Obama reaffirms tie to Joe Biden

Campaigning in his vice president’s home state, President Obama today said that of all the tough decisions he’s made in the past two years, “the single best” was tapping Joe Biden as his running mate.

“Joe has been an extraordinary vice president, a great friend, a fighter -- someone who knows what our core mission is,” Obama said. “I know that me taking him out of Delaware for a while was frustrating. But I assure you it was worth it, at least for me.”

The comment may have simply been a case of the president currying favor with his audience, as he campaigned with Biden in Wilmington for the man seeking to fill Biden’s former Senate seat, Democrat Chris Coons.

But the acclamation also comes amid heightened talk – fanned recently by author Bob Woodward – that he was considering replacing Biden on the 2012 ticket with Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama’s former campaign foe and now the secretary of State.

The White House has dismissed the speculation, and Biden himself said in a recent interview that the president had already asked him about running together again in two years.

Biden was just as effusive as he introduced Obama, saying he “had a brain bigger than his skull, and a heart to match both.”

“This guy has a backbone like a ramrod,” Biden said. “This is a man who is not afraid to take tough decisions.”

It is because Biden was such a great advocate for Delaware, Obama said, that it was “so important in filling these enormous shoes of Joe that we get somebody who represents those same Delaware values.

“Chris is the kind of leader that you want representing you in the United States Senate,” he said.

Coons has led his Republican opponent, Christine O’Donnell, but double digits in almost every public poll taken since her upset win over Rep. Mike Castle in the state’s Sept. 14 Republican primary. But Obama and Biden made the rare joint campaign appearance to say that in such a “tough political environment,” no seat is safe.

“Chris has so far run an extraordinary race, but I don’t want anyone here taking this for granted,” Obama said.

With control of the House seen as increasingly difficult for Democrats to maintain, Biden spoke of the importance of the battle for every Senate seat.

“It’s really, really important that we keep this momentum going. And it’s impossible to keep this momentum going without us having the United States Senate,” he said.

Neither Obama nor Biden made mention of O’Donnell, a “tea party” favorite endorsed by Sarah Palin.

The visit to northern Delaware ensures exposure for the president’s message in the Philadelphia media market. The case he again made today against Republicans taking control of Congress was sure to be replayed in southeast Pennsylvania, where turnout is critical for Democrats in competitive House and Senate contests as well.

mmemoli@tribune.com

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