Sen. Joe Biden: “John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.”

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Like Senator John Kerry who preceded him on the speakers agenda, Joe Biden has been a personal friend of John McCain for more than three decades.  John Kerry asked John McCain to leave the Republican Party and become his running mate in 2004 (despite denials by McCain).  Joe Biden several years ago said that he "would be proud to run with or run against John McCain."  But that was then and this is now.  When these two old friends of John McCain who know him well express their doubts, reservations and concerns about the judgment of the man whom they regard a friend, people should listen to them seriously. (The McMedia ignored this point entirely.)

The one-two punch of the speeches by Kerry and Biden reminded me of Senator Lloyd Bentsen’s classic response to Senator Dan Quayle during the 1988 vice presidential debate:

Bentsen: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy: I knew Jack Kennedy; Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.

John Kerry and Joe Biden essentially reprised this line on Wednesday night: "Senator, I served with John McCain; I knew John McCain; John McCain was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no longer John McCain."

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

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

John thinks that during the Bush years "we’ve made great progress economically." I think it’s been abysmal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * *

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

Now, despite being complicit in this catastrophic foreign policy, John McCain says Barack Obama isn’t ready to protect our national security. Now, let me ask you: Whose judgment should we trust? Should we trust John McCain’s judgment when he said only three years ago, "Afghanistan — we don’t read about it anymore because it’s succeeded"? Or should we trust Barack Obama, who more than a year ago called for sending two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan?

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

John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.

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

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

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

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

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

John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.

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

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

Joe Biden also made an emotional connection with the American people with his remarkable life’s story, and his ability to speak directly to the heart of Americans about their concerns and fears.  While the McMedia was unfairly critical of the speech on style points (because the media only cares about style over substance), substantively the speech was a wonderful reintroduction of Joe Biden to the American people.  America was listening.

For a transcript of the speech Transcript: Joe Biden’s Acceptance Speech : NPR

Watch the video (below the fold – for technical reasons)