WASHINGTON _ Joe Biden waited less than a minute before he alluded to the controversy that threatens to undermine him should he run for president.
"I just want you to know, I had permission to hug Lonnie," Biden said at the start of his speech in Washington Friday, referring to the president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Lonnie Stephenson, who had introduced him.
The remark drew laughs from a few thousand of the gathered union members, coming just two days after the former vice president �� in response to a series of accusations that he made women feel uncomfortable with how he touched them �� promised to change his behavior. But to many in the Democratic Party, the issue, which highlights the 76-year-old Biden's generational challenge in a young and diverse party, is serious enough to imperil Biden's candidacy before it even begins.
