In October 1984, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware was invited to address a conservative Baptist church near Wilmington as he campaigned for a third term.
Mr. Biden, hardly the favorite of social conservatives, was in hostile political territory. But as the incumbent, he was given the first speaking slot — and he used it to hold court uninterrupted for nearly an hour. Mr. Biden’s Republican opponent barely got to introduce himself before time was up for the event, while the dozens of other candidates there for the forum never got a word in...
Continue reading...Mr. Biden, hardly the favorite of social conservatives, was in hostile political territory. But as the incumbent, he was given the first speaking slot — and he used it to hold court uninterrupted for nearly an hour. Mr. Biden’s Republican opponent barely got to introduce himself before time was up for the event, while the dozens of other candidates there for the forum never got a word in...