The Time I Almost Met Joe Biden
September 7th, 2008As I have watched Sarah Palin flaunt her baby at political rallies and pass him along from family member to family member as if he were nothing more than a plastic prop, I can’t help but wonder about a candidate so eager to capitalize on having a baby with Down Syndrome.
Yes, her story is dramatic. Mother of four chooses to have a fifth child even though she knows it will be born with special needs. Combine that with her eldest child being shipped off to Iraq on September 11th and you’ve got one hell of a Lifetime Movie script.
It was last January 3rd, the night of the Iowa Caucuses. I had traveled to Des Moines to volunteer for the fledgling Biden campaign. There weren’t many of us, maybe just a few hundred in the banquet hall that night awaiting Joe’s speech after his disappointing fifth place finish.
After assuring everyone in the room that he was going to be just fine, that there was nothing to feel sad about, and that he’d be happily returning to the Senate to continue fighting for all of us; he walked among the crowd thanking everyone for their support.
I waited nearly an hour, till the crowd had dispersed a bit, before making my way to Joe hoping to shake his hand and tell him my great line I had been rehearsing in my head over and over. After finally getting within arm’s reach of him, I saw my chance and extended my hand. But instead of greeting me, Joe turned to the guy next to me.
At first I was annoyed that Biden had ignored me. But then I saw that the guy he was hugging was a young boy in his early teens with Down Syndrome. I waited patiently as Joe cradled the boy’s head in his arms, stroked his hair lovingly, and looked him square in the eye, repeating to him over and over “You’re my buddy.” Thanks for coming here tonight and being with me. I’m so happy you’re here.”
Joe’s affection and empathy for that boy wasn’t being played for any crowds or any cameras. On a night that he had just been eliminated in his second and probably last run for the presidency, when he could have been disappointed and bitter, and made an early exit, Joe Biden was genuinely more concerned about making this boy feel loved and appreciated than he was about himself.
I turned around and left the banquet hall, foregoing my only chance to ever shake Joe Biden’s hand and thank him for his honorable run for the presidency. I figured nothing I could say to him could top the grace and humanity I had just witnessed in that moment.
Steve Doppelt
steven_doppelt@yahoo.com