Barack Obama’s newly minted vice presidential pick, Joe Biden, broke into tears at an afternoon press conference while discussing the honor of being put on the Democratic presidential ticket.

“I just want you to know that this is a great honor, this is a great honor being nominated the vice president of the United States and I am proud of it, I don’t mean in any way to diminish it but it pales in comparison to the honor that I’ve had representing you,” Biden told a group of Delaware delegates.

Then he paused and blinked several times perhaps sensing the tears that were about to flow.

“I apologize for getting a little emotional,” Biden said as he dabbed his eyes. “But, I tell you what, I look at every stage in my life, you know, my private life has been lived under, not because anybody, everybody has been good to me, but my private life has been lived in a public arena because you all got me started so young. Really, I mean, as early as, you know, when I was, I had been out of law school what, a year before I got involved in a way with the Democratic Party which was kind of on its heels back then. Remember, we had a bad run back in the late sixties, early seventies.”

Biden regained his composure as he went on to describe dark days he encountered early in public life when his first wife and an infant daughter died in a car accident and thanked his Delaware friends for supporting him through the years.