By the time Sen. Joe Biden shows up, it’s now been two hours and change, and the crowd is getting a little antsy, a little noisier between speakers. Biden knows how to re-engage the crowd with humor.

“I’m Joe Biden and I’m the best friend you ever had, running for president.I’ve got 34 years to prove it. I’m your second to last speaker, and I don’t know how you guys have been able to stand it so far. I told Dodd he was really good, he changed my mind. He’s using all my stuff.”

“I’ve never seen the American people so sober and so serious about the issues facing them today. I’ve seen them more angry, and seen them more scared, but I’ve never seen them so uncertain.”

He says the country is looking for a President that can lead them during “a pretty difficult next decade” – I like the guy’s honesty, and that he’s not saying easy peace and prosperty are right around the corner.

Biden’s an old hand when it comes to speeches like this, and it shows – he can get quiet and solemn while talking about the war, and then bellow out an angry “this war must end, and it must end soon.” Interestingly, he criticizes those who say we should “leave and hope for the best.” He asks, “what next?”

“Depending on how we’re gonna end this war, we’re gonna determine not just whether my son’s National Guard unit is sent to get involved in this civil war, but whether my grandson and grandaughter get sent to fight this war” again, much later.

Even some Democrats argue that if we just leave it will force Iraqis to create this kind of government. Ladies and gentlemen, there is NO POSSIBILITY of there being a strong central democratic govenrment in Iraq in the lifetime of anyone in this room.

First option available is to have one side wipe out the other in a civil war. But that’s not an option in a part of world where that civil war can metastatize into a regional war. Second option is to occupy – Persian Empire, . Not an option for us, not in our DNA. Third option is a dictator. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony. Fourth option is to set up a federal state with a weak central government that allows each party to set their own policies in their local areas.”

It’s not necessarily a policy that I agree with, but I salute Biden for acknowledging the downsides of the let’s-get-out now crowd. It doesn’t seem to be the preferred message of the union guys in the audience. They’re not booing, but they’re not applauding either.

I’m so tired of hearing from business about what it takes the build the middle class. It’s real simple. You know what builds the middle class? Unions. Unions! (almost sneering, in that trademark Biden style) Good old-fashioned American unions.

Biden pounds the lectern trade, a topic some other Democrats were a bit timid about. Calls free trade a race to the bottom.

“I’m gonna warn you. If I’m your President, and I’ve got ten dollars to spend, I’m gonna spend it on those kids [coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan] with injuries before I spend it on your education and health.” This gets applause, suggesting that the crowd appreciates the honesty of a candidate who’s willing to tell them their priorities may not always enough to come first.

You know, pound for pound, Biden might be the most entertaining and gifted public speaker in the Democratic primary. But I’m still waiting to see Obama in person, who comes up next.