After his feisty debate performance, Joe Biden hit the campaign trail today, hammering Republicans on their controlling, cynical, sexist attitudes toward women.
He didn't pull any punches, either. He called them out for imposing their private views on women, and was very specific about the shape of the U.S. Supreme Court if Romney wins this election. This, by the way, is what should give every progressive, Democrat, liberal or independent a reason to vote for Obama -- the idea of having Mitt Romney nominate the next two Supreme Court justices is the kind of nightmare we really don't need to have.
At the end, he really gets passionate about his anger over VAWA being held hostage, too. It's like Biden took all his energy and anger out and is putting it where it can do the most good. More like this, please.
Transcript below the fold.
BIDEN: If anyone had a doubt about what’s at stake in this election, when it comes to women's rights, and the Supreme Court, I am sure they were settled last night. Congressman Ryan made it very clear that he and Governor Romney are prepared to impose their private views on everyone else. It was made clear last night that they do not believe in protecting a woman's access to health care. It was made very clear that they do not believe a woman has a right to control her own body—that’s between she and her doctor. And now they say they are willing to make an exception in the case of rape and incest.
Ladies and gentlemen, Congressman Ryan was a leader in the House and even blocked those exceptions…Ladies and gentlemen, can you imagine the next president is likely to have almost surely have one and probably two Supreme Court appointees. Roe v. Wade is hanging. Do you think they’re possibly going to appoint two justices to the court who aren’t going to join Scalia and others to overrule Roe v. Wade? Ladies and gentlemen, the single most consequential decision a President makes other than going to war is the appointment to the Supreme Court, because those appointments live on long after any President is gone.
Ladies and gentlemen, Congressman Ryan, he voted against the Lily Ledbetter Act. All it did was—it sounds ridiculous—but all it did was give a woman a cause of action when she found out she was cheated in her employment, that the statute of limitations didn’t kick in and prevent her from bringing an action when she was cheated. Ladies and gentlemen, we're all pushing hard for a Fair Pay Act. I happen to think my daughter should get paid exactly what any man is being paid for the job she is doing. We have proposed equal pay legislation. They are against it. They want to turn back to the insurance companies, the decision on whether a woman continues having to pay 50% more for the same health care, where once again pregnancy will be able to be a pre-existing condition.
Ladies and gentlemen, they are holding hostage one of the proudest accomplishments of my career, the Violence Against Women Act. They're still debating whether or not we need the Violence Against Women Act after 20 years. Folks, if I leave you with no other message today, I want you to remember this one – Barack Obama and Joe Biden are absolutely, positively, firmly committed to ensuring that our daughters and my granddaughters at the exact same rights and opportunities to control their lives as my sons and my grandsons –exact same rights. Make no mistake about that. These guys have a social policy out of the 50's.
