Delaware Democrats patient as Joe Biden skips debate
When it comes to Joe Biden, Delaware Democrats are a patient bunch.
The 72-year--old vice president, in his third month of public deliberations about a 2016 presidential campaign, skipped the first Democratic debate in Las Vegas on Tuesday, passing up a chance to make his pitch in front of a national CNN audience.
Biden's delay continued to disappoint some who are pressing the vice president to make a decision.
But at Catherine Rooney's in Wilmington, where young Delaware Democrats packed a room to watch Tuesday night's debate, Biden was given a wide berth to continue his deliberations.
"People want Joe to make the decision that's right for him," said Courtney McGregor, a communications aide to Gov. Jack Markell and vice president of the Delaware Young Democrats. "It's about him doing the right thing for his entire family."
Network rules would have allowed Biden to show up at the debate unannounced and still participate. But the vice president remained encamped in Washington, where he hosted a high school reunion before watching the debate at his residence in the nation's capital, according to his office.
His absence left Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton to face off against U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Independent insurgent from Vermont, and her lesser-known rivals: former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, and Jim Webb, a former U.S. senator from Virginia who was previously secretary of the Navy.
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The candidates debated income inequality,U.S. policy in Syria, Clinton's email scandal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and gun control.
Clinton criticized Sanders on gun policy, including his support to offering immunity to gun manufacturers in shooting prosecutions. "It wasn't that complicated to me. It was pretty straightforward to me that he was going to give immunity to the only industry in America. Everybody else has to be accountable, but not the gun manufacturers," Clinton said.
The largest applause line of the night appeared to come when Clinton faced questions about her use of a private email server while she served as secretary of state. Sanders pushed back against the line of inquiry, saying it was time to change the campaign's focus.
"The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails," Sanders said to cheers.
Some at Catherine Rooney's in Wilmington were open about wanting to see Biden in the debate. "I would like to have seen Joe up there," said Delaware Rep. Bryon Short, who is running for Congress against Delaware Sen. Bryan Townsend, who also attended the watch party in Wilmington. "Particularly on this international discussion, he's the strongest," Short said, referring to debate around foreign policy.
Eugene Young dropped by the watch party just hours after announcing his candidacy for Wilmington mayor, and spending the day knocking on voters' doors in Delaware's largest city. "What's most important is the huge turnout," Young said of the crowd gathered at Catherine Rooney's. "If Joe Biden jumped in the race, there would have been twice as many."
But still, Delaware Democrats were clear Tuesday: Biden deserves patience as he considers a presidential campaign just months after his eldest son, Beau Biden, died of cancer in May.
"As Delawareans, we're going to be supportive of whatever Joe Biden does," said Laura Wisniewski, president of the Delaware Young Democrats. "He's given our community, this country so much. We should be able to give him the opportunity to be a family man."
Contact Jonathan Starkey at (302) 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.