Biden sneaks out, teaches class
Posted: Saturday, September 06, 2008 3:36 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Joe Biden
From NBC/NJ’s Mike Memoli
WILMINGTON, Del. -- With Cheney-esque stealth, Biden made a surprise appearance this morning at the Constitutional law class he had been scheduled to teach before his selection as Barack Obama's running mate.
The campaign had not publicly announced Biden's trip to the Widener School of Law this morning. In fact, Biden spokesperson David Wade seemed unaware of it himself until after the fact.
"What???" Wade said in an email when told about Professor Biden's activities. "He needs to tell me this stuff."
It was unclear if any other advisers were informed, but Secret Service did accompany the Delaware senator. A university spokesperson said they had hoped to keep his visit out of the press. Reporters were not allowed in the classroom when they arrived, but did see Biden in his SUV as he left shortly after 11 a.m.
Biden has taught the same class, Topics in Constitutional Law, since 1991. He was scheduled to begin a new semester there on Aug. 23, but had to cancel at last minute and head to Springfield, Ill., for his official unveiling as Obama's running mate.
"We really were surprised to hear the announcement, when the text message went out," said Bob Hayman, Biden's co-professor for the last five years. "Even that morning, even after he was the nominee, we didn't know whether he'd be coming to class or not."
Biden wanted to visit today as an apology of sorts, since he expects to be actively campaigning through Election Day. Hayman said he is hopeful Biden can return after, however.
"We were all thrilled to see that he came this morning," said Christell Hershey, one of the students enrolled in the class. "He's very relaxed with the students and, as you can tell, he enjoys teaching which made it fun for all of us."
Hayman said there was surprisingly little talk of the campaign during the session.
"We talked about separation of powers, we talked about the framers' vision of the Constitution," he said. "I think maybe today was refuge from the campaign for him, to some extent, a time for him to be a teacher again."
Biden still has no other public events on his schedule, though the VP traveling press corps is no longer taking that for granted. Tropical Storm Hanna's forecast track takes it right through the First State, but both campaign and Senate office spokesmen have not indicated whether he'll address the storm.
