Vice President Joe Biden delivered one of his last significant speeches of his career Wednesday night at the DNC to steer voters toward Hillary Clinton.
Despite a potential end to the longtime public servant’s political career, others in Delaware and across the country hope there’s much more Biden will accomplish in retirement.
He has long been a monumental political fixture in the First State ever since he first won his U.S. Senate seat in 1972.
Biden has overcome several personal tragedies, including the Christmastime car crash that killed his infant daughter and wife and injured his two sons, Beau and Hunter.
Beau, the state’s former attorney general, also died last May of brain cancer, which led the normally outgoing Biden to avoid public appearances for weeks.
Biden also survived two brain aneurisms in 1988 after shutting down his campaign for president.
Soon, he may leave public office for good after 46 of service.
But, in an interview with the News Journal last week, Biden says he will continue advocating for women’s rights, criminal justice reform, education and, potentially, cancer-related causes.
Erik Raser-Schramm, a state Democratic Party veteran, says Biden has endless options to choose from when it comes to volunteering.
“Hopefully, it’s stuff that moves us forward continuously as a country, but also in Delaware. I think there’s a lot of opportunity for Joe to get involved and really be engaged again,” Raser-Schramm said.
As for politics, Biden told the News Journal he has no “intention” of it, but wasn’t adamant about rejecting the possibility.
Should he choose to reenter the political arena, Raser-Scrhamm says it would be exciting for Democrats, but it might make for a tough fit.
“Yes, I would love to see him involved. That being said, you look at his career and what he’s done – from county politics to then in the U.S. Senate, the committees that he’s chaired there, being vice president – I think it’s also very tough to go in the reverse pattern and there’s, I think, a certain level of frustration that he would find,” he said.
Biden’s jovial, face-to-face style of politics has endeared him to colleagues on Capitol Hill and those across the country.
A.T. Miller, a New York delegate, says that kind of personality is needed to cut through the typical polished Washington D.C. persona.
“He’s a common sense voice. Some people say he shoots from the hip and sometimes he doesn’t stay on message or something – right, because he’s a regular person. You know, he’s not scripted, he’s not managed and I think that’s healthy,” Miller said.
One of his most off-script occasions came just before President Obama signed into law his signature healthcare act in 2010. Biden shook his boss’s hand, explicitly telling him how big of a deal the situation is.
He’s also leapt out in front of Obama on policy decisions, which Maine delegate David Bright says has helped sway the direction of the administration.
“The one thing I appreciate most about Joe is that he [came out with a position before] Obama on gay marriage and I thought that was brilliant to do that because I didn’t think Obama was going to come out like he had to,” Bright said.
Biden's compassion for those in their times of need resonates with Margot Lester, a delegate from North Carolina.
She says it’s like a guiding star to which people can set their path.
“Having someone who is actually compassionate in real life goes a long way to making everyone, to giving everyone a model we can follow,” Lester said.
After his son Beau’s death last year, speculation surrounding a third run for president hung around all summer until Biden said it was too late to start campaigning.
Since then, he’s led Obama’s $1 billion "cancer moonshot" initiative to find a cure to the disease that’s estimated to kill nearly 600,000 Americans this year, according to the American Cancer Society.
Biden’s legislative work – including the Violence Against Women Act – and his chairmanship over the Senate Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committees have been staples of his legacy.
But Raser-Schramm says his personal story about coming to Delaware for an opportunity and beginning his political career at the local level might be more inspiring.
“It gives folks – especially the first-time candidate in Delaware – this view of like anything is actually possible. Right down to running for a city council seat, whether it be Newark or the City of Wilmington or running for county council and that if you plan on having a [career in politics] that you can do great things.”
