Biden's son stops in Hub to back Democratic ticket

Attorney general of Del. deploying to Iraq next month

Beau Biden, 39, is a captain in Delaware's National Guard.

Making his case for his father and Barack Obama, Beau Biden said the Democratic ticket can best address the Iraq war and the "bread and butter issues" that concern the middle class: paying for college, caring for aging parents, affording healthcare and gasoline, and finding and keeping good jobs.

Biden, the son of Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, stopped in Boston yesterday to campaign for the Obama-Biden ticket and to speak with New England's attorneys general. The 39-year-old serves as Delaware's attorney general and is also a Delaware National Guard captain and military lawyer who will soon be deployed to Iraq.

"I wish I had more of an opportunity over the next 30- or 40-some-odd days right now to be a part of this and be at my dad's side, and do what I can to help him, help Barack," said Biden, whose 261st Signal Brigade will deploy Oct. 3. "I feel very strongly that this country needs Barack Obama as president of the United States - and it's not just because he picked my dad as vice president."

An Obama victory, Biden said, would benefit "middle-class folks," who he maintains have suffered under President Bush.

In a 20-minute interview, Biden also touched on his father's Senate service, and the scheduled Oct. 2 debate with Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. Biden referred to the Republican vice presidential nominee as a "formidable opponent" but also said, "My dad knows what he's doing when he's up there."

Biden's unit will go to Texas for training before heading to Iraq, probably for a year.

Biden joined his father as an elected official in 2006, after two years in private practice and nine as a lawyer with the Department of Justice. In that capacity he was dispatched to post-war Kosovo as a legal adviser, an experience that prompted him to join the National Guard, commissioned in 2003. He is not a complete stranger to New England; after law school, he spent a year as a clerk for US District Court Judge Steven J. McAuliffe in New Hampshire.

Biden has spent the past month balancing typical predeployment responsibilities - making arrangements for his wife and children and preparing to leave his job - with campaigning for his father and Obama. Later this week, he will vote absentee. "I can't wait," he said.