At a fundraising dinner for the Democrats’ candidate for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, Ed Markey, in Washington last night, Vice President Joe Biden voiced his concern about freshman Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) (emphasis added):

“Have you ever seen a time when two freshman senators are able to cower the bulk of the Republican Party in the Senate? That is not hyperbole… I called 17 senators out, nine of whom were Republicans. Not one of (them) offered an explanation on the merits of why they couldn’t vote for the background check. But almost to a person, they said, ‘I don’t want to take on Ted Cruz. I don’t want to take on Rand Paul. They’ll be in my district.’ “

Biden went on to describe:

“I actually said, ‘Are you kidding? These are two freshman,’ ” Biden added. “This is a different party folks. They’re not bad guys, and they’re both very bright guys. And I’m not questioning their motive.”

Markey is running for the seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry.

He cautioned his audience: “Barack Obama’s not at the head of the ticket. And that means those legions of African-Americans and Latinos are not automatically going to come out.”