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. @JoeBiden takes the stage in Dallas. The first question: describe yourself. 
@JoeBiden Biden: "Family is the beginning, the middle and the end. Everything revolves around family."
Biden: "I get up every day hoping that Beau’s proud of me. Because he made me promise that I wouldn’t quit. I wouldn’t step aside. I’d continue to work on the things that have animated my whole life."
Biden talking about what gave him purpose. Among lessons growing up was about abuse of power, including men over women. "I almost got arrested because I intervened when a man was pushing his wife around in a supermarket."
Biden: "What informed my public policy was the abhorrence of the abuse of power." Says in Delaware at start of his career, GOP was the progressive party. "The Democratic Party was the southern Democratic Party."
Biden hits similar note to this morning as he describes start of his Senate tenure. "I get criticized for reaching across the aisle. But I don’t know how we get things done if we don’t move together."
Biden: "One of the things I’ve always been relatively good at since I was a kid is bringing people together, negotiating, trying to make things work."
But Biden also says "I make no bones about it. I’m a partisan guy in terms of my ideological points of view." But inability of people to work together today in politics "frustrates me"
Biden talking about his role in SCOTUS nominees for decades. Had studied separation of power and emphasized equality of the three branches. "If I got elected president I might not believe that anymore."
Biden: "There’s a lot at stake right now on the court with RBG. If she stays healthy and a Democrat is elected president it will be a very different court than if President Trump is reelected."
In an aside, Biden refers to President Obama as simply "Barack." "I call him Barack instead of the president because I don’t want to confuse him with …"
Biden: "I want ... Beau’s son and daughter to know I was true to their dad’s wishes."
Event wraps after about 75 minutes. Not one direct question to Biden about his political future.
