Hanging out with the VEEP
Friday, July 10th, 2009A couple of weeks ago some of us at UT got to hang out for a few hours with Vice President Joe Biden. You might remember that the vice president was visiting a new solar panel plant located just south of Perrysburg. He brought along Gary Locke, the Secretary of Commerce, and Ed Montgomery, the so-called Car Czar who is assigned to help communities impacted by the crisis in the automobile industry. Governor Strickland was also on hand. The comments and conversation centered on the economy and how new alternative energy manufacturing plants might help improve our prospects in northwest Ohio.
I always enjoy being at events with the president or vice president. The excitement. The media. The crowds. The security. The long waits. Well, okay, some of those aspects of these events are not so enjoyable. However, in this case, the event was handled very well. The crowd was relatively small—about 300 or so people I would estimate. The security line moved quickly. And the vice president was reasonably on time.
The Veep with Gov. Strickland in blue shirt
In fact, the only negative was that the warehouse-like plant was very warm. But turning on the large fans that normally cool the area were so noisy that they drowned out the speakers. I might add that it is usually very difficult for anything to drown out Joe Biden when he gets talking.
Yes, the VEEP is just as loquacious in person as he is portrayed by the media. The event lasted for more than two hours, which is an extraordinary long time for a president or vice president. However, Vice President Biden was having a good time. He spoke from a podium, then led a panel discussion, and finally conducted a Q & A as he wandered around the audience. It was an impressive performance
The funniest thing that happened came at the end when the vice president was back sitting with the panel members wrapping up. He addressed the owner of the solar plant and praised his company for getting started without using any government money. At that point, Governor Strickland leaned over to the vice president and said, “He didn’t get any federal money, Mr. Vice President, but the State of Ohio gave the company $10 million.”
Bill is in charge of the university's political activities with the City of Toledo and Lucas County, the State of Ohio, and the federal government in his role as vice president for government relations. He was in charge of the legislation that merged The University of Toledo and the Medical University of Ohio. His main duties include coordinating activities with the Ohio Board of Regents and tracking budget and education legislation.