Delaware Sen. Joe Biden made his first campaign appearance as Democratic vice presidential nominee Tuesday, popping in on Michelle Obama and three female governors for a chat about economic issues in downtown Denver.
The roundtable focused on economic problems facing women and featured several citizens who are struggling to maintain their households. The policy wasn’t new but it was rebranded, in this case, “The Obama-Biden Blueprint For America’s Working Women and Families.” Michelle Obama mangled the title slightly, calling it the “Obiden” policy and quickly adding: “I gotta get these names right.”
Biden’s appearance with his wife, Jill, was a surprise to most in the audience of about 500, who gave the couple a raucus standing ovation. Mildly irreverent in his address, Biden praised his new boss but noted that as late as last winter, he was trying to whip him. “I ran against this man. I thought I should be president. I ran like the devil,” he said to hoots and cheers.
The governors on hand were Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Christine Gregoire of Oregon; the citizens were women whose economic conditions were eroding. The group included Abby Dart, a working, widowed, mother of five, who maintains a delicate balance between work and family. The Obama campaign calculated that its policy package - a mix of middle-class tax cuts, education credits and child-care credits, would save Dart $900 a year in taxes.
Mrs. Obama cast Biden, who spent five years as a single dad following the tragic death of his first wife, as particularly keen on issues facing women. Biden was self-deprecating: “Listen to these women,” he said, “not me.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/08/26/biden-pops-in-on-roundtable-for-women/
And Mrs. Obama makes a good point. After his first wife and infant daughter died in a car accident, Biden was a single dad to his two sons. He was both mother and father to his children.
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