Biden Arrives To Acclaim, Begins Work On Campaign

DENVER, Aug. 25 -- Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) made his debut appearance in the host city of the Democratic convention Monday as he rushed to integrate himself into Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign and prepared to accept the party's vice presidential nomination Wednesday night.

Joined by his daughter, wife, brother and two sons, Biden staged a photo op in downtown Denver, buying pulled pork sandwiches and lemonade at Boney's Smokehouse and shaking hands among a crowd of more than 100, along with more than 50 reporters.

The lunch outing and a planned appearance on the convention floor were Biden's only real campaign activities of the day. Biden spent much of Sunday huddled at his home with Obama's chief strategist David Axelrod on his speech.

Before flying to Denver, he made an appearance at the Wilmington, Del., Amtrak station that the Obama campaign has worked hard to make part of the narrative surrounding Biden in recent days. The Delaware senator has for decades commuted by train from his Wilmington home rather than living in Washington, and he shook hands and accepted congratulations.

Once in Denver, he greeted Obama's staff formally for the first time during a conference call Monday and kept working on his Wednesday night speech to the convention, which will focus on national security issues.

He has already begun traveling with an entourage that includes veteran Democratic aides brought on by the Obama campaign, including David Wade, a longtime adviser to Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), and, to handle logistics, Sam Myers Sr., a former aide to both Clintons and to former senator John Edwards (N.C.).

As the convention opened, most Democrats here seemed pleased that Obama had chosen Biden to join him on the ticket.

The Pennsylvania delegation gathered in a suite at a Marriott on Sunday night, but delegates rarely mentioned Obama's name. It's Joe Biden who could win the election in Pennsylvania, they said.

In a state that voted for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, delegates said Obama improved his prospects by selecting a running mate who the delegates think could connect with some white working-class voters who had backed the former first lady but have not gravitated yet to the senator from Illinois.

"Joe Biden is huge. He could be the difference in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, even Indiana," said Art DeCoursey, who ran the last four Democratic presidential campaigns in western Pennsylvania. "He can talk to the labor folk in their language. You go in there, you don't wear a suit or tie, and you connect. That's what he's good at."

Bill George, a superdelegate from Pennsylvania who initially supported Clinton, said he spent the last two weeks sending e-mails to the Obama campaign to promote Biden. George, president of the Pennsylvania state AFL-CIO, said he implored the Obama advisers to "pick the guy who working people can talk to."

"Hillary was my first choice but Biden was my second choice," said Paul Anderson, a convention delegate from Central Florida.

"He was one of the best in the debates and he'll be a good debater" against the GOP vice presidential nominee, Anderson said.

Larry Cooper of Atlanta, who attended the convention as a 'finance guest" through his contributions to the party, said he thinks Biden will make a good vice president but isn't sure how much he will add on the campaign trial.

"I like the guy; good pick -- that's another question," Cooper said. "He didn't get a lot of votes when he was running for president."