IN JUST a few days, New Hampshire will go to the polls for the first-in-the-nation primary. It’s a responsibility Granite Staters always take seriously, and this year more than ever. In 2020, the stakes are higher and the consequences greater, because the very character of our nation is on the ballot. Our values, our democracy, and our ability to lead the world to meet global challenges are all at risk if we give Donald Trump four more years. We cannot let him be re-elected.
But the person we nominate as the Democratic candidate will have to do more than just defeat Trump — he or she will have to be able to get things done for the American people and move our country forward. That’s what I’ve done my entire career — from writing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to passing nuclear weapons reductions and the chemical weapons ban through the Senate, from bringing in critical Republican votes for the Recovery Act, which pulled our country out of recession, to helping President Obama pass historic health care reform and protect 100 million Americans with pre-existing conditions.
My record is one of accomplishing big, meaningful legislative change — and I got it done by bringing people together where it was possible, and fighting tooth-and-nail when it was necessary. That’s what I’ll do as president.
When it comes to health care — the issue that matters most to Granite Staters — I will protect and build on the Affordable Care Act rather than tearing it down. Obamacare is the reason more than 50,000 Granite Staters gained Medicaid coverage and access to treatment for substance use disorder or mental health care. We can’t let anything threaten that. My plan will build on Obamacare and get us to universal coverage by adding a Medicare-like public option. And it will make health insurance more affordable by increasing subsidies and lowering prescription drug costs. It’s a plan we can actually get done, we can do it without raising taxes on the middle class, and we can get it done quickly so we help people right away — not years down the line.
I’ve worked for years to end the violence against women that plagues our country and affects thousands of women here in New Hampshire. Enacting VAWA was my proudest accomplishment in the Senate, and as president, I’ll make it a priority to pass the latest reauthorization of VAWA, which closes the “boyfriend loophole” to make it harder for abusers to get a gun. I’ll also lead the charge to address this problem with leadership from the very top to expand the safety net for survivors, confront the pernicious and growing problem of online harassment, eliminate the rape kit backlog, and take on the culture in our country that enables sexual violence.
On the world stage, Donald Trump has repeatedly proven himself incapable of the steady, stable leadership required of an American president. By any measure, we are less secure and less respected globally than when President Obama and I left office three years ago, and the United States — and the world — will be irrevocably changed for the worse with eight years of Donald Trump as commander in chief.
Our next president will have to clean up the wreckage of Trump’s foreign policy, reassure our allies, and reassert respected American global leadership. There won’t be any time to waste; we need someone who can command the world stage and get to work immediately. I have the relationships, experience, and deep understanding necessary to repair Trump’s damage. I am ready to reclaim America’s position as the leader of the free world and make sure the United States leads with the power of our example, not just the example of our power.
I will rejoin the Paris Climate agreement on day one — and then invite the world’s major emitters to a summit to push our progress further and faster. I will return to tough diplomacy in coordination with the international community to revive the Iran nuclear deal so that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon and walk us back from the brink of another war in the Middle East. Instead of abusing and maligning our closest allies, I’ll strengthen our NATO alliance, and, in a Biden Administration, there will be no more coddling of dictators.
Our next president will inherit a country divided and a world in disarray. We need a leader who can unite this nation, reclaim our highest values, and restore America’s credibility on the world stage. On February 11, you can help ensure we pick a nominee who is ready to do all of that on day one. I know that I am. And I know there is nothing we can’t accomplish if we come together as Americans. That’s why I’m proud to ask for your vote.
Former U.S. Sen. Joe Biden served as the 47th Vice President of the United States. He is currently a Democratic candidate for president.
RECENTLY, Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut blocked the Office of the Legislative Budget Assistant’s attempts to do its job of gathering necessary information to conduct an audit of the Education Freedom Accounts. Under HB 1153, the LBA is charged with conducting a thorough audit in orde…
LESS THAN a century ago, an individual who possessed a “cult of personality” rose to power and attempted to attain his idealistic vision of a communist utopia. During his decades reign of terror, Chairman Mao Zedong decided that a top-down, central planning model was superior to what had bee…
THE Department of Education, along with the State Board of Education, has been working on the education rules that address “how” we educate students in New Hampshire, with the singular focus of raising the bar for all students. Often referred to as the ED306 rules, they prescribe the framewo…
ALMOST 10 years ago, the Pease community learned that our drinking water was contaminated with high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from firefighting foam used when the Pease Tradeport was an U.S. Air Force base. PFAS are a large class of man-made chemicals that are pers…
I’M RUNNING for Congress here in New Hampshire because I know that the only way to fix what’s broken in our country today is to make our government work for everyday people and middle class families again.
TEN YEARS ago, during my time as governor and thanks to the provisions in the Affordable Care Act, New Hampshire approved Medicaid Expansion, which made health care affordable for thousands of Granite Staters. Now in 2024 — at a time when faith in American democracy is being challenged — New…
IN HER BID for the governor’s office recently, former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte took to these pages in an attempt to rewrite her long and well-documented record of working to dismantle Granite Staters’ reproductive rights — including attacking IVF — throughout her time in the United States Senate.
AS REPRESENTATIVES of our community, I urge the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen to carefully consider the invaluable contributions that the current director of housing stability has made and to refrain from terminating her employment.
AS THE state Legislature is on the verge of passing a bill that would support state-sanctioned suicide, I would like to emphasize the danger that HB 1283 poses to New Hampshire’s young people, a concern important to us all.
