Why does Biden claim he has "the most progressive record of anyone running"? [View all]

[pnwmom]

He has a very long record that does not put him among the most progressive.

On update: Besides the points in the MSNBC article below, please see Hassan Bin Sober's post #38. Joe Biden wrote a bill allowing civil forfeitures for drug offenses that local, state, and federal law enforcement is still taking advantage of today -- without having to obtain convictions first.

As a side note, his claim also implies that he IS going to run.

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/national-govt--politics/the-latest-biden-verbal-slip-draws-democrats-cheers/R3JfdwwCi9fKP8pR3DwD0J/

A slip of the tongue by former Vice President Joe Biden might suggest he's leaning toward running for the White House again.

In a keynote speech at a Saturday dinner for the Delaware Democratic Party, Biden boasted that he has "the most progressive record of anybody running." But Biden hasn't announced whether he is running again for president.

He quickly corrected himself, saying "anybody who would run — I didn't mean it. Anybody who would run."

Cheers nearly drowned out his correction. Although Biden has been known to go off script, his remark is likely to be viewed as a Washington-style gaffe — a case of accidentally telling the truth.


http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/joe-biden-no-savior-progressives

2. As a young senator in the 1970s, Biden pandered to conservative constituents by turning himself into a “leading anti-busing crusader,” as one chronicler of the episode recently put it. Speaking in support of an anti-busing amendment offered by the segregationist Sen. Jesse Helms, Biden called busing “a bankrupt concept.” His opposition would help shift Democrats away from a forthright stance in favor of de-segregation policies.

3. Biden has frequently voted to ban so-called “partial-birth” abortions, and has avoided voting when other abortion legislation was being considered. He said in 2008 that he believes life begins at the moment of conception, though he wouldn’t impose that judgment on everyone.

4. As Senate Judiciary chairman, Biden angered some women’s rights advocates with his handling of Clarence Thomas’s contentious 1990 confirmation hearings, in which Thomas was accused of sexual harassment by a female subordinate, Anita Hill. Biden didn’t allow testimony from two of Hill’s female colleagues who would have corroborated Hill’s claims, but he did allow a parade of witnesses to challenge Hill’s credibility, often in flatly sexist terms. (One suggested Hill might suffer from “erotomania.”)

5. Biden’s home state of Delaware is home to numerous credit card companies, and he has a long history of support for the banking industry. He was a lead sponsor of an industry-backed 2001 bill that would have made it much harder for struggling Americans to declare bankruptcy, and voted for a similar 2005 measure that passed. Among the leading opponents of those bills? A Harvard law professor named Elizabeth Warren.