Biden Says It's Time For A Leader
By Elyce Taylor
8/28/2008
His punching gloves are ready. Senator Joe Biden has accepted the Democratic Vice President nomination and he's raring to go.
Biden's outspoken nature is one of the reasons he has been seen as the smart choice as Obama's running mate. Last night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver he accepted the nomination and spoke about his running mate Barack Obama's political know-how. But he also made a feverish attack on their opponent, Republican Senator John McCain. Much like the rest of his party's speakers, Biden associated McCain with the "catastrophic" policies of President George W. Bush. Biden is expected to be an ardent critic of Republican policy through the remainder of the race for the White House.
It was also a night to be personal. Senator Biden has three children: two sons and a daughter. His son Beau is the Attorney General for the State of Delaware and a JAG officer in the U.S. military headed soon to Iraq. He introduced his father by describing how the Senator has always put his family first especially after a fatal car accident which killed his first wife and infant daughter. Beau and his brother were badly injured. It was just after the then 29 year-old Biden had won his U.S. Senate seat in Delaware. When the Senator took the podium, he talked about his Irish working family roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania where he was born and in Wilmington, Delaware. He talked about his parents' advice when he was growing up. His widowed mother was in the stands nodding her head and saying "That's true."
When he was finished, the Senator's wife Jill came on stage and announced that there was a surprise guest. It was Barack Obama who walked from behind the stage. The crowd was electrified while he shouted hello to them. Soon the huge Biden family was on stage with little grandchildren waving. While the song "We Are Family" was playing throughout the hall, everyone on stage seemed to be giving hugs and kisses including Barack Obama. It seemed to be just a warm-up for tonight at Invesco Field.