Biden backs Owens; says Limbaugh picked Hoffman

While praising Democratic Congressional candidate William L. Owens as a man of values, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. took shots at supporters of Mr. Owens’s opponent during a campaign appearance Monday in Watertown.

Appearing at the North Side Improvement League on Mill Street, Mr. Biden claimed Conservative candidate Douglas L. Hoffman was “handpicked” by radio host Rush Limbaugh as successor to Army Secretary John M. McHugh.

Mr. Biden said Mr. Hoffman’s views are consistent with those of Mr. Limbaugh, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who he lumped together as right-wing neoconservatives who “will not tolerate” dissenting views.

“I know what they are against, but I don’t know what they’re for,” Mr. Biden said.

He said Mr. Owens, who served in the military, “gets it” when it comes to matters that affect soldiers and would work to more closely regulate Wall Street.

“He’s for making sure Wall Street doesn’t run roughshod over Main Street,” Mr. Biden said.

Mr. Biden, who attended Syracuse University and once was a life guard at Sandy Pond in Oswego County, said he came to know of and support Mr. Owens after talking to friends from college.

“The thing I like best about him is his values,” Mr. Biden said. “This is a guy who’s not afraid to take a stand.”

Mr. Biden spoke for about a half hour before a crowd of about 250 people.