Senator Joe Biden - = Democratic National Convention

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Wednesday, = August=20 27

Joe Biden, Delaware

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 08:20 PM

Beau, I love you. I am so proud of you. Proud of the son you = are. Proud=20 of the father you=E2=80=99ve become. And I=E2=80=99m so proud of my son = Hunter, my daughter=20 Ashley, and my wife Jill, the only one who leaves me breathless and = speechless=20 at the same time.

It is an honor to share this stage tonight with = President Clinton. And last night, it was moving to watch Hillary, one = of the=20 great leaders of our party, a woman who has made history and will = continue to=20 make history: my colleague and my friend, Senator Hillary = Clinton.

And I=20 am honored to represent our first state=E2=80=94my = state=E2=80=94Delaware.

Since I=E2=80=99ve=20 never been called a man of few words, let me say this as simply as I = can: Yes.=20 Yes, I accept your nomination to run and serve alongside our next = President of=20 the United States of America, Barack Obama.

Let me make this = pledge to=20 you right here and now. For every American who is trying to do the right = thing,=20 for all those people in government who are honoring their pledge to = uphold the=20 law and respect our Constitution, no longer will the eight most dreaded = words in=20 the English language be: =E2=80=9CThe vice president=E2=80=99s office is = on the=20 phone.=E2=80=9D

Barack Obama and I took very different journeys = to this=20 destination, but we share a common story. Mine began in Scranton, = Pennsylvania,=20 and then Wilmington, Delaware. With a dad who fell on hard economic = times, but=20 who always told me: =E2=80=9CChamp, when you get knocked down, get up. = Get up.=E2=80=9D

I=20 wish that my dad was here tonight, but I am so grateful that my mom, = Catherine=20 Eugenia Finnegan Biden, is here. You know, she taught her = children=E2=80=94all the=20 children who flocked to our house=E2=80=94that you are defined by your = sense of honor,=20 and you are redeemed by your loyalty. She believes bravery lives in = every heart=20 and her expectation is that it will be summoned.

Failure at some = point in=20 everyone=E2=80=99s life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable. As = a child I=20 stuttered, and she lovingly told me it was because I was so bright I = couldn=E2=80=99t=20 get the thoughts out quickly enough. When I was not as well dressed as = others,=20 she told me how handsome she thought I was. When I got knocked down by = guys=20 bigger than me, she sent me back out and demanded that I bloody their = nose so I=20 could walk down that street the next day.

After the accident, she = told=20 me, =E2=80=9CJoey, God sends no cross you cannot bear.=E2=80=9D = And when I triumphed, she=20 was quick to remind me it was because of others.

My = mother=E2=80=99s creed is the=20 American creed: No one is better than you. You are everyone=E2=80=99s = equal, and=20 everyone is equal to you.

My parents taught us to live our faith, = and=20 treasure our family. We learned the dignity of work, and we were told = that=20 anyone can make it if they try.

That was America=E2=80=99s = promise. For those of=20 us who grew up in middle-class neighborhoods like Scranton and = Wilmington, that=20 was the American dream and we knew it.

But today that American = dream=20 feels as if it=E2=80=99s slowly slipping away. I don=E2=80=99t need to = tell you that. You feel=20 it every single day in your own lives.

I=E2=80=99ve never seen a = time when=20 Washington has watched so many people get knocked down without doing = anything to=20 help them get back up. Almost every night, I take the train home to = Wilmington,=20 sometimes very late. As I look out the window at the homes we pass, I = can almost=20 hear what they=E2=80=99re talking about at the kitchen table after they = put the kids to=20 bed.

Like millions of Americans, they=E2=80=99re asking questions = as profound as=20 they are ordinary. Questions they never thought they would have to=20 ask:

    * Should mom move in with us now that dad = is=20 gone?
    * Fifty, sixty, seventy dollars to fill up = the=20 car?
    * Winter=E2=80=99s coming. How we gonna pay = the heating=20 bills?
    * Another year and no = raise?
   =20 * Did you hear the company may be cutting our health = care?
   =20 * Now, we owe more on the house than it=E2=80=99s worth. How are we = going to send the=20 kids to college?
    * How are we gonna be able to = retire?=20

That=E2=80=99s the America that George Bush has left us, and = that=E2=80=99s the future=20 John McCain will give us. These are not isolated discussions among = families down=20 on their luck. These are common stories among middle-class people who = worked=20 hard and played by the rules on the promise that their tomorrows would = be better=20 than their yesterdays.

That promise is the bedrock of America. It = defines=20 who we are as a people. And now it=E2=80=99s in jeopardy. I know it. You = know it. But=20 John McCain doesn=E2=80=99t get it.

Barack Obama gets it. Like = many of us, Barack=20 worked his way up. His is a great American story.

