Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Biden Jr. was full of contradictions Monday in a speech to the National Guard Association conference in Baltimore.
The veteran Delaware senator repeatedly contradicted his “friend” Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, and McCain’s charges about Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama at the National Guard meeting Sunday.
Biden even contradicted Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake on mental health services, saying units would be closed, while Peake said an hour before that care sites were being opened and more staff added.
Responding to McCain’s assertion that behind all of Obama’s positions “lies the ambition to be president,” Biden said, “While we can question each other’s judgment, we have to stop questioning each other’s motives,” a line that drew applause from the crowd of more than 1,000 guardsmen and guests.
“We all put country first,” Biden said. “The last thing we need now is more politics of division.”
Biden questioned McCain’s judgment on a timeline for the war in Iraq, more troops for Afghanistan and diplomacy with Iran.
“John was wrong, and Barack was right,” Biden said.
“We are a military at war; we are not a nation at war,” as McCain says, Biden said.
“The only ones making the real sacrifice are those deployed and their families back home,” he said to applause.
Biden said the Iraq veterans shouldn’t have to prove that brain injuries or mental problems were related to their war service.
Biden also promised: “You’re going to get a seat at the table where the Joint Chiefs of Staff sit.”
Maj. Gen. Martin Umbarger, head of the Indiana National Guard and chairman of the National Guard Association, said Biden was “an unshakable supporter” of the National Guard and has “probably visited Iraq more times than any other member of Congress.”
Biden frequently flew aboard military transport C-130s, piloted by the Delaware Air National Guard. On trips home, the planes often would be carrying the coffins of “fallen angels” to the military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
“He’s part of our guard family. His son is a member of our Delaware National Guard. He’s there with us every step of the way,” said Maj. Gen. Frank Vavala, adjutant of the Delaware National Guard.
“We couldn’t get a better advocate than Joe Biden. He’s a guardsman through and through — always has been.”
The McCain campaign took no issue with Biden’s record, but said, “Barack Obama’s running mate is tasked with the impossible chore of inflating a record where one does not exist,” said McCain-Palin spokesman Ben Porritt.
By voting against funding for the war, Obama also did not support additional money for veterans medical benefits, the Republicans said, citing several independent fact-checking sources.
