Vice President Joe Biden touched down in Nashville for the second time in six months Monday to rev up a few dozen Democratic Party stalwarts and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for President Barack Obama’s re-election bid, reports Michael Cass.
On his way out of town, Biden surprised a group of home-schooled children with an impromptu motorcade stop along Old Hickory Boulevard.
Biden was the headliner at a $10,000-a-head fundraiser at real estate executive and Obama “bundler” Bill Freeman’s Green Hills home. The vice president was there for more than an hour and spoke for 30-40 minutes, according to people who attended.
“It was a very successful event, and we were thrilled to host it,” Freeman said, declining to comment further.
As 30 or so paying guests ate salmon, beef, grits and a green salad, Biden spoke informally but passionately about Obama’s campaign against presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. He touched on foreign policy and issues affecting women and stood behind his comments in support of same-sex marriage made during a Sunday news program.
The vice president also said the Republican Party had been taken over by tea party factions whose first interest is winning without compromising, not making the country better, one donor said. He refrained from personal attacks but indicated that Romney, a wealthy former Massachusetts governor, was out of touch with working people’s concerns.