Opinion: Biden's advantage is underestimated

[Gothmog]

26. African Americans trust and support Joe Biden -- and Bernie Sanders' dirty tactics won't change that

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Joe has more relationships in our communities than anyone else in this race.

He has more history with our communities than anyone else in this race.

And Joe is more comfortable in our communities than anyone else in this race.

To say that Joe has betrayed black voters is not only dangerous, it is flat-out wrong. We already know his character, his heart and his record; you can’t try to make us believe something that runs counter to our own experiences with Joe Biden.

Not only has Joe spent his entire career fighting for civil rights, voting rights, equal justice and equal opportunity, it is what brought him into public service in the first place. In fact, Joe led the charge as a United States senator to extend and strengthen the Voting Rights Act in 1982.

He has fought for more resources to prosecute hate crimes, including resources for the Justice Department and FBI to reopen painful, unsolved murders from the civil rights era.

And in one of the greatest achievements of his career, Joe forged a path for the protection of women and girls — including women of color — by writing and spearheading the Violence Against Women Act.

Here’s what I don’t understand: If Joe Biden wasn’t a champion for black America, why did Barack Obama, our nation’s first African American president, choose Joe to be his vice president?

In my lifetime Joe’s steadfast support as Obama’s No. 2 was unprecedented; it was one of the first occasions when people who look like me were able to see a white man standing proudly and loyally behind a black man. And I can tell you this: South Carolina voters will never forget that.