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Oh, That Joe! (No. 39 in a Series) -- Loquacious Blue Hen Comes Home
October 31, 2008 10:03 PM
Thomas Wolfe may have said you can't go home again, but Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., Friday came home to his alma mater, the University of Delaware, where he told a crowd of 5,700 gathered on the Newark, Del., college quad what advice he gives to parents when they ask him where to send their kids to school.
“I say they ought to do what I do: pick a university they can get into today that they know 20 years from now they wouldn’t be admitted to,” the loquacious Blue Hen said with a laugh. “This place just keeps getting better and better and better and better and better and better and better.”
(Yes, seven "better"s.)
“I also have a special thanks to all those of you who chose to be here instead of going to the Phillies’ victory parade,” Biden continued, referring to the World Series champs’ strut just a half-hour drive’s north in Philadelphia. “I’m particularly thankful to my wife Jill for choosing to be here. She is such a rabid Phillies fan.”
"I am so delighted, Jill, that you’d choose to be here with another winning team today," added Biden. Jill attended the clinching Game 5 of the Series, which started Monday but was suspended until Wednesday due to rain.
When not attending ballgames in the City of Brotherly Love, Jill Biden has been on the campaign trail herself stumping for the Democratic ticket, as her husband noted today.
“Look, folks, you know, you know when Governor Palin is, is introduced on the trail,” said Biden, referring to his Republican counterpart Gov. Sarah Palin, prompting loud boos from the crowd. “No no, she’s alright, no, no, she’s a beautiful, she’s a fine person.”
“When she’s introduced on the trail, they start off and they go ‘Drill, baby, drill’,” said Biden. “Well I was, I was calling Jill, my Jill when I was in, uh, I guess I was in North Carolina and she was doing an event in Florida. And the, uh, staff with her said she just went on stage, Senator, but I want you to listen to this, and they held up the phone.”
“You know when she campaigns across the country, what they yell when she gets up?” Biden asked. “Jill, baby, Jill! Jill, Baby, Jill! Well Jill baby, I love ya kid, I tell ya what, man.”
Like the senator, Jill Biden is a fellow University of Delaware alum and, as Biden noted, two top campaign aides also attended the school, although neither graduated. .
“This may be the first time in presidential campaign history that our campaign manager, a Delawarean named David Plouffe, who was in the political science department, a proud Blue Hen, is managing one campaign,” Biden said to applause.
“And my friend John McCain’s campaign, his chief strategist, is a guy named Steve Schmidt who also attended the University of Delaware,” he continued, although the crowd wasn’t sure whether to cheer or boo at the mention of Schmidt’s name.
“Now let that be a cautionary tale,” Biden warned. “Blue Hens can go astray occasionally. But I’m proud, I’m proud that this great university has instilled that kind of, that kind of intensity in its graduates and its students that are here.”
-- Matt Jaffe and Jake Tapper
October 31, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (12)
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Like the senator, Jill Biden is a fellow University of Delaware alum and, as Biden noted, two top campaign aides also attended the school, although neither graduated. .
EXPLAIN THAT PLEASE - NEITHER GRADUATED FROM THAT SCHOOL OR NEITHER GRADUATED FROM ANY UNIVERSTIY?
Posted by: rita | Nov 1, 2008 11:37:26 AM
Jake -
Biden's gaffes can be pretty funny. I'm not sure if yesterday's comments on free speech by Govenor Palin qualify as a gaffe or ignorance but they were pretty astonishing.
She said that freedom of speech is in danger because the media has criticized her attacks on Senator Obama. Does she really believe that freedom of speech only applies to her? Does she understand that it also protects the press and the rest of us?
Given her previous comments about the Vice-President being "in charge" of the Senate, the nation would have been better served had McCain given her a weekend tutorial on the Constitution instead of $11,000 per week in cosmetics work.
Posted by: Brooklyn Democrat | Nov 1, 2008 8:38:34 AM
Joe Biden is a great guy, intelligent and funny. His family is wonderful, and I am so glad we will be living with them, and not the Palins for the next 4, maybe 8, years. They are normal. Joe Biden also did not attribute his stump speech comments ONE TIME during an Iowa debate, when he had attributed his comments to Kinnock numerous times previously. It was jumped all over by the Dukakis camp and led to Biden withdrawing from that Presidential campaign. He was busy with the Bork hearings at the same time, and as it turned out, had aneurysms leaking in his head at that time, which required emergency surgery. Give the guy a break. He is so much better than Palin could ever hope to be. He's smart! And he will be a refreshing change over the vice-president that we've had for the last 8 years.
Posted by: VoteObama-Biden | Nov 1, 2008 8:36:21 AM
Biden is a down-to-earth person who doesn't like dishing dirt on anyone.
He doesn't attack the person or his/her character. He attacks judgment. Judgment, opinions can change. The person has value no matter his/her judgment, opinions, or beliefs.
Posted by: E. GREEN | Nov 1, 2008 5:47:36 AM
Joe Biden is of course a terrible person - plagiarizer, racist comments about Obama, and said Obama was not qualified.
Fortunately, Obama does not need him and hopefully will keep him hidden away.
Posted by: today | Oct 31, 2008 11:58:16 PM
Palin attracts crowds because everyone likes to see the freak in the side show!
Joe and Jill Biden are good people. For being in politics, they don't come any better!
I listened to Joe in Iowa a lot, and liked him just fine! There was substance to what he was saying. People appreciated that he explained complex issues to them and didn't dumb his speech down.
Maybe you right-wingers just need to have things s-i-m-p-l-i-f-i-e-d for you! That must be why you like Palin - it doesn't stretch your mind any to listen to her.
Joe, you're a Prince among politicians!
Go OBAMA/BIDEN!!!
Posted by: Donna Hughes | Oct 31, 2008 11:49:14 PM
5700 at his home is table scraps for Palin.
Posted by: Captain America | Oct 31, 2008 11:19:51 PM
Are we going to be stuck listening to this guy for 8 years? Can we get his wife to speak for him - anyone please.
Posted by: today | Oct 31, 2008 11:01:15 PM
When has Palin "structured a sentence" on her own. I believe she is handed talking points each and every day and ALWAYS uses a teleprompter, you know what you neo-cons criticize Obama for doing.
She's about off the cuff as a road sign.
Posted by: JR | Oct 31, 2008 10:41:13 PM
Wow. So many exclamation marks!
Posted by: doug | Oct 31, 2008 10:26:53 PM
"Better" not be Biden! I would have some respect for Obama if he did not select the walking and talking gaffe machine! As much as a novice that Palin is at least she can structure a sentence and spell her words correctly "JOBS"!!!
Posted by: robert | Oct 31, 2008 10:25:06 PM
From your fingertips to God's ears!!
Right on!
Gooooooo McCain/Palin!!
Posted by: robin | Oct 31, 2008 10:22:15 PM
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