by Rick Pearson
DES MOINES—Harking back to his days as a public defender, Democrat Joe Biden delivered what he called his “closing argument” today for the Iowa caucuses in his bid to move on and play another day in the presidential playoffs.
“I want all the caucus-goers in this great state to close their eyes and imagine if their candidate is president of the United States, not in a year, but this very instant,” Biden told several hundred people at a rally at a downtown Des Moines brew pub.
“Are they confident if their candidate is president this very instant that they have the sure-footedness, a state enough hand to know exactly what they would do in Pakistan? To know exactly what they would do, not generically, exactly what they would do in Iraq?” Biden asked.
Biden, a Delaware senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has focused on his international relations skills throughout the campaign. But with the turmoil in Pakistan following the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, he has put foreign affairs at the forefront of his bid to try to finish in the top four in Thursday night’s caucuses.
Biden said resolving international challenges, including getting U.S. troops home from Iraq, is paramount in dealing with domestic issues, where money spent on a war could be used to help finance his plans to expand health care coverage at home.
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“Are they ready?” Biden asked of his rivals. “Are they smarter than their secretary of state? Are they more informed? Because, ladies and gentlemen, I think this country is great and I am ready to lead.”