Joe Biden: A ‘Good Guy’ Without Principle or Backbone

Joe Biden, the crazy uncle that many people try to hide in the attic, so to speak, is a “good guy,” even if he didn’t have enough backbone to defend his use of that phrase to describe Vice President Mike Pence. When the left-wing mobs came calling, Uncle Joe scurried for the exit.

Of course, the former senator already had run from his record in the Anita Hill hearings, during which he apparently privately acknowledged the inconsistencies of her story. Now, seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in an era when truth and consequences are of no account, he apologized for not arming the anti-Clarence Thomas mob with pitchforks and torches.

His latest craven surrender is on abortion funding.

Uncle Joe’s principle strength is his longevity. He comes from an era before the Democratic Party had turned into a left-wing hothouse. The party always included a lot of big spenders, but on culture and foreign policy many Democrats were to the right of many Republicans. Across America’s heartland many Democrats supported gun rights and opposed abortion.

Indeed, the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits public funding of abortion except when the mother’s life is in danger and in cases of rape and incest, was first passed in 1976 by a Democratic House and Senate. Democratic President Jimmy Carter, elected in that year, defending the prohibition. Belief in the eternal value of the human person was not limited to the right.

In 1980 Democrats purported to be the party of diversity and tolerance when they attacked the Reagan campaign for creating an abortion “litmus test” for judicial nominees. To be sure, most Dems backed the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade, but they said they would never, ever impose that belief on judicial nominees.