Biden Meets Kinnock; They Share Stories

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. could not resist borrowing some good lines again Tuesday, even when he met the British politician whose borrowed words helped force him out of the U.S. presidential race.

Biden did mention the name of Neil Kinnock several times after his first meeting with the British Labor Party leader. But, at a humor-filled news conference, he insisted that he did not steal or plagiarize Kinnock’s 1987 election campaign commercial.

The Delaware Democrat again characterized as “much ado about nothing” the furor over his using Kinnock’s words. He also paraphrased the famous refusal of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and, as a joke, momentarily attributed it to President Reagan.

Future Run

Biden said there was no chance of his following former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart back into the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but he did not rule out a future run for the White House.

“I have no intention of getting back in the race in 19-uh-uh-88,” Biden said. “If nominated, I will not run--and I want to make it clear that was said by Ronald Reagan,” he declared, then added that the President had said no such thing.

In a telegram to the Republican national convention in 1884, Sherman said: “If nominated I will not accept; if elected I will not serve.”

It was a day of good humor between the former aspirant for the presidency and the British socialist who has twice lost election bids to become prime minister. They discussed arms control and economic policy and had a humorous exchange about speech-writing during a 90-minute meeting.

“I presented him with a copy of a series of my speeches and told him he was welcome to use them wherever he would like, with or without attribution,” Biden said.

Quit Race

The senator quit the 1988 Democratic presidential race last September after it was revealed that he paraphrased sections of a speech from a Kinnock campaign commercial, committed plagiarism in law school and exaggerated his academic record.

He admitted that he committed plagiarism in law school, but dismissed the furor over attribution as “much ado about nothing,” using the title of the Shakespeare play.