Although Joe Biden has spent many of the early months of his campaign apologizing for past decisions, Biden’s voting record from the early 2000s onward shows a commitment to the issues he has pushed thus far on the campaign trail.
One of Biden’s major dilemmas in his bid for the 2020 presidential debate is his history in Washington DC. His career spans over 40 years and during his time, Biden has reversed some of his more outdated decisions. Many of his opposers use this to argue that he is “too old” to run for president, however if Biden’s views had remained stagnant over 40 years, it would show in inability to progress.
Using to Biden’s decisions from the 1970s and 80s to judge his current views, ignores the years of growth he has exhibited. Biden has adapted to the changing landscape of American politics, while his voting trends have remained progressive.
According to the American Conservative Union, Biden has a lifetime rating of 12.67, meaning he agrees with the conservative view 12.67 times out of 100. In comparison, 18 democratic members, of the 49, scored a higher lifetime rating in 2007. By the end of Barack Obama’s stint in the senate, he had a lifetime rating of 10.
Additionally, due to a lack of complete voting records prior of the 90s, judging the trend of his early decisions remains difficult. Starting in 1989, the Senate started keeping public records of roll call votes.
Using the available data, Biden has a history for supporting democratic positions. The US COC, a lobbying group, rated Biden 32% in 2003, which means he tended to vote anti-business. Furthermore, the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions, rated Biden 100% in 2003, signifying that he supports unions. He has long supported increasing the minimum wage and maintains that the middle class, not Wall St, built America. Once of Biden’s major campaign promises is to rebuild the middle class. His records in the Senate and as Vice President support that initiative.
Since the Senate began to keep track of voting roll call votes, Biden has continuously voted to support the United States’ allies, to stay engaged in the world, and has defended the Jewish state, Israel. This mirrors the foreign policy goals that Biden has outlined so far during his campaign. One of his main goals included strengthening the US’s relationship with its allies, which Biden believes has deteriorated during Trump’s presidency.
The last of his three top policy goals includes making sure everyone maintains their rights. Regarding LGBTQ rights, his history is a bit shaky, but Biden made headlines when he came out as supporting gay marriage during the 2012 election, when Obama had not come out in support of it yet. He has supported women’s rights to abortion and desegregation, although he did not support busing as a mode in which to end it. In addition, he was pro civil-rights as a public defender and had an open-border stance while in the Senate.
His civil rights record from the 70s to the 90s has caused him some backlash today, including not helping Anita Hill in 1991, even though he opposed Clarence Thomas’ nomination. However, since the Senate started keeping track of votes, he has voted repeatedly for civil rights.
While his opposition states that Biden has twentieth century views in the twenty-first century, this arises because they only consider the votes he cast from the 70s to the early 90s. Biden has some missteps in his record, but as he has matured, his views have progressed and since 1989, Biden’s records supports the views that he holds today.