Diary of a Democratic Delegate -- The Veep Unplugged

Diary of a Democratic Delegate -- The Veep Unplugged One of the interesting things about being a national convention delegate is the ability to plug into a lot of high conversations. Last night, I participated in a telephone call with Vice President Joe Biden, who spent an hour just chatting and taking questions. He said there were between 1500 and 2000 of us from across the country on the line, but he talked like as if he was "Just Joe" on a party line.  - - -   AS YOU KNOW, Biden is an "everyman" kind of guy who was elected to the Senate from Delaware at the age of 29, just days before his wife was killed in a car crash. Devastated and not sure he even wanted to take office, he reluctantly went on to have one of the most remarkable careers in Washington, even running for President himself a time or two. A foreign policy expert who never lost his blue collar Pennsylvania Catholic roots, Biden connects in union halls, diners and church picnics. I got to know him a little bit during my Chrysler days; our Delaware plant was on his beat (it is a very small state), so our paths crossed every once in a while. - - - JOE BIDEN has been this Administration's Don Kelly - he can play just about any position on the team. He was an architect of the health care reform, he crafted the few tax agreements this Congress passed, he delivered the news to Iraqi leaders that the war was over, he championed education reform, etc etc. On the call last night, he said he spends as often as six hours a day with the President, both of them fully engaged. - - - HIS VIEW OF President Obama: "I have never seen anyone with the character this guy has, the character of conviction and a vision that comports with the American people." Biden said Obama is not afraid to make tough calls (like saving the auto industry!), to use his political capital for things that matter (health care), and, most importantly, stand up for the middle class. He demonstrates that passion very day anchored by the vision that he wants to "make life a little better for people." He contrasted the GOP campaign's condescending attitude ("average folks are being played for a sucker by these guys") but joked as he concluded: If you want to live like a Republican, you've got to vote Democratic! That's our Joe - unplugged. And we wouldn't want him any other way.