VP Candidate
& US Senator
Joe Biden
Interview
Notes from Evan Smith
"The 33-year veteran of the United States Senate from Delaware, a likely presidential candidate in 2008, made his first run for the nation's highest office all the way back in 1988, when Michael Dukakis won the Democratic nomination but went on to get trounced by the elder George Bush. In the years since, laying low but never staying quiet, Biden has solidified his reputation as one of his party's most respected thinkers on foreign relations and terrorism, among other issues. A frequent guest on the cable TV talk shows and Sunday morning roundtables, the 66-year-old can come off at times as a first-rate publicity seeker in a town full of them -- and his more than 20-minute opening monologue at the confirmation hearings of Samuel Alito didn't contradict that sense. But Biden's candor, and winning personality, and generally high level of gravitas make him a darling of the press and pundits, and therefore someone to be taken seriously at election time. And election time is where we are right now. If you happened to see our interview a few weeks back with Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumed frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, you know that the 2008 candidates are out in full force looking for money and media attention -- in that order." - Evan Smith, Texas Monthly Talks, Broadcast 03.02.06