I received a bunch of emails yesterday from people who were part of Vice-President Joe Biden’s press pool during his trip to New Jersey and New York. My eighth update was the best.
VPOTUS pool report 8
—– Original Message —–
From: xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 05:01 PM
To: xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: VPOTUS pool report 8After landing at Newark-Liberty International, we took a short drive on closed highways to Hoboken Terminal, where commuter trains, PATH trains, ferries and buses come together.
Motorcade arrived shortly after 3 p.m. Press was taken down to the PATH tracks, where various local officials including Sen. Frank Lautenberg were waiting. After a few minutes, VPOTUS arrived, greeting Mr. Lautenberg by saluting and and saying “Your holiness!”
Wilfredo Guzman, the superintendent of the PATH’s capital program showed VPOTUS around, starting with pictures of water rushing into the tracks and moving on to various maps of the tracks. VPOTUS asked some questions, most of which pool could not hear. VPOTUS’s group then moved on to one of the platforms, where Mr. Guzman kept pointing things out.
The group moved upstairs to a waiting room within the terminal, where officials showed VPOTUS more pictures. Many appeared to be of devastated New Jersey Transit tracks. When shown a picture of boats and water on the tracks, VPOTUS said “Holy mackerel.” He then greeted some first responders before giving another set of brief remarks near some ferry slips.
Details of those remarks to come. Pool is now holding in vans. A crowd had gathered behind some barriers nearby, and it appears that VPOTUS stopped to greet them, because they just let out a few loud cheers.
Pool has transcribed some of the Seaside Heights remarks. The heart of it was here, when he spoke about the need for federal aid to the region and described his own experience with the region, especially as a kid on the Jersey Shore.
“If you’re not an Easterner it’s hard to understand that the ocean to us is the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park and everything else combined. It is a gigantic part of not only our economy but who we are. It’s a gigantic part of the culture as well.
And every time the rest of the country is in real trouble, New Jersey and Delaware and New York and Connecticut etcetera we respond, we respond. And it’s going to be a heavy lift. These are difficult times in terms of budgets but the president has made it clear that we are going to do everything we can to make sure that the Corps is fully funded, that FEMA has their needs and that all the programs that exist under the auspices of the federal government not only continue to exist but are funded so that we can make sure that this area of the country is fully fully fully restored.
So as the president said when he was up here with the governor, we’re not going anywhere. We’re not not going anywhere. And you’ve got a homeboy in the deal who gets it.”
I don’t know which part is the funniest. Biden and Lautenberg have probably spent many mornings on AMTRAK together, going to work. Their reunion cracked my up. Then the mackerel reference was pure gold. The “gigantic” paean to the Atlantic shore was classic Biden. And what can we even say about the ending?
Can we rewind the 2012 election and just go with the motto: “Homeboys who get it”?
