Swearing in new senators, Biden steals the spotlight

WASHINGTON — Most politicians accept the daily grind of pressing the flesh and making small talk about their jobs or campaigns as an unwelcome necessity that comes with the territory. Not Joe Biden. The affable US vice president relishes the personal showmanship of politics and his role as America’s soothing, smirking, shoulder-massaging, consoling dignitary who embraces the pomp and personal connections like no one else in America’s political arena. On Tuesday, 17 days before he ends his eight-year stint as the nation’s 47th vice president, the Democrat was in full-on “Uncle Joe” mode. As the 115th Congress opened following one of the most bitter and controversial presidential campaigns in memory, the 74-year-old spent more than 100 straight minutes on his feet in the old Senate chamber, re-enacting the swearing-in ceremonies for the Senate’s new and re-elected members. Inevitably, he welcomed the spouses first. “God love ya!” Biden said with outstretched arms as he greeted Senator Chuck Grassley’s wife with a deep hug before backslapping Grassley, a Republican. Biden spent 36 years in the US Senate, 28 of them with Grassley, and the vice president was all smiles. “Keep on coming!” Biden shouted as some 33 members from four generations of Grassleys paraded in for a photograph. If most politicos see such a task as drudgery, Biden soaked it up. He snapped selfies with grinning relatives, squatted down to flirt with toddlers and, as is his reputation, got touchy-feely close while greeting dozens of lawmakers, wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters. When Republican Senator Rob Portman’s son introduced his girlfriend, a Biden fan, to the vice president, the woman gushed: “You just made my 2017!” before falling into his open arms. — AFP