Contagious… like herpes.
NEW YORK — Appearing at the Clinton Global Initiative conference to present the Leadership in Public Service award to Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Vice President Biden took what he said was “a point of personal privilege” to praise the work of his “old buddy” on gun control.
Acknowledging their failure to get federal legislation passed despite their cooperative efforts, Biden said he remains confident of success. Change will eventually come, Biden said, and “when it comes, … it will be because Mike has sent it.”
“Your passion about reducing gun violence in this country is something that’s become contagious,” Biden said. “Mike knows that we only can bring sanity to this issue when we come together and demand it.”
Accepting the award, Bloomberg said that while Colorado voters earlier this month recalled two state senators who helped pass state gun control legislation, the “public has won” by getting that law on the books.
“Even though we have yet to get the bill passed, Joe’s not giving up the fight, and certainly, neither am I,” Bloomberg said.
But Biden wasn’t done heaping on the praise. “Genius perceives differences; talent, unity,” the vice president said, quoting William Butler Yeats. “That’s Mike.”