Biden tells opponents of stimulus to “look around” to find success

He put the Obama administration’s critics on notice, raised a bunch of cash for his party’s nominee for Governor of Virginia and only made one, minor but noticeable gaffe. All in a day’s work for the Vice President of the United States of America.

Joe Biden, the charismatic and experienced lawmaker charmed a crowd of close to 100 invited guests today at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Henrico. It was clear from the start of his speech that not only was the V.P. here to defend his team’s stimulus plan, but also to specifically target one of it’s chief critics, local congressman Eric Cantor.

During his nearly 40 minute address, Mr. Biden talked at length about specific examples of what he sees as progress that has resulted from the stimulus plan. From the protection of some 7,000 public sector jobs to the potential for local small business owner John Fernandez (pictured above with Biden) to add 25 jobs by the end of the year, Biden attempted to make the case that the expensive investment was worth it.

At one point Biden asked Central Virginians and the stimulus plans critics to step back and “look around” at the progress. Perhaps a tough sell to a community like Richmond that has seen the loss of a number of locally based companies. (Something we explored tonight on NBC12 news at 11.) But that wasn’t enough. Biden specifically went after Cantor by hinting that the Congressman was a hypocrite, for fighting against the stimulus, while at the same time begging for money to develop high speed rail from Richmond to Washington, D.C. (For his part Cantor called the Recovery Act a flop).

((Video from that section of Biden’s speech, plus more on the VP’s trip can be found after the jump))

Biden to target Cantor in Stimulus speech

Ryan Nobles – bio | email

The Washington Post is reporting this afternoon, that without mentioning Richmond Congressman Eric Cantor by name, Vice President Joe Biden plans to target the House Minority Whip during his remarks today at J. Sargaent Reynolds.

The Post received an advance copy of the speech and in excerpts released by the paper, Biden challenges opponents of the Recovery act to stop opposing the plan for the sake of opposing it and recognize the results it is already producing. Cantor is one of the chief opponents of the Obama Administration plan and this week delivered the Republican weekly radio address where he hammered the White House’s “pork barrel spending”.

Here is a section of the Post report:
“To those who say that our economic decisions ‘have not produced jobs, have not produced prosperity, and simply have not worked’ I say, take a look around,” Biden will say, according to prepared remarks obtained by The Washington Post.

“I say, ‘Don’t let your opposition to the Recovery Act blind you to its results,'” Biden plans to say in the Richmond speech. “‘Come see what I see everywhere I go: workers rehired, factories reopened, cops on the street, teachers in the classroom, progress toward getting our economy back on the move.'”

Without naming Cantor directly, the rhetorical assault is aimed directly at the Richmond lawmaker, who has helped lead the Republican Party to its most effective message since Obama became president: that Obama’s stimulus bill has not produced jobs.

Meanwhile Cantor, appears to be ready for a fight. He has already held a press conference call in response to the Biden visit and his staff released a video clip of a press conference today where the Congressman addresses the issue. “I have said consistently since the numbers have come out: this stimulus plan has been a flop,” said Cantor. “This is President Obama’s economy, let’s get down to business here and get people back to work in this country.”

You can find that clip after the jump. Don’t forget that we will stream the Vice President’s speech live on NBC12.com. My first live report on television will be during our First at Four program and throughout the early evening newscasts.

Biden visit to be streamed live on NBC12.com

Richmond is gearing up today for a visit from the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden. Mr. Biden is here to discuss President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan and specifically the role Community Colleges play in a 21st century economy.

Biden will speak to a group of invited guests at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College at 4:45 this afternoon.

In addition to his policy speech, Biden is expected to headline a fundraiser for Democratic candidate for Governor Creigh Deeds. That event is being held at a private home and is not open to the press.

You can watch Vice President Biden’s entire speech by logging on to our main web site www.nbc12.com. Our coverage online will depend on the VP’s schedule, but we hope to begin streaming live around 4:30pm.

In addition to our web coverage, I will have frequent updates here and live reports on NBC12 television beginning at 4.