Who is Joe Biden?

After months of speculation, Presidential candidate Barack Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his running mate. The Obama campaign did not need additional excitement inside their campaign, therefore analyst say Joe Biden is a perfect choice for Vice President. With guns flaring on Obama and McCain's campaigns trails, Biden is sure to feel the heat of the media microscope. So, to get the political questions rolling, who is Joe Biden and what are some of his political views?

Joseph Biden became a United States Senator for Delaware in 1972. Biden, now sixty-five, was twenty-nine at the time. In 1984 and 2004, Biden ran on the Democratic ticket for President of the U.S. He was again a Presidential Candidate in 2008, but dropped out in January after the Iowa caucuses. With crucial foreign policies changes needed, Biden's' experience could prove a powerful asset to the Democratic Party. The Senator severed as the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in the 110th Congress. Biden is considered by many political analysts to be a powerful Democrat. In Addition, Joe Biden is viewed as an effective bipartisan politician.

Where does Joe Biden stand on the issues and what is his voting record to date?

Joe Biden believes in life at conception. He does not believe in public funding for abortions. Biden does support a partial-birth abortion ban, but does not support the reversal of Roe vs. Wade. Joe Biden voted no on maintaining bans on military base abortions. He voted no on defining the unborn child as eligible for SCHIP. Biden has voted against a ban on human cloning.

Joe Biden feels America should invest in new programs by ending war & eliminating tax cuts. He voted against prioritizing national debt reduction, below tax cuts. The Vice Presidential candidate voted for the 1998 GOP budget. In addition, Biden voted for a balanced-budget constitutional amendment. The Delaware Senior Senator believes American troops should be withdrawn. Biden feels the extraction of troops in Iraq would drastically save Pentagon spending.

The ACLU, for a mixed civil rights voting record, rated Joe Biden at 60%. The NAACP, for a pro-affirmative action record, voted him at 100%. Biden voted no on a constitutional ban of same-sex marriages and yes on adding sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes.

Joe Biden says he believes in every Americans chance to a higher education. He supported a $3000 tax credit for college 2007. He supports finding ways to finance medical students' tuition. Biden believes teachers should have a performance-based payment system. He feels teachers would achieve greater results in the classroom, with a more respectful pay scale. The Vice Presidential candidate believes sexual education should be taught in schools, including prevention methods. Joe Biden believes America still requires a great deal of work to overcome racial achievement gaps in early education. Biden voted for an educational savings account in 2000 and for the funding of student testing, instead of private tutors. He voted yes on spending $448 billion of the 2001 tax cuts on education.

In a "Green" world, Senator Joe Biden has been an advocate of energy efficient changes. He supports cap-and-trade for greenhouse gases and supports flex-fuel automobiles. He voted yes on $3.1 billion for emergency oil assistance in hurricane-hit cities in 2005. In Addition, Biden voted for the reduction of oil usage by 40%, by 2025. Democrat Joe Biden voted to ban drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2005. He also voted for the Bush Administration Energy Policy. Biden has voted for reducing funds for road building in National Forests. He has also voted to continue the protection of California deserts.

Joe Biden agreed to keep the assault weapons ban and close gun show loophole. Biden voted for background checks at gun shows, in 1999. He voted against the prohibition of gun manufacturers lawsuits, for gun violence.. Biden voted no on additional penalties for gun violations, in 1999.

The Vice Presidential running mate to Barack Obama believes prevention is the key to healthcare. He believes American should start paying a universal coverage with $100 billion in redundancy. Joe Biden wants America to modernize and expand our countries health care insurance. He voted to require negotiated Rx prices for Medicare Part D. Biden voted yes to expand the enrollment period for Medicare Part D in 2006. He voted yes on the increase of Medicaid rebates for producing generics. Biden also voted for negations on bulk Medicare pricing.

Joe Biden believes in the elimination of the tax cut, for those in the top 1%. In 2007, Biden supported taking back the $85 billion annual tax cuts for those who do not need them (the top 1% earners). In 2007, Biden voted to raise the $97,500 cap on social security, but not to increase the retirement age. The ARA, indicating a pro-senior voting record, rates him at 89%.

As the months leading to the election grow shorter, we the people will have a chance to get to know Joe Biden a great deal more. Having served in the United States government for over 30 years, Biden has a long and debatable record. How his past record and current views effect this campaign will be up to the media, Biden himself, Barack Obama, and with the ultimate final word...the American People