Vice President Biden treats family to hometown Auto Show
Joe Biden: Im a car guy!
The Bidens departed as seamlessly as they arrived. Going to the Auto Show is easy for someone like the vice president when its literally only a few blocks from where you live, straight down Massachusetts Avenue, said John ODonnell, assistant producer & assistant tour guide.
Reflecting on his role as tour guide to the VIPs, WAS chairman Kevin Reilly said he enjoyed the vice president and his family on a personal level, having kids myself the same age as his grandchildren, who each good manneredly thanked Reilly for their visit. But where I really felt connected was when I learned that his father was in the automobile business, because mine was, too, and still is, Reilly said, referring to his father and dealership partner, Don Reilly, at Alexandria Hyundai.
The phone call came into the Washington Auto Show office Saturday afternoon, Feb. 1, on the shows final weekend, that the vice president was coming by for a visit. Within an hour of that phone call, Joe Biden, Dad and Granddad, arrived at the show with his sons and grandchildren. And, but for the extensive Secret Service detail that came, too, the vice president was like any other local visitor enjoying Saturday afternoon at the Auto Show with his boys, albeit son Beau Biden is attorney general for Delaware.
It all happened so fast, without notice or fanfare, the likes of which we had year before last when President Obama toured the show, said Auto Show manager Bob Yoffe, who got the phone call and handled the logistics with the Secret Service. Setting up for Obamas visit took days, said Yoffe, who handled that as well. Not only did we have Secret Service issues to work through for the president, but extensive exhibitor issues emerged, ranging from shuffling cars around in the displays to flying in OEM executives, according to Yoffe.
Indeed, the speed at which the vice presidents impromptu visit came together the last Saturday of the show was such that there wasnt even time for exhibit managers to get into some display vehicles to unlock them for the Bidens. No problem, the vice president assured Auto Show chairman Kevin Reilly, who took charge of the Bidens tour on site. Im a car guy, said Biden, which resonated with Reilly, especially when he heard that the vice presidents penchant for new vehicles came from his father, who had been a manager at a GM dealership.
In reviewing his trip to the Auto Show with Detroit News, Biden said it was GM that got him through college and law school with the cars his father provided. On that note, the first vehicles Biden wanted to see were in Chevrolet, notably the Corvette Stingray and Chevy Silverado. From there he moved to Chrysler for a look at the Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee. At the Ford exhibit, the Bidens checked out the 2015 F-150, the vehicle the vice president told his grandchildren was fuel efficient because of the high amounts of aluminum it contained, making it 700 pounds lighter.
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