Biden lauds Obama's 'spine of steel'
2012-09-07 09:00
Charlotte - Vice President Joe Biden paid tribute to Barack Obama as a commander-in-chief with a "spine of steel" on Thursday, calling on US voters to give them both four more years in office.
"Ladies and gentlemen I'm here to tell you what I think you already know, that I watch it up close, bravery resides in the heart of Barack Obama and time and time again I've witnessed him summon it," Biden told the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"This man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart and a spine of steel."
Taking pains to drape Obama in the stature of the Oval Office, Biden portrayed a first term defined by tough choices that the 44th president did not shy away from.
But with the 6 November election still on a knife-edge, Biden also framed the choice that Americans face when they enter the voting booth as starkly as possible.
"Last week we heard at the Republican convention, we heard our opponents, we heard them pledge that they had the courage to make the tough calls."
Down to the wire
"But folks in case you did not notice, they did not have the courage to tell you which calls they would make!"
National polls currently show little daylight between Obama and Romney, with the country split down the middle.
"This can be reduced to a single notion, the two men seeking to lead this country over the next four years... have fundamentally different visions and got completely different value sets," Biden insisted.
Taking up the traditional attack-dog role of the ticket's number two, Biden also ripped Romney's business acumen, accusing him of outsourcing jobs and caring only about profit.
"The most fascinating thing I found last week was when governor Romney said that as president he would take a jobs tour, well, with this support for outsourcing it's going to have to be a foreign trip."
