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Freightliner Trucks Press Release / March 27, 2017 . . .

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2017 Ford Super Duty Tops Three-Quarter-Ton Work Truck Challenge, Bests All Domestic and Import Truck Brands PickupTrucks.com, a Cars.com company, tested the latest three-quarter-ton work trucks from Ford, Chevrolet, Nissan and Ram, and chose the 2017 Ford F-250 Super Duty XL as the best work truck for 2017 Winning six empirical tests including acceleration and braking, and maximum horsepower and fuel economy, the 6.2-liter V8-powered Super Duty took additional points for interior layout, quality build, and convenience items like bed tie-downs and lighting features Award is the latest in a series of accolades for the all-new 2017 F-Series Super Duty by the automotive press, and highlights Ford’s yearlong #40YearsTough celebration as America’s best-selling trucks for 40 consecutive years DEARBORN, Mich., March 27, 2017 – In a year full of recognition and accolades, the all-new 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty has won PickupTrucks.com’s three-quarter-ton work truck challenge – beating out competitors from Chevrolet, Nissan and Ram. Based on a series of empirical tests conducted at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona, the all-new F-250 Super Duty XL 4x2 outscored the competition handily. Powered by the 6.2-liter flex-fuel V8 engine mated to a heavy-duty six-speed SelectShift-G automatic transmission, Super Duty led the pack in 0-60 mph and quarter-mile acceleration, 60-0 braking, maximum horsepower and measured fuel economy. PickupTrucks.com editors also noted “Super Duty’s striking interior layout and quality materials, its numerous large and small storage spaces, top-notch acceleration and braking feel, more bed tie-downs and lighting features than the others.” The award is the latest in a series of accolades Ford’s all-new F-Series Super Duty has earned. Motor Trend named Super Duty its 2017 Truck of the Year, while the Texas Auto Writers Association placed it at the top of its class at the 13th annual Texas Truck Rodeo. The recognition highlights Ford’s yearlong celebration of F-Series as best-selling trucks in America for 40 consecutive years, and 35 years as the best-selling vehicle in America. Join the #40YearsTough celebration at www.40YearsTough.com. PickupTrucks.com’s three-quarter-ton work truck challenge can be found here. .

Ford's health plan: Slim down inventory Automotive News / March 27, 2017 Cuts in production are expected, even if it means revenue will take a hit Ford Motor Co. is determined to avoid a glut of unsold cars and trucks piling up on dealer lots by trimming production -- even if U.S. vehicle volumes are relatively healthy compared with the rest of the industry. Ford had a 78 days supply of vehicles at the end of February, down 17 days compared with a month earlier. At the start of March, all but four of the company's nameplates had seen month-over-month declines in days supply, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Ford's sales were down 2.5 percent through February. Still, CFO Bob Shanks warned analysts and investors, "don't be surprised" if Ford cuts production or temporarily idles assembly lines across North America in the coming months. It's a strategy meant to avoid bloated inventory, but will also eat into revenue. "Closing a plant down for a week or reducing a shift reduces the amount of vehicles made and therefore reduces revenue," Dave Sullivan, manager of product analysis at forecasting firm AutoPacific, told Automotive News. "That's what makes it dangerous; when you know your revenue is what you push out the door. If there is no demand, you can continue to push, and that's when bad things happen." The likeliest candidates to see added downtime will be some of Ford's car plants, including Michigan Assembly in Wayne and Cuautitlan Assembly in Mexico. Ford's overall car inventory was at 73 days supply, down from 98 the month before. That's partly because of high incentives on many car models and recent added downtime. Late in 2016, Ford temporarily shuttered five factories in North America, including its Flat Rock Assembly Plant to cut down on Mustang stock. During the first week of 2017, Ford idled its Kansas City Assembly Plant as it tried to pare down its F-150 pickup and Transit van inventory. Sullivan suggested Kansas City could be due for more cuts, although F-series inventory fell from 108 days supply at the beginning of February to 97 days supply at the start of March, and Transit inventory dropped from 97 days to 77 days supply during that same stretch. The production-cut warning came as Shanks predicted Ford's first quarter will be especially impacted because of launch costs and other expenses. Ford said last week it expects a full-year pretax profit of $9 billion, down from $10.4 billion in 2016, as it invests in autonomous cars and new mobility services. The automaker expects earnings per share of 30 cents to 35 cents in the first quarter, down from the same period last year. The automaker still expects that its 2018 financials will rise, and be higher than the $10.4 billion it earned in 2016.

