WASHINGTON -- At a Monday press briefing, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons (D) talked policy -- something that was often overlooked in his contest with the colorful Christine O'Donnell (R). He also sounded a more personal note, recounting advice he received recently from Vice President Joe Biden, who for 36 years held the seat Coons will be filling.
Biden, who earned a reputation for commuting from Capitol Hill back to Delaware every night, suggested Coons do likewise.
"Make it as physically uncomfortable as possible to spend the night," Coons recalled Biden telling him. "Don't get a nice place, don't get a nice room. Get a cot in the office, or rent something small and cramped and unpleasant, because there will always be pressures to stay."
The effect of spending the night in Washington, Biden suggested, can be personally corrosive over time.
"If you get a nice comfortable place, the first year it's one night a week, the second year it's two nights a week, the third year it's three nights a week, and four years from now you'll miss every game your son plays in," the vice president said, according to the freshman senator.
On questions of policy, Coons was cautious, punting when asked to weigh in on the proposal released last week by the co-chairs of President Barack Obama's deficit commission. "It's a very thoughtful and serious plan," he said. "We ought to keep all those cards on the table and look at them hard."
The president was similarly cautious last week, telling reporters that the commission's proposals deserve review rather than the dismissive response they received from some members of both parties, including leading Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Coons signaled he was open to reforming the filibuster, telling a handful of reporters he believes there has been more abuse of the filibuster process in the last two years than at any point in modern history.
"I am willing to consider rules changes that strike a balance between securing the rights of the minority" and allowing the majority to function, Coons said, noting, "I got asked that question a fair amount in the course of the campaign."
Above all, the new senator trumpeted his commitment to creating jobs and sought distance from those seeking to preserve the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy.
"I am skeptical about whether permanently extending income tax cuts for the very highest income Americans will have the best chance of creating jobs in the short run," he said.