won a lot of support for Obama. However, since the two formed their running mate, Biden’s quick talk has also caused Obama a lot of trouble.
Recently, Biden told Obama’s supporters that if Obama was elected, the enemies of the United States would make trouble and challenge the new US government within six months of his taking office. "I think his main point is that no matter who the next government is composed of, it will face challenges," Obama had to annotate Biden’s speech. "I think Joe (Biden’s nickname) will make some flowery remarks from time to time."
The Associated Press reported and even predicted that if Obama is elected, he may often make up for his deputy’s remarks and tell the media: "I think Joe means …"
Such a guess is not exaggerated. For Biden, being able to speak well can be described as a double-edged sword. He once fell to the bottom of his political career because of "disaster from his mouth." Biden ran for the presidency for the first time in 1987, and finally withdrew early, because some of his speeches were proved to have plagiarized the speech of Neil Kinnock, the former leader of the British Labor Party. After withdrawing from the election, Biden was diagnosed with two intracranial aneurysms. He temporarily withdrew from public view and received seven months of treatment.
Biden described his defeat as "the wreckage of a wrecked train." "After the aftermath, I had to revive my health, reputation and future in the Senate," he wrote in his personal biography.
Diplomatic veteran
Biden is the current chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Senate, and his expertise in diplomacy is widely recognized and respected.
Before the US government launched the Iraq war in 2003, Biden, a Democratic senator, voted for the use of force against Iraq, but he believed that the purpose of using force was to disarm Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, not to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Shortly after the war began, Biden began to criticize the current US President George W. Bush’s Iraq policy. In a TV interview, he said, "I regret casting that vote … the president didn’t tell us the truth."
Biden is active in Congress, advocating autonomy in Iraq, and establishing autonomous regions in Iraq according to the residence of different factions and races such as Shia Arabs, Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Biden’s proposal ended in nothing, but it was supported by many Democrats including Obama.
Biden opposed the Bush administration’s unilateralism on international issues, believing that it put the United States in danger. On August 28 this year, at the Democratic National Convention, Biden once again rudely criticized Bush’s foreign policy, saying that Republican presidential candidate John McCain would "continue Bush’s mistakes".
He said, "We are more insecure and isolated than at any time in modern history" because "the Bush-McCain policy has plunged us into a deep pit and few friends can help us climb out of it".
During his 35 years as a federal senator, Biden participated in many foreign affairs to varying degrees, including advocating military intervention during the Bosnia-Herzegovina war. In view of Biden’s rich experience and knowledge in the diplomatic field, The New York Times called him "one of the most knowledgeable legislators on international affairs".
When accepting the Democratic vice presidential nomination, Biden confronted McCain’s Vietnam War veteran experience with his diplomatic expertise, saying that the United States needs "more than just a good soldier" at this stage.
He said: "I have been to Georgia, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and I can tell you without any doubt that the current government’s policy is a complete failure."
In addition to diplomatic expertise, Biden, who is energetic, is active in the Senate. As a senator for 35 years, Biden has participated in drafting and promoting the passage of many bills, and is the leader of the Democratic Party in the Senate on issues such as crime, protecting women’s rights and law enforcement. Because of his active performance in the Senate, Biden has forged close ties with trade unions, civil rights movement leaders and women’s organizations.
Talking about the possibility of entering the White House, Biden said on the one hand that he would do his best to help Obama, but at the same time stressed that he would not usurp the host’s role.
"When he makes every important decision, I will sit in the room and give my best advice," he said during the debate with Palin. "But he is the president, I am not."
Family man
Biden, who is active in politics, cherishes his family and is a family man.
On December 18, 1972, five weeks after being elected to the United States Senate for the first time, Biden suffered the biggest blow in his life. His wife was driving her own car in Delaware, with a 13-month-old daughter and two sons in it. She was hit by a large trailer, and her wife and daughter were killed and their two sons were seriously injured.
Biden was in Washington at that time, and his sister called and said only that there had been a "minor accident".
But Biden still realized that something was wrong and asked about his wife’s safety. He flew back to Delaware and rushed to the hospital to confirm his hunch.
He said that under the heavy blow, he not only understood why suicide was a "choice", but even considered it a "reasonable choice". Until now, Biden doesn’t work every year on the anniversary of his wife’s death.
Biden took full care of his sons, aged 2 and 3, and had the idea of quitting politics. In the end, he continued to go into politics under the persuasion of his Democratic predecessors and was sworn in as a senator in front of his son’s hospital bed. Later, Biden’s two sons fully recovered.
Five years later, he succeeded a teacher named Gilles Jacob, and they have a daughter, and they live happily ever after.
Biden’s father is a car salesman. He inherited his father’s life concept of hard work and thrift. During his work in the Senate, Biden did not rent or buy a house in Washington like other senators, but took the train for 80 minutes every day after work and returned to his home in Delaware, which is more than 160 kilometers away.
Among all the senators in the United States, Biden is one of the least wealthy senators all the year round. In addition, Biden’s ancestors were Irish immigrants, and he himself believed in Catholicism. All these backgrounds have enhanced Biden’s affinity for Catholics and white blue-collar voters, which are exactly the "voting fields" that Obama needs to fight for.
Biden took the stage with his son Bo at the Democratic National Convention. Biden Jr. is the Attorney General of Delaware and a member of the State National Guard. He went to Texas for training in early October this year and will soon be stationed in Iraq. This may explain why Biden voted for the bill to increase funding for US troops in Iraq. He said: "No political points are worth my son’s life, and no political points are worth anyone’s life there."
Before his son’s army left Delaware for Texas, Biden made a short speech at the departure ceremony, and told everyone about his son’s instructions: "Dad, make it short, everyone is still in line."
Senator visiting China
Biden is one of the few people in the Obama campaign who have experience in dealing with China. As a US senator, he first visited China in 1979.
In the summer of 2001, Biden accepted the invitation of China Institute of Foreign Affairs and led a group of Democratic and Republican senators to visit China again. Before leaving, he accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from China, pointing out that at that time, "American conservative think tanks regarded China as a potential enemy, and I totally opposed this view."
The American people have friendly feelings for the people of China, and they are willing to be friends with the people of China. Biden said that the relationship between the United States and China can be summarized by the word "convergence of interests". The two countries share common interests in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and non-proliferation. The two sides should strengthen exchanges and enhance mutual understanding.
During his visit to China, Biden was received by many China leaders. Talking about his feelings, he said that he visited China in 1979 and visited again after more than 20 years, and found that great changes have taken place in China. He admired the history, culture and people of China. After the end of World War II, due to various reasons, China and the United States and the two peoples have long lacked contacts and mutual understanding. At this stage, both countries have experienced or are in a period of great changes and development, and it is necessary to strengthen mutual understanding to avoid misunderstanding.
Biden attaches importance to the relationship between the United States and China. He said that the importance of China is increasing, and the relationship between the United States and China is very important to both countries and the world. The United States hopes to develop a cooperative relationship of mutual trust with China. He said that handling US-China relations well is the most important thing related to the happiness of future generations of the two countries. He said that the most important thing for bilateral relations between the United States and China is to deepen mutual understanding and reduce misunderstandings. (Yuan Yuan)
Editor: Zhao Xuanxuan
