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- JUNE 6, 2010, 9:24 AM ET

Joe Biden’s Excellent Weekend

President *Barack Obama *started this weekend by canceling his June trip to
Asia and Australia, thinking it best to keep an eye on the Gulf oil gusher.
Vice President Joe Biden, center, poses for photographs with Philadelphia
Flyers fans as he attends Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey finals
between the Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday in Philadelphia. (AP
Photo/Kathy Willens)

But Vice President *Joe Biden*’s weekend showcased him as one member of the
administration who isn’t immersed by the spill. On Friday, while the
president toured the Gulf, Joe and *Jill Biden *threw a carbo-load picnic at
their D.C. residence for breast cancer survivors and runners in the Susan G.
Komen Race for the Cure Saturday in Washington.

The event is a vice-presidential tradition begun by *Marilyn Quayle*, whose
mother died from the disease, and Jill Biden has supported the cause for
years. The vice president delivered a few classic lines, beginning with his
opening joke: “Welcome to our own public housing. I’ve always voted for
public housing, but I never knew it would be this good.”

Clearly in sync with the majority-female crowd, he said he couldn’t climb
stairs in Jill Biden’s 4-inch heels, and drew cheers by saying “health-care
reform makes sure we all have access to preventive care like mammograms.”

Then it was off to Philadelphia, to see the Philadelphia Flyers take on the
president’s favored Chicago Blackhawks during Game Four of the Stanley Cup
Finals. (Hawks lost, but the Flyers are a Biden family favorite.)

On Saturday, the Bidens ran across their sprawling backyard, shooting guests
with high-velocity squirtguns during the “Biden Boardwalk” summer kickoff
party for the White House press corps and their families. The bash ended an
hour behind schedule, as Biden posed with babies, pets and media creatures
while his staff pressed him to get moving. He had a plane to catch– to
Egypt, Kenya, and World Cup soccer in South Africa.

Sure, Biden handles the electoral frustration in Iraq, a slew of other
foreign policy snarls and the controversial economic stimulus plan. But on
one of the first sunny, steamy weekends of summer, it was good to be the
veep.

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Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners
(202) 333-1880
eschwerin@rosemontseneca.co