It’s time to take a closer look at former vice president Joe Biden. Being neck and neck with Elizabeth Warren for frontrunner status means we should know what he stands for. 

During Obama’s presidency, if I heard Biden’s name my mind would go to those old pictures of him and former president Barack Obama running around the White House, but that image changed last spring as women came forward about interactions they had with Biden along past campaign trails that often involved his touchy behavior. 

Frankly, I’m a little confused about what ended up happening with those women who came forward and I’m skeptical about what it is Biden stands for, but that’s the purpose of research. All the candidates have websites that outline their goals. So, I figured it was time to see what Biden’s plans are. 

Under the “Joe’s Vision” tab on his website, Biden has 10 links to some of his plans as well as nine dropdown tabs for his other ideas, but he also has three main ideas near the top of the page. These ideas are: “We’ve got to rebuild the backbone of the country: The Middle Class,” “We’ve got to demonstrate respected leadership on the world stage” and “We’ve got to make sure our democracy includes everyone.”

First, Biden will focus on the middle class. Biden seems to take a classic American Dream stance on this topic, stating, “In America, no matter where you start in life, there should be no limit to what you can achieve.” 

Biden believes that the middle class is where America was built and that it needs to be rebuilt to strengthen the country, according to his website. 

Next on his website is his desire for America to demonstrate respected leadership. Biden wants to rebuild relationships with allies that have been damaged, as he acknowledges the challenges we are facing in the world, including “a rapidly changing climate, the risk of nuclear conflict, trade wars, a rising China and an aggressive Russia, millions of refugees seeking shelter and security and attacks on universal human rights and fundamental freedoms.” 

It is quite reassuring to me that Biden, along with the other Democratic candidates, is acknowledging things like climate change and refugees so openly in his campaign.

The final plan included in his top three seems to be the biggest — ensuring our democracy includes everyone. 

Biden wants to make sure there is no longer discrimination at polling places, saying, “We’ve got to make it easier — not harder — for Americans to exercise their right to vote,” according to his website. He also wants to protect voting booths and ensure there is no foreign interference in elections. 

Along the same line, Biden wants to stop big money from having influence over our democracy. 

“We need to create a public financing system for federal campaigns and pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United,” Biden said on his website. “… In the meantime, the public has the right to know who is contributing to which advertisements and campaign initiatives.” 

I’m happy with these topics being the top three things he wants voters to know about him since they all seem like big issues that cover a wide variety of areas. Biden’s plans page was much less overwhelming than Warren’s was (you can check out my spotlight on her campaign here), and maybe it’s a good thing that he has fewer plans to try and put into play. 

Kuchta can be reached at [email protected].