The Torch

Issue date: 10/16/08 Section: 2008 Election

Having been Senator of Delaware for nearly 36 years, Joe Biden has the longest career in Congress of any of the contenders in the presidential race including John McCain, who has been Senator of Arizona for only 21 years.

He attended the University of Delaware and earned Bachelor of Arts degree, double majoring in history and political science in 1965.

A few weeks after winning the senatorial election, his wife and one-year-old daughter were killed in a car crash. His two sons were injured but made full recoveries. This event almost persuaded Biden to end his political career, but was convinced to remain in the Senate.

He was sworn in at his son's bedside at the hospital. He was 29 when elected and 30 when sworn in, the minimum age required to become a U.S. Senator. He was the fifth youngest senator to be elected in U.S. history.

Biden sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and again in 2008. His 1988 campaign ended quickly, after it came out that he was accused of plagiarism in college. In his tenure as Senator, Biden has voted almost completely on the liberal side of issues in social, economic and military fields.





Abortion:

"My position is that I am personally opposed to abortion, but I don't think I have a right to impose my view on the rest of society."



• Voted NO on prohibiting minors crossing state lines for abortion. (2008)

• Voted NO on defining unborn child as eligible for State Children's Health Insurance Program. (2008)

• Voted YES on $100 million to reduce teen pregnancy by education and contraceptives. (2005)

• Voted NO on criminal penalty for harming unborn fetuses during other crime. (2004)





Budget and economy:

"Just by eliminating the war and eliminating the $200 billion in tax cuts that goes to the top one percent, if you add it all up, that would allow me to do everything I wanted to do … my priorities on education, health care and the environment … and still bring down the deficit by $150 billion."



• Believes deregulation got America into housing crisis. (2008)

• Invested in new programs by ending war and eliminating tax cuts. (2007)

• Voted NO on prioritizing national debt reduction below tax cuts. (2000)

• Voted YES on balanced-budget constitutional amendment. (1997)





Civil rights:

"I think government should not be able to dictate to religions the definition of marriage, but on the civil side, government has the obligation to strip away every vestige of discrimination as to what individuals are able to do in terms of personal conduct."

Continued...

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