Biden Hailed as Helpful to House Democrats

[jefferson_dem]

Biden Hailed as Helpful to House Democrats
By Jonathan Allen and Edward Epstein, CQ Staff

From the perspective of Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, the party activist who’s the Democratic challenger in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley-based 15th Congressional District, Barack Obama could not have picked a better running mate than Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of neighboring Delaware.

“There’s a reason that he’s called the third senator from Pennsylvania,” she said by telephone after a day of politicking at an annual fundraising event for local charities in Coplay, which is about a five-mile drive north of Allentown. “The folks I was shaking hands with were all talking about Sen. Biden.”

Bennett has more reason than most Democratic candidates to welcome Biden’s selection, as he was born in Scranton to the north and has long bought time on the Philadelphia airwaves, which also carry into the Lehigh Valley, to communicate to Delaware voters.

But she joined Democratic officials Sunday in predicting that Biden would be a help to candidates in competitive House districts across the country, not just to the eight Pennsylvanians — four challengers and four incumbents — who are in competitive races in the state. “I’m confident that he will help every Democrat on the ticket,” she said.

Party leaders clarified early on that they wanted Obama to pick a running mate with a more centrist bent -- a position informed by their desire to help incumbents and challengers in competitive seats.

Biden fits that bill, according to House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, who has leanings similar to Biden’s on a range of foreign and domestic policies. “The president makes change. The president is the leader,’’ he said. “What a six-term senator does is bring experience to make the agent of change effective.’’

He said one reason Biden will help Obama is that voters will trust him. “I think people think he could be president, which is important,’’ Hoyer said.

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http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002940489

[FrenchieCat]

1. Perhaps that's why Rendell is stirring shit in Penn,

he didn't figure on the 3rd Senator from Pennsylvania being on the ticket.