Copyright The Boston Herald
Poor Joe. He just can’t get any respect. Otherwise, some of his friends and colleagues might have shown up when Joe Biden was honored at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston the other night. But they didn’t. They were hiding out elsewhere. Politics is a business of doing favors for friends. It is also a cold and cruel business. Joe Biden can’t do his friends’ favors anymore. So, who needs him? When you are out, you are out. Which gives added meaning to the old Capitol Hill adage that, “When you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” So, if the president, or former president, looked out at the crowd at the Kennedy Institute expecting to see fellow Democrats whom he had befriended and favored over the years, he had to be sorely disappointed. They were not there. It is not that Joe Biden, 82, who is dealing with prostate cancer and mental acuity challenges, needed another Democrat honor for his decades of public service. He has many of those. What he needs are friends. Given the way he has practically been shunned and shunted aside by Democrat Party leaders after deciding not to seek reelection, it was nice to be invited to a reception somewhere and be presented with a lifetime achievement award. Which was better than getting the worst president in modern history award, which other, more objective social or political institutions might have given him. That aside, he was received warmly by those who attended, including Vicki Kennedy, widow of the late Ted Kennedy, after whom the institute and award are named. Kennedy died in 1979 at age 77. He and Biden had served together closely in the U.S. Senate for years before Biden became vice president under President Barack Obama. Biden, in his short acceptance speech, called on Democrats to fight for democracy the way Kennedy did. Without mentioning President Donald Trump by name, Biden said, “It’s time to get reengaged. Fight like hell. Fight like Teddy would fight. That’s what we owe each other. Get up. America, get up now.” People did get up, except for his former political allies, who chose not to attend, thereby giving Biden the cold shoulder. While former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh was there, current Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was not. Walsh, who was a Biden Cabinet member as Secretary of Labor, also received an award. However, former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry, who also served in Biden’s Cabinet as Climate Czar – as well as in the Senate with Biden before that — was a no-show, as was Kerry’s Martha’s Vineyard neighbor Barack Obama, Biden’s former boss. Gov. Maura Healey, a one-time strong Biden supporter, was also notable by her absence. Nor did the governor, as protocol or respect dictates, greet the former president at the Logan Airport. Wu didn’t either. Also snubbing Biden were former supporters Elizabeth Warren and Eddie Markey, both of whom, as U.S. senators, slobbered over Biden when he was in the White House. Markey is being challenged for reelection in the 2026 Democrat primary by Rep. Seth Moulton of Salem, who did not attend the event either. Nor did Reps. Stephen Lynch or Ayanna Pressley show up, even though both represent parts of Boston where the Columbia Point event was held. They were joined in their absence by all the other six members of the Congressional delegation who did not show up either. It is almost as though, when invited, they said, “Joe? Joe who?” Get lost. Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com
