Biden: Next president needs foreign policy experience
Desmoinesregister.com
Oskaloosa, Ia. “A presidential election with so much at stake regarding the United States standing in a tumultuous world should not end with a president with expertise limited to domestic issues”, Sen. Joe Biden said today.
“I think the American people intuitively know there is one thing you do not want based on the past 15 years. You don’t want a governor who doesn’t know about foreign policy”, he said to a crowd of about 35 who listened to him for an hour and a half here at Smokey Row Coffeehouse.
Biden, a Democratic candidate for president, ditched a stump speech for an intimate question-and answer-session with the potential caucusgoers, but made no mention of The Des Moines Registers endorsement today of fellow Democratic candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Afterward, he admitted losing the papers nod following a debate sponsored by the newspaper where he was lauded with the best performance was disappointing.
“The paper was fair to me. They really gave me a shot”, he said. “I honestly thought we were in the race”.
The newspapers endorsement of Clinton may not change the course of the caucus, Biden said, though things might have been different if another candidate were in her place.
“I think it’s a big deal for Hillary. The irony is I think it helps her the least. It would have been a giant issue for John (Edwards) if he had gotten it, and for Barack (Obama), it would have been a validation”, Biden said.
He praised the newspapers endorsement of Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, calling him “the only qualified candidate on the other side”.
Biden, a senior senator from Delaware and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, illustrated the importance of foreign policy experience to the campaign with the example of his urging of former President Bill Clinton to order airstrikes on Serbia in 1995 to free Kosovo. Biden told those gathered that Clinton, a former Arkansas governor, reminded Biden that foreign relations were a new issue for him to tackle.
“There’s no time for on-the-job learning”, Biden said. “If you don’t know as much as your secretary of state, you should not be president this time around”.
The remarks were made in response to a question as to whether, if elected, it would be a struggle for him in terms of passing important legislation because he would be one of only a handful of U.S. presidents who have served in Congress. It would be the opposite of detrimental, Biden countered, pointing out that he was the first from the United States to speak with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto during recent turmoil in the country.
“The problem with electing governors, or people with limited foreign policy experience, is inaction is as powerful as action”, he said.