You know, I = believe the=20 measure of a man isn=E2=80=99t just the road he=E2=80=99s traveled; = it=E2=80=99s the choices he=E2=80=99s made=20 along the way. Barack Obama could have done anything after he graduated = from=20 college. With all his talent and promise, he could have written his = ticket to=20 Wall Street. But that=E2=80=99s not what he chose to do. He chose to go = to Chicago. The=20 South Side. There he met men and women who had lost their jobs. Their=20 neighborhood was devastated when the local steel plant closed. Their = dreams=20 deferred. Their dignity shattered. Their self-esteem gone.

And he = made=20 their lives the work of his life. That=E2=80=99s what you do when = you=E2=80=99ve been raised by=20 a single mom, who worked, went to school and raised two kids on her own. = That=E2=80=99s=20 how you come to believe, to the very core of your being, that work is = more than=20 a paycheck. It=E2=80=99s dignity. It=E2=80=99s respect. It=E2=80=99s = about whether you can look your=20 children in the eye and say: we=E2=80=99re going to be = ok.

Because Barack made=20 that choice, 150,000 more children and parents have health care in = Illinois. He=20 fought to make that happen. And because Barack made that choice, working = families in Illinois pay less taxes and more people have moved from = welfare to=20 the dignity of work. He got it done.

And when he came to = Washington, I=20 watched him hit the ground running, leading the fight to pass the most = sweeping=20 ethics reform in a generation. He reached across party lines to pass a = law that=20 helps keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. And he moved = Congress=20 and the president to give our wounded veterans the care and dignity they = deserve.

You can learn an awful lot about a man campaigning with = him,=20 debating him and seeing how he reacts under pressure. You learn about = the=20 strength of his mind, but even more importantly, you learn about the = quality of=20 his heart.

I watched how he touched people, how he inspired them, = and I=20 realized he has tapped into the oldest American belief of all: We = don=E2=80=99t have to=20 accept a situation we cannot bear.

We have the power to change = it. That=E2=80=99s=20 Barack Obama, and that=E2=80=99s what he will do for this country. = He=E2=80=99ll change=20 it.

John McCain is my friend. We=E2=80=99ve known each = other for three=20 decades. We=E2=80=99ve traveled the world together. = It=E2=80=99s a friendship that=20 goes beyond politics. And the personal courage and heroism John = demonstrated=20 still amaze me.

But I profoundly disagree with the direction that = John=20 wants to take the country. For example,

John thinks that during = the Bush=20 years =E2=80=9Cwe=E2=80=99ve made great progress economically.=E2=80=9D = I think it=E2=80=99s been=20 abysmal.

And in the Senate, John sided with President Bush 95 = percent of=20 the time. Give me a break. When John McCain proposes $200 billion = in new=20 tax breaks for corporate America, $1 billion alone for just eight of the = largest=20 companies, but no relief for 100 million American families, = that=E2=80=99s not change;=20 that=E2=80=99s more of the same.

Even today, as oil companies = post the biggest=20 profits in history=E2=80=94a half trillion dollars in the last five = years=E2=80=94he wants to=20 give them another $4 billion in tax breaks. But he voted time and = again=20 against incentives for renewable energy: solar, wind, biofuels. = That=E2=80=99s not=20 change; that=E2=80=99s more of the same.

Millions of jobs have = left our shores,=20 yet John continues to support tax breaks for corporations that send them = there.=20 That=E2=80=99s not change; that=E2=80=99s more of the same.

He = voted 19 times against=20 raising the minimum wage. For people who are struggling just to = get to the=20 next day, that=E2=80=99s not change; that=E2=80=99s more of the = same.

And when he says he=20 will continue to spend $10 billion a month in Iraq when Iraq is sitting = on a=20 surplus of nearly $80 billion, that=E2=80=99s not change; that=E2=80=99s = more of the=20 same.

The choice in this election is clear. These times require = more than=20 a good soldier; they require a wise leader, a leader who can deliver = change=E2=80=94the=20 change everybody knows we need.

Barack Obama will deliver that=20 change. Barack Obama will reform our tax code. He=E2=80=99ll cut = taxes for 95=20 percent of the American people who draw a paycheck. That=E2=80=99s the = change we=20 need.

Barack Obama will transform our economy by making = alternative=20 energy a genuine national priority, creating 5 million new jobs and = finally=20 freeing us from the grip of foreign oil. That=E2=80=99s the change we=20 need.

Barack Obama knows that any country that out teaches us = today will=20 out-compete us tomorrow. He=E2=80=99ll invest in the next generation of = teachers. He=E2=80=99ll=20 make college more affordable. That=E2=80=99s the change we need. =

Barack Obama=20 will bring down health care costs by $2,500 for the typical family, and, = at long=20 last, deliver affordable, accessible health care for all Americans. = That=E2=80=99s the=20 change we need.

