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Biden boldly goes where Obama can't
By: Carol E. Lee
October 7, 2010 04:30 AM EDT

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The White House’s preferred 2010 campaign plane is Air Force Two.

Vice President Joe Biden has been zipping around the country in the cozy Boeing 747 with the freedom to go where President Barack Obama cannot. He’s raised millions of dollars for Democrats in the process and continues to be an asset in places where Obama might be a detriment.

While the White House has to be selective about where to deploy the president in this volatile election cycle, Biden can appear with just about any Democratic candidate who is on the November ballot. (See: Forget VP: Clinton world eyes 2016)

And he does. Over the past three weeks, the vice president has campaigned for 18 candidates in 23 cities in 16 states. He’s been on the road doing campaign events four days a week since mid-September, and he’s committed to at least 18 more events during the 3½ weeks before Election Day. (See: Photos of Biden on the trail.)

Unlike Obama — who has dipped into some big-money red states, such as Texas, to fundraise for Democratic Party organizations — Biden makes the majority of his stops on behalf of individual candidates. And it’s not just the quantity of Biden’s visits that stands out; it’s where he makes them.

Tough territory does not seem to daunt him. Last Thursday, he was in Nebraska raising money for congressional candidate Tom White. “The folks in Omaha love that man,” said White. “He’s real.” (See: Obama to target black voters in Md.)

The week before that, Biden headlined a fundraiser for Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln in Boston, far from the endangered incumbent’s solid-red state. Earlier this summer, he appeared with the Democratic senatorial candidate in North Carolina, Elaine Marshall, and raised money for Rep. John Spratt in Columbia, S.C.

Whether the event tickets are free or $10,000 a person, Biden’s pitch is targeted at the middle class, and it’s delivered in absolutes — devoid of Obama-style nuance — and riddled with personal asides.

“Folks, I have no doubt in my mind, if we turn out average people, if we turn out those independents, Republicans and Democrats who are in the struggle like all of us are — if we turn them out, we will win,” Biden said in St. Paul Tuesday at his 116th political event since taking office. “And I have no doubt, if we do not, we will lose.” (See: Axelrod, Wiesel lament fanaticism)

Sometimes it seems Biden’s the one who’s retained the hope of the Obama campaign.

“Biden has this positive way [of] talking about things even when he’s expressing his anger about what’s going on or feeling other people’s anger,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar said, after traveling back to Washington with Biden subsequent to events he headlined for Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton.

“A lot of his speech is about that he’s angry and that he understands their anger — and he does it in a very credible way,” she said. “He always ends on an upbeat [note] in terms of where he thinks we can go as a country; and it’s very heartfelt, and people can feel that. And I just think we need a little bit more of that.” (See: Hill digs in for lame-duck tax fight)


In less than a week, Biden went from Manhattan to Omaha to Albuquerque, N.M., to Oakland, Calif., to Orange County, Calif., to Youngstown, Ohio, and St. Paul. But his itinerary trends heavily toward the Northeast corridor — including his home state of Delaware as well as New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

He’s scheduled to headline nearly a dozen events in the region from now until Nov. 2. More than half of them are in Pennsylvania, in working-class areas where Obama struggled in his 2008 primary and has lost even more ground as president.

This is where the White House’s calculation about Biden comes into sharper focus. (See: W.H. may have blocked spill figures)

On Sunday, for instance, Obama will headline one youth rally in a predominantly black area of Philadelphia, while Biden will be dispatched to central Pennsylvania, hosting his rally in State College.

“The biggest problem the president has, if you look at the demographics of polls, is white males,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a close friend of Biden’s. “Joe Biden is a white male, and he’s a blue-collar white male. Even though he’s an extraordinarily bright and well-educated guy, he comes off as a guy from Scranton, Pa., the son of a manufacturing worker. He comes off as an ordinary, hard-nosed, blue-collar guy.”

“And that allows him to more easily relate to that type of a voter,” he added. (See: Michelle Obama rallies Dems)

To be sure, Obama has plenty of appeal, and he’s starting to step up his own campaigning. White House officials say that for the most part Biden is doing the kind of retail campaigning that is traditional for a vice president during a midterm election.

“It is much more cost-efficient for the president to hold a rally in Wisconsin for 20,000 people, which is something only he can do, than it is to fly to Wisconsin and speak at a fundraiser for a single congressman, which is something the vice president can do and the local campaign can afford,” said one official.

But while Obama may draw bigger crowds, he also draws more attention and criticism. (See: O'Donnell comes to Washington)

Biden, who is not usually accompanied by reporters, can fly more under the radar. His events have local impact but largely escape national attention, unless, of course, he tells Democrats to “stop whining,” as he did recently in New Hampshire, or jokes about strangling Republicans, as he did Tuesday in St. Paul.

Usually, though, he arrives in a city with little fanfare, joined by a few staffers and his Secret Service detail. His plane is smaller and more open than Air Force One, with three cabins separated by curtains that are not drawn. Biden walks back and forth from the enclosed “state room” in front to a conference area where his staff members sit. (See: D.C. crowd's path to Silicon Valley)


On the flight to St. Paul, Biden wandered to the back of the plane to welcome the lone reporter on board and talked about how much he was looking forward to seeing “Fritz” — former Vice President Walter Mondale — in St. Paul.

The White House, and the candidates themselves, may be reluctant to have Obama get involved in a problematic race. But they have no such compunctions about Biden. He will stump for the mayor of Bethlehem, Pa., John Callahan, whom he helped recruit to run for Congress and who is now trailing in the polls, and Pennsylvania Rep. Patrick Murphy, who is down by double digits in some polls. (See: Teachers union to spend $15M)

The candidate Biden has helped most often is Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, who represents a pivotal 2012 swing state. In the past month, Biden has appeared six times with Strickland, whose reelection campaign he called “the most important governor’s race in the country” during a fundraiser luncheon last month in Dayton.

Strickland will get another vice presidential appearance before Nov. 2.

Biden is also scheduled to do more events for the Democrat trying to claim his former Senate seat, Chris Coons, as well as for Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sens. Patty Murray of Washington, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Barbara Boxer of California.

The events for candidates like Boxer are reminders of how much Biden’s history brings to the White House’s political strategy. “I love you, Joe,” Boxer said at a fundraiser in Orange County, turning to look at Biden, who stood next to her, smiling and chewing gum. (See: Pelosi ties threaten to sink Spratt)

“We have a brother-sister relationship,” Biden later reciprocated. “I’m the brother, and I listen to the sister.”

In Albuquerque, he told an audience how New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall’s father and uncle were responsible for getting him into the Senate as a young man.

On the tarmac in St. Paul, Biden spent 15 minutes signing autographs and posing for pictures with just a handful of people as his plane and staff waited. Working a rope line after his rally speech, he waded into the crowd, obliging students in the audience by posing cheek to cheek for pictures.

His speech was peppered with phrases like “the neighborhood I was raised in” and “you come from families just like mine.” Jabbing at the lectern with his finger to make his points, he described himself as “one of the four poorest members of the Senate.” Describing how “there’s a lotta angry people out there,” he was quick to add: “I’m angry.” (See: Suit: Rahall sis made payback threat)

“You know, when I look out at all of you, I’m reminded why I’m here, why I do this job,” Biden said, his voice low, elbows on the lectern with hands clasped.


© 2010 Capitol News Company, LLC


Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners, LLC
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Suite 705
Washington, DC 20007
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eschwerin@rosemontseneca.com
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