Beau Biden Expected To Fully Recover From Mild Stroke

Biden's Son Beau Recovering After Mild Stroke


Vice President Joe Biden's oldest son is expected to make a full recovery after suffering an apparent "mild stroke" Tuesday.

Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, 41, is in stable condition, according to Dr. Timothy Gardner, Medical Director of the Center for Heart and Vascular Surgery at Christiana Care Health System.

"He is in good spirits and talking with his family at the hospital," Gardner said. "He is fully alert, in stable condition and has full motor and speech skills. We expect him to make a complete recovery."

Beau Biden will be transferred Tuesday afternoon to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia for further observation and examination, the vice president's office said.

Biden, 41, had considered running for the Senate seat his father held before becoming vice president, but decided against it.

In 2009, the younger Biden returned from a yearlong deployment to Iraq with his Army National Guard unit. He was a captain and military lawyer in the 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade.

The vice president traveled to Delaware on Monday afternoon for a previously scheduled trip. He did a round of morning show interviews from Wilmington Tuesday morning, and was supposed to return to Washington later in the day for his weekly lunch with President Barack Obama and a series of meetings on Afghanistan.

Dr. Jill Biden's scheduled tour of a women's health facility in Washington Tuesday afternoon was postponed.

Beau Biden was scheduled to deliver a speech Tuesday night at the University of Delaware, but that was canceled too.

Beau Biden announced in January that he would not run for Senate. The decision left the seat his father held for 36 years vulnerable.

The elder Biden was away from that seat for seven months in 1988 after undergoing surgery for brain aneurysms.

Beau Biden, who is married with two young children, has worked as an attorney in private practice. He also worked for the Justice Department between 1995 and 1997 and as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1997 to 2002.


View Larger Map


Sources: AP, MSNBC, Zimbio, Youtube, Google Maps

Pres. Obama, Biden Attends Georgetown-Duke Game With W.H. Advisers...89-77

Pres. Barack Obama Attends Georgetown-Duke College Basketball Game


Pres. Barack Obama attended today's college basketball matchup between No. 7 Georgetown and No. 8 Duke. Among his companions were Joe Biden, David Axelrod, Robert Gibbs and Reggie Love.

The president also offered commentary during part of the CBS broadcast of the game. He said that he typically does not have time to watch entire college basketball games, but stays up to date by watching SportsCenter. He'll make an exception for the Final Four and watch all of the games.

The home team prevailed, as Georgetown beat Duke, 89-77. Scroll down for video and photos, and to read the pool reports from the game.



View Larger Map


Sources: Huffington Post, AFP, Sports Buster, Youtube, Google Maps

Beau Biden Announces He Won't Seek Senate Seat

Beau Biden Declines U.S. Senate Bid


Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden announced Monday that he will not run for the Senate in 2010, a development which puts the GOP in a commanding position to claim the seat once held by his father, Vice President Joe Biden.

“I have a duty to fulfill as Attorney General – and the immediate need to focus on a case of great consequence. And that is what I must do,” Biden said in a statement. “Therefore I cannot and will not run for the United States Senate in 2010. I will run for reelection as Attorney General.”

Biden’s decision dealt a serious blow to Democratic hopes of retaining the seat and puts the party at a decided disadvantage against Republican Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.), the popular former governor and veteran congressman who has comfortably won reelection since first winning his House seat in 1992.

Of his son’s decision, the vice president said in a statement: "I know I sound like the proud father I am, but all of his life, Beau has put duty above any personal ambition, and this decision today is another example of that exceptional character trait. Jill and I are so proud of our son and feel fortunate as Delawareans that he is our Attorney General."

Though Castle had been leading Biden in the polls by a small margin, Biden was widely believed to be the only potential Democratic candidate who could knock off the 70-year-old congressman, just as Castle was widely thought to be the only Republican capable of winning the seat in the solidly Democratic state.

Castle has outperformed the past five GOP presidential nominees by more than 20 percentage points and ran roughly 25 points ahead of John McCain in 2008, when Barack Obama won a landslide 62 percent to 37 percent victory in Delaware.

Appointed Democratic Sen. Ted Kaufman made clear from the beginning of his tenure that he would not run for the seat in 2010. On Monday, in the wake of Biden’s announcement, Kaufman said he would not alter his plans.

“Serving the people of Delaware in the U.S. Senate is as fulfilling, challenging, and humbling as I imagined when I was appointed,” he said in a statement. “But as I said at the time, I will not seek election to a full term. I will continue to spend my time as senator serving the people of Delaware and our nation, and not running for office. It is a commitment I made when appointed, and one I will fulfill.”

One early name mentioned as a possible Democratic challenger to Castle is New Castle County Executive Chris Coons, who represents a majority of the state’s population.



View Larger Map


Sources: Politico, Google Maps

V.P. Joe Biden Speaks, Visits Iraq...(Palin's Resignation, Recession, Stimulus, Jobs, N. Korea)

MSNBC----

WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden said the Obama administration "misread how bad the economy was" but stands by its stimulus package and believes the plan will create more jobs as the pace of its spending picks up.

Biden, in an interview airing Sunday on ABC's "This Week," said the nation's 9.5 percent unemployment rate is "much too high."

"The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures and most of the blue chip indexes out there," Biden said.

"We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery package," Biden added. More jobs will be created in coming months, he said.

Biden noted that the $787 billion economic stimulus package was set up to spend the money over 18 months. Major programs will take effect in September, including $7.5 billion for broadband Internet service, plus new money for high-speed rail and the nation's electrical grid, he said.

Biden said it's premature to say whether the country will need a second stimulus package.

On other issues:

* Biden, asked whether the United States would put the lives of U.S. troops on the line should violence flare up again in Iraq, said "no." The U.S. still plans to withdraw all troops by 2011, Biden said. "That is the intention," he said. "We believe the Iraqis will be fully capable of maintaining their own security."

* Biden said if the Iranian government seeks to engage in a dialogue with the United States, the U.S. will engage. "If the Iranians respond to the offer of engagement, we will engage," Biden said. "The offer's on the table."

* Biden said Israel has the right to pursue a different course of action on Iran than the U.S. does. "Look, Israel can determine for itself — it's a sovereign nation — what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else."

* On North Korea's Saturday launch of more missiles, he said "the question is, is there anything that we should do about it? Look, this has almost become predictable behavior," Biden said. "Some of it seems like almost attention-seeking behavior." The U.S. shouldn't give North Korea the attention, he said, adding that the U.S. policy has been correct so far. "We have succeeded in uniting the most important and critical countries to North Korea on a common path of further isolating North Korea," Biden said.

* The Obama administration is "well on the way" to resolving a dispute between CIA Director Leon Panetta and National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair, Biden said. The conflict centers on Blair's effort to choose his own representatives at U.S. embassies instead of relying only on CIA station chiefs. "They both won," Biden said. He declined to give details, saying the resolution was not yet complete.

* Biden said he respected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to step down. "It maybe had a lot to do with what the state of their life was, and the state of their family, et cetera," Biden said. "So I'm not going to second-guess her."


View Larger Map

Sources: MSNBC, Whitehouse.gov, Google Maps