Political Endorsement Value?

With all the folks running for President they find themselves at the mercy of the local political machines endorsement sale. If you looked at presidential politics like it was your Christmas shopping then this is parallel with the Black Friday shopping madness sales where you have to be in line at two in the morning for the doors to open at five. I tend to wonder what is the value of a local political leader in Iowa or New Hampshire when it comes to an endorsement for any one of the candidates. Just the endorsement alone is not a guarantee of votes behind the gesture or is it?

Does a political endorsement work the same as say Tom Brady of the New England Patriots putting his name behind some brand of breakfast cereal? Or for that matter Michael Jordan putting his name on a brand of sneakers or underwear sells the products but would the same thing work for votes for President of the United States?

I don’t know the answers to these questions but I do know who I prefer for the next President of the United States. For what ever value this little blogger has, I’m throwing my endorsement behind Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. You can click on the links below on why I think Joe is right…

Iraq War plan:

The Biden-Gelb plan would:

Keep Iraq together by giving its major groups breathing room in their own regions and control over their daily lives. A central government would be left in charge of common interests like defending the borders and distributing oil revenues.

Secure the support of the Sunnis -- who have no oil -- by guaranteeing them a proportionate share of oil revenue and reintegrating those with no blood on their hands.

Increase, not end, reconstruction assistance but insist that the oil-rich Arab Gulf states fund it and tie it to the creation of a massive jobs program and to the protection of minority rights.

Initiate a major diplomatic offensive to enlist the support of the major powers and Iraq's neighbors for a political settlement in Iraq and create an Oversight Contact Group to enforce regional commitments.

Begin the phased redeployment of U.S. forces this year and withdraw most of them by the summer of 2008, with a small follow-on force to keep the neighbors honest and to strike any concentration of terrorists. - Plan for Iraq


Biden Energy Plan:

1. Establishing A Responsible Policy Toward Iran
2. Restoring US Leadership On Climate Change
3. Increasing Fuel Efficiency and Use of Renewable Fuels
4. Investing In New Energy Technology
5. Expanding Renewable Energy
6. Requiring the Federal Government To Use Energy More Efficiently
7. Encouraging Americans to Use Energy Efficiently
8. Creating Green Jobs in the Technology of Tomorrow

Homeland Security:

The 9/11 Commission gave us a blue print. To be sure, implementing it will cost more. But we can easily afford it - if we change our priorities. This year, the budget for the Department of Homeland Security is $35 billion; at $60 billion, the tax cut for millionaires is nearly double that amount.

Senator Biden would take back one year of the tax cuts for Americans who make over a million dollars a year, and put this money in a dedicated Homeland Security and Public Safety Trust Fund to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations and invest in law enforcement.

For $10 billion a year over the next five years we could:
screen 100 percent of cargo containers coming into our ports,
better protect our chemical facilities,
improve air cargo screening,
make sure that our first responders can talk to one another in emergencies,
hire 1,000 more FBI agents,
hire 50,000 more local cops, and
create local counter-terrorism units in our large cities to stop home-grown plots
Precedent proves this can work. In the early 1990s, Senator Biden established the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund to address the growing crime problem. It put more than 100,000 cops on the street and increased investment in crime prevention programs. Violent crime rates went down.

The Bush administration slashed billions in federal assistance for state and local law enforcement and completely eliminated the COPS hiring program -- and crime rates went up. The most recent reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show a continuation in the upward swing in violent crimes first reported last year when after years of steady declines, violent crime jumped 2.5 percent --- the largest increase in 15 years. - Joe Biden.com

These points are not just the only reason I am backing Joe Biden for President but they are a good beginning. I look at his campaign in the same way I look at inviting someone into my home for a coffee or for dinner. Joe would have no problem knocking on the door and sitting down at our families kitchen table as if he had been there a thousand times before. It’s uncanny how you can see that he is comfortable enough with his stand on any issue and he isn’t relying on a poll to dictate his opinion. Then there is the fact that in my gut I trust him over the rest of them to tell America all of the truth and not just what is comfortable to hear.

Now more than ever America needs a true leader and statesman. This is not a time in world history where you can learn on the job training. America needs someone that will be able to hit the ground running, Joe Biden does not have a hundred million dollars sitting in a campaign war chests which leads me to believe that he will not owe large favors down the road to special interest donors.

Other folks endorsing Joe Biden because they know Joe is right!


List of endorsements for Joe Biden are posted here…

Other folks aka Blogs endorsing Senator Joe Biden…

Vim & Vinegar

Please note that this endorsement is the personal endorsement of Matthew O’Keefe aka Papamoka only.

If your site is endorsing Joe Biden please leave a link in the comments.

Papamoka

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