Biden to South Carolina for commencement address
(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden will deliver the commence address next month at the University of South Carolina.
The Vice President's speech at the May 9th ceremony, announced Wednesday by the school, is sure to spark more speculation about a Biden bid for the White House in 2016, as South Carolina holds the first southern contest in the presidential primary and caucus calendar.
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A spokesman for the Vice President confirmed the news and pointed out that Biden will also give the commencement address this year at the University of Delaware, his home state.
Biden, who's seriously considering what would be his third bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, was last in South Carolina this past September for an official visit on jobs and infrastructure. He was also in the state last May when he headlined a major Democratic Party dinner and attended longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn's legendary fish fry.
Former Utah Gov. and U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman gave the commencement address at the University of South Carolina in 2011, one month before he formally launched a bid for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
"Commencement speakers are often projects long in the making. Some can take years to complete and to make calendars mesh. Speakers can be nominated by anyone in the university community, but they go through an approval process overseen by the Board of Trustees. I don't know how the Biden commencement came about. But we've had political speakers and sitting officials in the past," said Charles Bierbauer, Dean of the University of South Carolina's College of Mass Communications.
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It is incredible that he would be asked to speak at any commencement in SC. I consider that an attack on the people of SC.
DM, I sneak and post at work too. That's why I get so angry when I take my time to type a thoughtful comment and it gets zapped. Then I look up and see many a comment that looks like it was typed by an 8 year old. But as long as it has that right wing swing...