http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aYI5UQWvIChI&refer=homeBiden Is Team Obama's `Mr. October' in Final Weeks of Election
By Christopher Stern
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden is the Reggie Jackson of presidential politics this year.
Jackson is the Hall of Fame baseball player who was known as ``Mr. October'' for always delivering for his teams when the stakes were highest, during the World Series played in that month.
When presidential candidate Barack Obama chose the Delaware senator as his running mate in August, it was viewed as a conventional pick that did little to energize the Democratic Party. In the last six weeks, Biden, 65, has emerged as one of campaign's greatest strengths.
It's a contrast from previous Democratic vice presidential picks, including Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman in 2000 and North Carolina Senator John Edwards in 2004, who initially excited Democrats only to lose steam in the final weeks of the campaign.
Biden ``is a huge asset,'' said Tad Devine, a Democratic media consultant who advised both Al Gore and John Kerry during their presidential runs in 2000 and 2004.
The polls tell the story. With Election Day less than two weeks away, Biden is viewed favorably by 60 percent of the electorate, according to an Oct. 21 survey by the Washington- based Pew Research Center. That compares with a 44 percent approval rating for his Republican rival, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Better Prepared
In an Oct. 15 Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll, 76 percent of registered voters said they believed Biden was prepared to be president, compared with 43 percent who said the same about Palin, 44.
For all his appeal, Biden still shows a penchant for putting his foot in his mouth. The campaign of Republican nominee John McCain criticized him this week for saying some world leaders may want to test Obama in the first six months of his presidency. Republicans jumped on the comment as evidence that Obama's lack of experience would invite challenges from abroad.
There have been other faux-pas. In early September, shortly after he was nominated, Biden said a fellow contender for the Democratic nomination, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, ``is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America.'' More recently, he was mocked for asking a wheelchair-bound Missouri politician to ``stand up'' at a rally.
Fundraising
The gaffes, however, have been largely erased by Biden's success on the campaign trail. In a three-day swing through Western states last weekend, he attracted large crowds and was a draw at a series of fundraisers that brought in $8 million, almost as much as he raised during his entire presidential bid.
The highlight of Biden's trip to the West Coast was a rally at the home field of the Tacoma Rainiers, a minor-league baseball team in Tacoma, Washington, where he was greeted by about 12,000 supporters chanting, ``Joe, Joe, Joe.''
Biden, with his 36 years in the Senate, decades of foreign- policy experience and working-class roots, is viewed by many supporters as a balance to a ticket headed by the nation's first black presidential nominee, first-term Illinois Senator Obama, a Harvard Law School graduate who has been criticized for being too cerebral and aloof.
`Experience and Clout'
Biden ``brings a lot of experience and clout to the world stage,'' said Douglas Mapes, 32, an Obama supporter and part-time student in Bremerton, Washington, who voted Republican in the last three presidential elections and was president of his Young Republican Club in high school. ``With the addition of Joe Biden on the ticket, it helped push me along.''
Biden also has taken on the traditional vice-presidential candidate role of attack dog, delivering the Obama campaign's responses to the Republican camp's criticism. In California, Nevada, New Mexico and Washington last weekend, he attacked Palin for telling an audience in North Carolina that she enjoyed visiting ``pro-America'' parts of the country.
``I have never been to a state that hasn't sent its sons and daughters to serve and die for this country,'' Biden said during a stop in Mesilla, New Mexico.
Biden pointed out that his son, Beau, was 50 miles away at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, training on live-fire gun ranges.
Beau Biden, 39, a captain in Delaware's National Guard and the state's attorney general, is preparing for a one-year deployment to Iraq. Palin's son, Track, is also being deployed to Iraq with an Army unit.
Service Members
The response to Palin's remarks was quickly added to Biden's stump speech. At stops in Nevada and Washington, he made a point of listing how many people from each state had served in Iraq and Afghanistan and how many had died.
``It doesn't matter where you live, we all love our country,'' he said.
Biden also has emerged as one of the campaign's most active press spokesmen. While Palin's exposure to the media has been minimal, the Democrat has given more than 140 interviews since he was chosen by Obama on Aug. 23, according to his spokesman, David Wade.
In Mesilla, he took questions from CNN and Albuquerque TV stations and conducted phone interviews with three New Mexico newspapers. The next day, he gave interviews to TV stations in Wisconsin, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.
Working-Class Roots
On the stump, Biden emphasizes both his long career in Washington and his working-class roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
During a campaign stop in Henderson, Nevada, an area heavily dependent on construction and service jobs in nearby Las Vegas, Biden cautioned against overconfidence in the closing weeks of the campaign.
``We cannot be complacent about this, man,'' Biden said, warning Republicans would ratchet up the negative campaigning against Obama, 47. ``They are going off to get the bathroom sink.''
In a moment of self-congratulation over the weekend, Biden told donors he had helped Obama secure a sizable lead in Pennsylvania. ``I take no little credit for turning that around,'' he said.
And an Oct. 14 poll by Muhlenberg College's Institute of Public Opinion in Allentown showed Biden is viewed favorably by 54 percent of registered voters in Pennsylvania, compared with 52 percent for Obama.
Devine said there is a reason Biden is so effective: ``He enjoys campaigning.''
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