Biden ad-libbed a bit from the text when he said, “I take the train home to Wilmington, sometimes very late. As I look out the window at the homes we pass, [at their flickering lights] I can almost hear the what they’re talking about at the kitchen table after they put the kids to bed.” He added the part about flickering lights.
Apparently it is the Grapes of Wrath out there, as Americans are sitting at the kitchen table, illuminated by candles and gaslight.
There’s a point about repeating the same themes in speeches to ensure that viewers who only see one speech get the message. Well, both Biden and Kerry have had the same “Freudian slip” of saying Bush when they meant McCain.