Sam Lieberman, former chairman of the Nevada Democratic Party, has a framed picture in his office of Joe Biden. In the photo, taken sometime during Biden’s short-lived 2008 presidential campaign, Biden is standing behind Lieberman and kissing his scalp.
It’s the kind of physical touching — or violation of personal boundaries — that has gotten the former vice president in trouble with a variety of women and clouded his prospective entry into the presidential race. Yet it’s also a reminder of Biden’s long history of toiling in the early presidential state vineyards, and his easy familiarity with party activists and officials — many of whom are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.