U.S. attorney general: sanctuary cities may lose Justice Department grants Reuters / March 27, 2017 U.S. cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities may lose millions of dollars in grant money from the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Monday. So-called "sanctuary cities" help illegal immigrants avoid deportation by limiting cooperation with federal agencies, often by refusing to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when they plan to release an illegal immigrant from incarceration. President Donald Trump, who made a crackdown on illegal immigration a key part of his campaign, ordered the government to cut off funding to sanctuary jurisdictions in a Jan. 25 executive order. "Failure to deport aliens who are convicted of criminal offenses puts whole communities at risk, especially immigrant communities in the very sanctuary jurisdictions that seek to protect the perpetrators," Sessions said at a White House news briefing. The Justice Department grants typically are used to help police improve crime fighting techniques, buy new equipment and assist victims of crime. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not yet named which jurisdictions they consider to be sanctuary cities but they include New York City and Los Angeles County, which all have policies that place restrictions on cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Sessions may find his ability to influence local decision-making through the Justice Department's purse to be limited, because only a fraction of the Justice Department’s grant dollars flow directly to the cities and counties that determine whether to cooperate with federal immigration agents. In the 2016 fiscal year, federal records show the Justice Department gave $1 billion to state governments and $430 million to nonprofit groups but only $136 million directly to city and county governments. Session said the Justice Department plans to award $4.1 billion in grant money in the current fiscal year. Sessions' statement drew swift pushback from New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who said his office would continue helping local governments "have the tools they need to protect their [illegal] immigrant communities." NO SANCTUARY STATES So far no state has adopted policies that prevent cooperation with immigration authorities. Last week, Maryland's Democratic-controlled House of Delegates approved legislation to bar police statewide from checking the immigration status of individuals they arrest or from keeping them locked up longer than otherwise warranted at the request of federal agents seeking to deport them. The state's Republican governor, Larry Hogan, has said he would veto the bill. "I strongly urge our nation's states and cities and counties to consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to enforce our immigration laws and to rethink these policies," Sessions said. He gave as an example Kate Steinle, who was shot to death in San Francisco two years ago by illegal immigrant Francisco Sanchez, who had already been deported five times and had seven felony convictions. Trump also cited the Steinle case during his campaign. The city had released Sanchez from custody in another case even though immigration authorities had filed a request that he be kept in custody until they could pick him up for removal, Sessions said. San Francisco may not be affected by the new Justice Department restrictions, as the city and county did not receive any funding from the department in the most recent fiscal year. However, Sessions' order could impact other sanctuary jurisdictions. New Orleans, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York City, which were all singled out as “possibly” noncompliant by the Justice Department’s inspector general last year, collectively received $15 million in the past fiscal year for projects including crime prevention, and a missing children’s task force. According to Trump’s executive order, Sessions would have to wait until the Homeland Security Department determines what constitutes a "sanctuary city" before he could decide whether to restrict funding. DHS last week published a list of 118 cities and counties that it deems uncooperative, although the agency has not finalized the list.

Yes Bob, I'm sure Metalsa supplied Bluediamond. Macungie and New River Valley are final assembly plants.

Simply put, today's Mack is not the product of 20 years ago.

To my knowledge Bob, the same Mexican group (Metalsa) that produces frames for Volvo (and Mack) also produces the frames for the F-650/750.

