Vice President Biden Keeps Hammering Away at Chamber of Commerce

Biden: Take Christine O'Donnell Seriously

Biden said that his appearance at a fundraiser on Friday with Obama in Delaware is not a sign that Democrats are worried about Chris Coons' chances against Republican Christine O'Donnell, who is backed by the Tea Party. Rather, he said, it is about making sure that Coons has the money he needs to counter O'Donnell's negative ads.

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But he insisted that Democrats are not counting this race as in the bag. "We take Christine O'Donnell seriously," he said. The vice president said there is an "interesting marriage" within the Tea Party between some "wealthy, wealthy people" who don't share the same views as "some of the Tea Party folks who are just angry and frustrated."

Biden said that marriage will make a difference in what the Republican Party looks like after this election.

"I don't know enough to know, but my guess is, if the Tea Party candidates were to win in significant numbers, I think that pretty well changes the character of the Republican Party," he said.

The vice president launched a familiar but strong defense of the Obama Administration's record and insisted that he and the president are not trying to run against the Bush Administration. Then he immediately compared the Obama record against the Bush record.

"We have created 860,000 private sector jobs since January. That's more jobs than the entire Bush eight years," he said. "All eight years. We created more jobs in the last nine months."