While the 2006 mid-term elections are over, the war in Iraq still rages. To address this maelstrom and a host of domestic issues — like immigration, renewable energy, and universal health-care, progressive activists will look for the Democratic-controlled Congress to uphold many of its campaign promises, and to cultivate a 2008 presidential candidate who will chart a progressive national direction.
The battle for the Democratic presidential nomination is already heating up. US Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, one of the first presidential candidates to announce his intention, was also the first announced candidate to visit Rhode Island. On November 28, the Democrat came to the Providence office of lawyer Gary St. Peter and lobbyist Frank McMahon for a $500 per-ticket fundraiser that netted nearly $50,000.
Other possible Democratic presidential candidates, including Senators Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, and John Kerry, Governors Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Bill Richardson of New Mexico, have visited Rhode Island this year. Other likely candidates include John Edwards, Wesley Clark, former Senator Mike Gravel, Senator Evan Bayh, and Al Gore.
For Biden to rise above this crowded field, he will look to make a splash as the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — where he expects to hold intense hearings on the Iraq War, starting in mid-January.
Sounding this theme before his fundraiser, Biden proclaimed himself the national security candidate, asserting that problems in Iraq, Iran, and North Korea are “are big-ticket items looking for grown-ups,” and that a winning presidential nominee needs to have “unimpeachable credentials on national security and foreign policy as well as a clear notion of how he is going to keep the middle class from rolling off the table. I am that candidate.”
While it will hurt Biden if the debate focuses on social issues, he also faces serious challenges on national security, since the Democrats’ large anti-war base will scrutinize his initial vote for the war and his subsequent refusals to call for a withdrawal of troops.
Biden has also been criticized by progressives for his support of the 2005 bankruptcy bill — a bill largely written by the credit card industry based in his home state. Sponsors asserted the bill was meant to stop careless consumers from running up high credit card debt and escaping payment. After having blocked the bill in previous years, Biden has said he felt that the bill included enough protection, including a safe harbor provision for low-income people and another requiring that child support payments trump creditor’s claims.
However, Biden and other sponsors opposed amendments to separate credit debt from other kinds, such as those caused by identity theft, medical catastrophes, or the absence of a family member serving in Iraq. He also opposed an amendment to stop the so-called “millionaire’s loophole” in which wealthy individuals can avoid creditors’ claims. (Rhode Island joins Delaware as two of only five states that permit this loophole). Several potential rivals, including Clinton, criticized the failure of these amendments and the crackdown on low-income and middle-income debtors.
As the Democratic presidential field matures in the next few months, Biden will look to move the debate away from domestic matters, like the bankruptcy bill, and attempt to use his articulate and ebullient manner to bring international affairs to the forefront. However, barring an exemplary performance during his planned hearings on Iraq, it will remain difficult for progressives in the presidential season’s first contests (Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina) to forget Biden’s support of the bankruptcy bill and his pro-war stance.