MAN Truck & Bus Press Release / March 24, 2017 In January 2017, the Bocholt-based haulage firm Spedition Hillert acquired four MAN TGX 18.460, including the first TGX Efficient Line 3 produced by MAN, and its 500th MAN truck. Three quarters of the MAN branded fleet of vehicles with 96 units are semitrailer combinations of the 1st and 2nd generations of EfficientLine. Services offered by MAN, such as MAN TeleMatics, training sessions by MAN ProfiDrive and Connected CoDriver, optimise the company’s economic efficiency. MAN showcased the nine vehicles of the 2017 model year at IAA 2016, and transport efficiency has been optimised further with the 3rd generation of MAN TGX EfficientLine. Hillert Managing Director Dirk Pelster believes the vehicles delivered by MAN are the answer to the sector’s challenges: “Efficiency, sustainability, preserving the environment and reducing the consumption of diesel are issues that matter to us. We therefore believe, after our positive experiences with previous MAN models, that we will now be well-placed with the MAN TGX EfficientLine 3. For us, this is the most cost-efficient vehicle on the market.” Dennis Wirtz, Fleet Manager for Spedition Hillert, sees a clear savings potential in the services offered by MAN: “Driver training by MAN ProfiDrive has provided us with a fuel saving of around 5%. The result of individual driver training by MAN Connected CoDriver are excellent consumption values. What is more, MAN TeleMatics is also very useful for assessing economic efficiency, drafting reports and managing the fleet of vehicles.” The haulage firm has been relying on this tool since the introduction of MAN Telematics in 2002, and has equipped the entire fleet of 96 vehicles with it. A look back to 2010: MAN described their commitment to increasing transport efficiency with the slogan “Consistently efficient”, in order to optimise the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of hauliers. Since the introduction of the MAN TGX EfficientLine semitrailer combinations in 2011, MAN has continuously developed the product further and showcased the third generation at IAA 2016. The high-torque MAN D26 CommonRail engine, optimisations in aerodynamics and the combined TCO-supporting assistance systems EfficientCruise and EfficientRoll all contribute to making the EfficientLine 3 both more powerful in its performance and torque, but simultaneously also more economical than its predecessors. The production of vehicles for the 2017 model year with a new external and internal design and the Euro 6 driveline, optimised for any application, began at MAN’s production facilities in January 2017. Hillert GmbH & Co. KG, a medium-sized haulage firm based in Bocholt, was founded in 1953 and has been on the move with semitrailer combination and swapbody transport since 1962. MAN’s vehicles have been part of the fleet since the early 1980s; prior to this, it was Büssing that supplied the vehicles. In 2017, Hillert put into service its 500th MAN vehicle. The fleet currently has 96 units. The haulage firm also has a workshop and a truck washing station. MAN Story on the use of the 1st MAN TGX EfficientLine 3 by Spedition Hillert on Youtube .

Scania Group Press Release / March 24, 2017 By 2020, Scania will globally utilise fossil free electricity wherever possible. This is Scania’s pledge for Earth Hour 2017. All electricity supplied for its operations in Denmark, France, Norway, Poland and Sweden is already fossil free. Scania’s efforts in driving the shift towards sustainable transport systems is about developing smart and energy-efficient transport solutions, but also about streamlining the company’s own energy usage. ”Scania itself must be a forerunner in this shift. We place high demands on our suppliers to adhere to the highest environmental standards and deploy new and innovative technology. Many of our customers also have ambitious environmental targets,” says Anders Williamsson, Executive Vice President and Head of Purchasing, Scania. Switching to fossil free energy leads to a significant reduction of the carbon emissions for a manufacturing company of Scania’s magnitude. Scania’s commitment however, is not limited to its production sites but includes all operations, not the least the hundreds of Scania workshops. In Scandinavia, the energy supplied to Scania is primarily sourced from hydroelectric power plants. In France and Poland, wind and solar power is most common. In countries without deregulated energy markets, Scania is unable to procure fossil free electricity. In these countries Scania will use available alternatives for carbon offsetting. Scania’s goal is to conclude the shift to fossil free electricity by 2020 in all countries where these alternatives exist. At present, 79 percent of the electricity Scania purchases or generates internally derives from fossil free sources. Countries that are next in line to switch to 100% fossil free electricity are, among others, Italy, Netherlands and the UK.

Volvo Trucks Press Release / March 24, 2017 In traffic limited visibility compromises safety, both for drivers and other road users. This is why we design our cabs to minimise distractions and offer maximum visibility. .

Volvo Trucks Press Release / March 24, 2017 With just a push of a button, Volvo Trucks’ night mode makes it safer and easier to drive at night. Night mode instantly improves visibility and helps drivers to focus on the road. Limited visibility compromises safety. Therefore, we design our cabs to minimise distractions and offer maximum visibility. .

Inge's Milk Run | Driver's Day | Episode One Scania Group Press Release / March 24, 2017 In the first episode of our new series, we visit Norwegian driver Inge Råheim as he makes the morning milk run in his Scania R580 V8, visiting dairy farms throughout the picturesque Sunnfjord region of Western Norway. .

