By Michael A. Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau –
STERLING, Va. — Mitt Romney is the candidate of change? That’s malarkey to Vice President Joe Biden, who argued Monday that the only change from the Republican nominee is a recent shifting of his positions.
With Romney, Biden said, everything now “depends.”
“It depends on the weather. It depends on the polls. It depends on how they feel. … The only thing you can be sure of is it will change!” he said.
Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan, the vice presidential nominee, are like kids “trying to outrun their shadow.”
“But they don’t know, the only time their shadow catches up with them, when the sun goes down. It’s going down tomorrow night for them,” he said.
The vice president started the final day of the campaign in a key swing area of Northern Virginia, speaking to an estimated crowd of 800 at an outdoor park along with Virginia’s two sitting senators, Mark Warner and Jim Webb, as well as Tim Kaine, who is running to succeed Webb.
He was also joined by his wife, Jill Biden, who teaches at Northern Virginia Community College.
“I tell you what. I’m so happy the economy in Virginia’s going to continue to grow. My living standard depends on it,” he joked.
But while he was spending his final day in Virginia, where he has held nine events, Ohio, where he has campaigned more than twice as often, was still on his mind. He referred, as he’s been doing for a week now, to the ad the Romney campaign ran in Ohio that suggested Chrysler was shifting production of its Jeep line to China, and that the Obama administration was to blame.
“They’re doing anything they can to confuse the electorate,” Biden said, adding that it speaks to their character. “Folks, presidential elections are ultimately about character. It’s the most important ingredient a president must possess to lead a great nation and lead the world. And President Obama has the character of his convictions.”
Biden will hold a final pre-election rally Monday evening in Richmond, before traveling to his home in Delaware so he can cast his ballot Tuesday morning.
