He's known as Pennsylvania's Third Senator. Joe Biden, from the Green Ridge area of Scranton, makes a visit to his childhood home.
NEPA welcomed home native son Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, today, his first visit to the region since being named Democratic Vide Presidential running mate of Barack Obama.
Before leaving for a press conference scheduled at the Green Ridge home where he spent the first 10 years of his life, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport was the first place people from his old neighborhood were able to meet with him.
A crowd of about 150 waited for Sen. Biden, many of them long-time friends and acquaintances.
He was here recently and was interviewed by local lawyer Todd O'Malley. More, including that video, below the fold.
Here's the video of Joe with Todd O'Malley, describing some of his Scranton upbringing (and how it put him in good stead when it came to calling Milosevic a war criminal to his face). He also talks about the irresponsibility of the Attorney General for torturing the definition of torture and how that puts our troops in danger, and the squandered opportunities post 9/11.
Let's not forget, Joe Biden slammed Republican Senators when they said killing Osama bin Laden would put a cloud over the presidency, and when they called it a diversion...
President Clinton won warm support for ordering anti-terrorist bombing attacks in Afghanistan and Sudan yesterday from many of the same lawmakers who have criticized him harshly as a leader critically weakened by poor judgment and reckless behavior in the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal.
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But Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), one of Clinton's severest critics earlier in the week, said, "There's an obvious issue that will be raised internationally as to whether there is any diversionary motivation." Sen. John D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.), a possible presidential candidate in 2000, noted "there is a cloud over this presidency."
And Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.), who called on Clinton to resign after his speech Monday, said: "The president has been consumed with matters regarding his personal life. It raises questions about whether or not he had the time to devote to this issue, or give the kind of judgment that needed to be given to this issue to call for military action."
Told of these criticisms, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, branded them "preposterous," and noted that Osama bin Laden, suspected of bankrolling the installations that were bombed, "is one bad mother."
John McCain was wrong and Obama was right. And before all that, Joe was right too.
Sen. Joe Biden's plane touched down at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport at 12:43 p.m. My wife and I were on the way to her parents' house for a Labor Day cookout and saw the plane banking over Scranton before heading to the airport (just south of the city on I-81). So he probably got a good aerial view of his old stomping grounds.
The Times-Tribune website will have more details when he holds a press conference at his childhood home. I hope to carry some video of the evening news for my diary tomorrow.