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C'mon, you've heard G.W. Bush speak behind the podium. Though I didn't care for his performance as president, I don't want to knock him. However, an accomplished speaker he is not. I myself have never heard anyone describe Reagan as a simpleton.

You're 500 percent right. Both sides distort the truth to the extremes, cherry-picking to support their agenda. I actually saw dozens of articles across the media on Nunes and that rapist (bear in mind that thousands of U.S. citizen rapists are in play 24/7).

Heavy Duty Trucking / March 24, 2017 Following its announcement last year that it would enter the commercial truck tire market here, Pirelli is showing its commercial tire product lineup here at the Mid-America Trucking Show. Under the TP Commercial Solutions entity, Pirelli is launching sales and marketing of the Pirelli brand of radial truck tires, agricultural tires, and off-the-road tires along with the Formula brand in the U.S. and Canada. TP Commercial Solutions is based in Rome, Ga., and supplies commercial truck tires and fleet solutions under the Pirelli brand to the global market. “We are excited to announce at MATS that we have the start of a solid product lineup now available for sale – and most importantly, all of these products uphold Pirelli’s iconic brand values and quality after exhaustive testing on our end in this market,” said Clif Armstrong, president of TP Commercial Solutions. Before launching its product line, Pirelli said its tires underwent extensive research and development and testing with multiple fleets in multiple applications to meet the needs of the U.S. market. The products being shown include: Pentathlon D – A long-haul drive tire that is SmartWay-verified, offering fleets high mileage, fuel savings, and low emission benefits. Pentathlon will be the name of the long- haul Pirelli product family in the U.S. and Canada. Pentathlon D will be the first to launch and as the name implies, this tire has five distinct areas that distinguish it – high mileage, energy efficiency, even wear, high traction and high retreadability. Incorporating a dual layer tread compound for long lasting performance, a special undertread compound to equal low rolling resistance and fuel consumption, an optimized pattern geometry and 3SB belt evolution for durable, even wear; a directional tread pattern for excellent grip on wet and dry, and finally, Pirelli’s Spiral Advanced Technology for Truck and Hexa Bead Wire to deliver on retreadability needs. G:85 Series for On/Off Road – The FG:85 and TG:85 are specifically designed for steer and drive on/off road applications. The G:85 Series comes in both an All Position rib product as well as an aggressive Drive companion. These tires are for mixed use vehicles, designed to enhance structural integrity while resisting extreme stress factors and laceration. Equipped with a durable casing for multiple retreads, both tires were placed in the most demanding service environment tests possible and performed at the highest levels versus the competition. FH:01 Motor Coach – The long-haul and regional all position FH:01 Motor Coach are designed for the bus fleet market. Its key product features include durability and a smooth comfortable ride. An optimized tread pattern promotes steering precision and grip on both dry and wet surfaces. A shoulder tread contour allows even distribution of pressure, ultimately resulting in even wear and high mileage. Formula Driver II All Position rib – This product is part of the Formula Brand, a Pirelli Tier II brand that will be launched in the U.S. and Canada, including the Formula Driver II All Position rib, which will start with limited sizes and then expand to a full product line. Formula Driver II delivers value in mileage, handling, and durability thanks to Pirelli SATT technology, designed to enhance uniformity of wear, tire life, handling characteristics and retreadability. “All of these products offer best in class benefits for North American fleet needs. Pirelli has been a world leader in tire technology for over 140 years,” said Armstrong. “We’re confident in the results, and in providing superior products for truck and fleet applications. We look forward to building relationships and discussing our products’ features and benefits in-depth at the show.”

Schneider National Goes Public With IPO Announcement Heavy Duty Trucking / March 24, 2017 Schneider National Inc. announced on March 24 the launch of its initial public offering of 28,947,000 shares of Class B common stock at an anticipated price of $18-$20 per share. At that price, the stocks will be worth around $520 million to $580 million. Schneider is issuing and selling up to 16,842,000 shares and the selling shareholders named in the registration statement are selling up to 12,105,000 shares. The company’s Class B common stock has been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SNDR. Schneider expects to grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additonal 4,342,000 shares of Class B common stock at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions, to cover any over-allotments. The company will receive no proceeds from the sale of stock by the selling shareholders who consist mostly of members of the Schneider family and directors and executive officers of the company, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal, Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank and BofA Merrill Lynch are acting as active joint book-running managers of the proposed offering; Citigroup, Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as passive joint book-running managers, and Baird and Wolfe Capital Markets and Advisory are acting as co-managers.

