Joe Biden making contact with Delawareans

Editor's note: This story was originally published in 2015 after Joe Biden's photo with Stephanie Carter went viral. The photo is back in the news after a post by Carter regarding the image, and Lucy Flores' story regarding a 2014 incident with Biden. This story was developed in 2015 with help from readers and their photos.

It's been more than two weeks since Vice President Joe Biden's hands went viral.

When Biden clasped the shoulders of Stephanie Carter at The White House while her husband Ashton spoke after being sworn in as U.S. Secretary of Defense, it became an instantly infamous Biden moment.

The touchy-feely sideshow spawned editorial headlines like "America Shouldn't Tolerate 'Biden Being Biden'" (Time) and "The liberal media won't tell people that Joe Biden is a moron" (New York Post).

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza even gave Biden his "Worst Week in Washington Award," writing, "Vice President Biden, for forgetting that 'Mad Men' is a TV show, not a guide for modern workplace conduct, you had the worst week in Washington."

It also offered late night hosts plenty of fodder. After all, he has been a favorite punchline target during his entire time as President Obama's No. 2.

"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" devoted an entire segment to it last week, complete with a montage of other close-and-personal Biden interactions in public.

On Tuesday, the incident resurfaced on the program when Stewart noted that Biden was out of the country and did not attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress, perhaps to "protect Mrs. Netanyahu from Groper Cleveland."

CALL FOR PHOTOS: If you have a touching photo of Vice President Joe Biden that you would like to contribute, send it to rcormier@delawareonline.com.

Biden's roaming hands were also satirized by late night's most senior host, David Letterman, who devoted one of his Top Ten lists to the episode.

Among the entries for the "Top Ten Things Joe Biden Said At This Moment":

-- "Let me know when this gets weird."

-- "Ever heard of a second Second Lady?"

-- "I don't have a time machine, but I do have a hot tub."

Here in Delaware, we know of Biden's love of getting close and personal with just about everyone: men and women, boys and girls. Whether it's an arm around the shoulder, hug or nuzzle, Biden makes a point of contact.

If you're really lucky (or unlucky, depending on your reaction), you have been on the receiving end of a trademark Biden move: both hands on your shoulders, a pull in and an intimate forehead-to-forehead moment.

The News Journal recently asked readers for photos of Biden clutching, clinging or hugging Delawareans over the years. Here is a selection of those photos.

The vast majority of readers who shared their photos did so with pride. Some defended the longtime glad-hander against the brouhaha.

Kay Keenan of Townsend shared a photo of herself with Biden at the dedication ceremony of the First State National Monument in New Castle last year and stuck up for Delaware's most famous son.

"It is very disturbing to me that people think the vice president is 'creepy' in the way he interacts with women. In a large crowd, he gets close to really hear what you are saying to him," she wrote. "To anyone who would read anything into the attached photo, I say, 'Shame on you.'"

Whether you find his need to nudge endearing or creepy, here is embracin' Biden through the years.

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-- Ryan Cormier, The News Journal. Facebook: @ryancormier. Twitter: @ryancormier. Instagram: @ryancormier.