Essential Estrogen

Chairs were hard to come by at the Blue Strawberry in Cedar Rapids Tuesday morning as roughly 100 individuals stopped by to hear Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Biden.

"If there is one thing I could tell you today that I hope you take with you, it is that the American people have never, ever let this country down," Biden said.

Politicians, he says, like to skirt around issues and not hit them head-on. The American people see things differently.

"The American people are ready and they are not afraid to tackle any of these problems we are discussing this morning," he said. "The fundamentals of this country are firmly in place because they are drawn from the people."

Biden says that although he has great respect and admiration for the entire field of Democratic candidates seeking the presidency, he believes they are doing the public a disservice.

"Democrats need to trust the American people," he said with a low and thoughtful voice. "We need to tell the American people the truth. That's what I'm trying to do. I'm not telling you want you want to hear. I'm talking about the realities of what we have and how we can make progress toward what we want."

He asked the audience to consider the health care plans set forth by others on the campaign trail.

"Can you explain John Edwards' plan to to me?" he asked. "Can you tell me what Obama's plan is? Leading this country forward is going to take more than standing up and saying you have a plan."

Iraq is, in Biden's estimation, the largest issue facing the United States.

"Iraq is like a huge boulder in the middle of the road," he said. "It is blocking the other things we need so badly at home and abroad. America has never been so isolated -- the middle class has never been more threatened."

Keeping with the theme of realities, Biden said there is "no possibility in the lifetime of anyone in this coffee shop for Iraq to have a centralized government that will hold the country together."

"If our troops pull out the civil war we see now will expand into a regional war," he warned and then encouraged members of the press to write down his prediction.

Knowing his recent vote to appropriate funds for the troops in Iraq would be on the minds of some in the audience, Biden spoke frankly about his second vote to approve war funding.

"We have to face the sad reality that we need votes to override a presidential veto," he said. "These are votes we don't currently have. We need 17 Republicans to change their minds and, in the meantime, I'm not trading lives for the sake of making a political point."

The senator urged those who attended to view the Biden-Gelb plan for Iraq, a five-point plan that aims to keep Iraq together, protect America's interests and bring the troops home.

"Do I want the troops home now?" he asked. "Of course I do, but I want it done in a responsible way. I don't want to have to wait another 20 months [until President George W. Bush leaves office] to end this war. There are things we can be doing now... if the arrogance of this administration would allow them to see it."

Biden says that although pundits try to paint Democrats as being weak on terrorism, Bush and his administration are the weakest. The second-place position goes to the Republican candidates for president, he says.

"I put forth a bill that would have taken back one-eighth of the Bush tax cuts for America's wealthy," he said. "The bill had a detailed list of how that money would be spent to implement the recommendations of the 911 Commission. This administration refused it.

"Everything that could be done to keep America safe has been neglected by this administration and -- well let me say it -- they are criminally irresponsible when it comes to protecting the American homeland."

Biden concluded his remarks with a direct message to pundits and others who believe the Bush administration has made the country safer and the Democrats are only serving to weaken it: "Read the National Intelligence Estimate. This past February their report was issued and it said the policy of this administration has produced more terrorism."