Barack Obama will put more cops on the streets, = put the=20 =E2=80=9Csecurity=E2=80=9D back in Social Security and never give up = until we achieve equal pay=20 for women. That=E2=80=99s the change we need.

As we gather here = tonight, our=20 country is less secure and more isolated than at any time in recent = history. The=20 Bush-McCain foreign policy has dug us into a very deep hole with very = few=20 friends to help us climb out. For the last seven years, this = administration has=20 failed to face the biggest forces shaping this century: the emergence of = Russia,=20 China and India as great powers; the spread of lethal weapons; the = shortage of=20 secure supplies of energy, food and water; the challenge of climate = change; and=20 the resurgence of fundamentalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the real = central=20 front against terrorism.

In recent days, we=E2=80=99ve once again = seen the=20 consequences of this neglect with Russia=E2=80=99s challenge to the free = and democratic=20 country of Georgia. Barack Obama and I will end this neglect. We will = hold=20 Russia accountable for its actions, and we=E2=80=99ll help the people of = Georgia=20 rebuild.

I=E2=80=99ve been on the ground in Georgia, Iraq, = Pakistan and=20 Afghanistan, and I can tell you in no uncertain terms: this = Administration=E2=80=99s=20 policy has been an abject failure. America cannot afford four more years = of=20 this.

Now, despite being complicit in this catastrophic foreign = policy,=20 John McCain says Barack Obama isn=E2=80=99t ready to protect our = national security. Now,=20 let me ask you: whose judgment should we trust? Should we trust John = McCain=E2=80=99s=20 judgment when he said only three years ago, = =E2=80=9CAfghanistan=E2=80=94we don=E2=80=99t read about it=20 anymore because it=E2=80=99s succeeded=E2=80=9D? Or should we trust = Barack Obama, who more than=20 a year ago called for sending two additional combat brigades to=20 Afghanistan?

The fact is, al-Qaida and the Taliban=E2=80=94the = people who=20 actually attacked us on 9/11=E2=80=94have regrouped in those mountains = between=20 Afghanistan and Pakistan and are plotting new attacks. And the = Chairman of=20 the Joint Chiefs of Staff echoed Barack=E2=80=99s call for more = troops.

John=20 McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.

Should we trust John = McCain=E2=80=99s=20 judgment when he rejected talking with Iran and then asked: What is = there to=20 talk about? Or Barack Obama, who said we must talk and make it clear to = Iran=20 that its conduct must change.

Now, after seven years of denial, = even the=20 Bush administration recognizes that we should talk to Iran, because = that=E2=80=99s the=20 best way to advance our security.

Again, John McCain was = wrong.=20 Barack Obama was right.

Should we trust John McCain=E2=80=99s = judgment when he=20 says there can be no timelines to draw down our troops from = Iraq=E2=80=94that we must=20 stay indefinitely? Or should we listen to Barack Obama, who says shift=20 responsibility to the Iraqis and set a time to bring our combat troops=20 home?

Now, after six long years, the Bush administration and the = Iraqi=20 government are on the verge of setting a date to bring our troops=20 home.

John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.

Again = and=20 again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John = McCain=20 was wrong, and Barack Obama was proven right.

Folks, remember = when the=20 world used to trust us? When they looked to us for leadership? With = Barack Obama=20 as our president, they=E2=80=99ll look to us again, they=E2=80=99ll = trust us again, and we=E2=80=99ll be=20 able to lead again.

Jill and I are truly honored to join Barack = and=20 Michelle on this journey. When I look at their young = children=E2=80=94and when I look at=20 my grandchildren=E2=80=94I realize why I=E2=80=99m here. I=E2=80=99m = here for their future.

And I=20 am here for everyone I grew up with in Scranton and Wilmington. I am = here for=20 the cops and firefighters, the teachers and assembly line = workers=E2=80=94the folks=20 whose lives are the very measure of whether the American dream=20 endures.

Our greatest presidents=E2=80=94from Abraham Lincoln to = Franklin=20 Roosevelt to John Kennedy=E2=80=94they all challenged us to embrace = change. Now, it=E2=80=99s=20 our responsibility to meet that challenge.

Millions of Americans = have=20 been knocked down. And this is the time as Americans, together, we get = back up.=20 Our people are too good, our debt to our parents and grandparents too = great, our=20 obligation to our children is too sacred.

These are = extraordinary times.=20 This is an extraordinary election. The American people are ready. = I=E2=80=99m ready.=20 Barack Obama is ready. This is his time. This is our time. This is = America=E2=80=99s=20 time.

May God bless America and protect our troops.

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