The White House re-election machine sent the Vice-President to a Bucks County high school to get the attention of suburban parents of college bound teens agonizing over the challenges of paying for higher education.
The Obama White House is in full campaign mode, working the college affordability angle is good politics, and an issue that hits home with vast portions of the American public, especially among middle class voters.
In his remarks, Biden listed a number of reasons why college is becoming a financial impossibility for many families.
"This perfect storm that occured - the middle class falling behind, devaluation of housing and retirement to be able to borrow against, skyrocketing tuition cost and an overwhelming competitive world we live," said Biden.
Biden says the White House has streamlined the system to generate $60 billion more in federal loans, plus tax credits for parents with children in college.
"It's the single most important thing we can do for you and your parents right now. The single most important thing we can do is make sure you can get to college, afford to get to college," Biden contniues.
The VP was almost entirely non-partisan in his remarks to the students.
In an Action News exclusive one-on-one interview with the Vice President, he deftly avoided saying a lot about the Republican nomination.
"No matter who we face, it is going to be basically the same story in economic policy, deregulate Wall Street, and go back to more tax cuts for the wealthy," Biden said.
What about persistent whispers that he and secretary of state Hillary Clinton might switch roles with her running for vice-president next fall, and with him becoming our nation's chief diplomat in a second Obama term.
"She likes being Secretary of State and doesn't want to be Vice President, and I like being Vice-President and don't want to be Secretary of State, and the President likes us both where we are. And I promise you that is what it is going to be throughout this administration," says Biden.
Long gone for now at least, are the days when Senator Joe Biden was a factory of spiked commentary on the domestic and international scene.
