LEXINGTON, Va., May 12--Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), while praising Democratic presidential candidate Jesse L. Jackson, used the word "boy" to refer to him and Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.) during an informal news conference here late Friday night.
Jackson "is one of the brightest guys around," Biden said in remarks made after a speech. "That boy ain't no dummy, just like Gary Hart, that boy ain't no dummy either."
Biden's remark came in response to a reporter's question about the impact of Jackson's candidacy on the Democratic Party.
Biden said Jackson has stirred the hopes of black voters and has spurred voter registration that may help the Democrats regain control of the Senate in the Nov. 6 general election.
Biden, who was here to address Washington and Lee University's 1984 Mock Democratic Convention, left before a tape recording made clear his remarks.
Contacted today in Dover, Del., Biden said the comment was not intended to be racially derogatory. He noted that he had referred to Hart the same way.
i look forward to next week when the idiots here are desperately pushing jay inslee
Bernie Is.