Another reason to skip the MATS show and head to the North American Commercial Vehicle Show (NACV) outside Atlanta (http://nacvshow.com/).

You know me, I haven't liked CNN since Ted Turner sold it. But in this case, my gut feeling is the quote is legitimate and telling.

Close Confidante Gets VW CEO In New Dieselgate Trouble Forbes / March 26, 2017 When former Porsche chief Matthias Müller took over as CEO of Volkswagen from disgraced Martin Winterkorn, the jovial Bavarian was welcomed as a new start for Volkswagen. Now, the past has caught up with him. A close confidante and engine computer specialist, supposedly dispatched by Müller to get to the bottom of the dieselgate morass, was involved in the defeat device development from the early get-go, according to documents cited by Germany's BILD newspaper. Meanwhile, the only VW top executive indicted in the U.S. sued the Volkswagen at home for an unpaid $1.5 million performance bonus, while Volkswagen fired the law firm it hired to “relentlessly” investigate its emissions scandal. Matthias Müller and Jörg Kerner are old friends. They worked together at Audi. From 2003, Müller was responsible for all Audi and Lamborghini product lines. His friend Kerner was made chief of engine electronics at Audi in 2004, after working for nearly 20 years at Bosch. At around the same time Kerner took the new job, Audi engineers developed a software routine to minimize that clattering noise cold diesel engines are infamous for. It was called “Acoustic Function.” The software routine “injected additional fuel into the engine upon ignition, which achieved the effect of reducing noise,” wrote Road&Track, but it also “increased emissions significantly. To combat this issue, Audi then developed the now-infamous defeat device software.” In 2007, a task-force of Volkswagen Group and Bosch engineers discussed a “group-wide coordination of requirements,” BILD said. On February 9, 2007, a Bosch engineer sent an email to members of the taskforce, and to electronics-chief Kerner, said BILD: “Next steps acoustic function: VW wants to use the function, and will improve it. Audi wants to deactivate the function, and hide it (leaving it installed with the opportunity to be activated.)” According to BILD, this was “nothing else than a conspiracy to commit fraud.” The same Kerner was dispatched by Müller to Audi in 2015 “to find out how the Volkswagen group company cheated, and to assist in the negotiations with U.S. regulators,” BILD wrote today. “All the while, the supposed investigator was clued-in on the fraud from the start.” Shortly after Matthias Müller was made CEO of Porsche in 2011, he installed confidante Kerner as head of powertrain development. Kerner took the job of Shortly after Matthias Müller was made CEO of Porsche in 2011, he installed confidante Kerner as head of powertrain development. Kerner took the job of Heinz-Jakob Neusser , who rotated to Volkswagen in the same job. Neußer is one of six Volkswagen managers indicted in America. He most likely is the “Supervisor A” in the Statement of Facts signed by Volkswagen, an admission of guilt that led to the indictments. Living in Germany, Neußer is out of reach of the arm of U.S. justice. He also is not poor. Neußer has been suspended since late 2015, and he is still drawing the not inconsiderable salary of a Volkswagen board member. What he did not get was his annual bonus of around $1.5 million, but he insists to get paid. Last Thursday, Neußer’s lawyers were in a Braunschweig, Germany, court room, and demanded the money. The next court date will be June 27. A month ago, suspended Audi engineer Ulrich Weiß sued in a German labor court, and his lawyers produced documents that bolstered the story written today by BILD. Also last week, Volkswagen stopped the enquiry of the scandal by the U.S. law firm Jones Day. Jones Day was hired by Volkswagen in 2015 to perform a “relentless investigation,” as VW said back when. The investigation did cost around $150 million in lawyers fees, said BILD, but the findings were never published. German labor courts, along with the really relentless reporting of BILD, seem to shed more light on the scandal than the high-paid Jones Day lawyers. Last week, the Munich offices of Jones Day were raided by German police. Should Volkswagen CEO Matthias Müller and Audi CEO Rupert Stadler finally fall over the never-ending scandal, and high-ranking executives at Volkswagen I talk to pray nightly that they will, to give the company the fresh start it needs, the executives need not be worried about their retirement money. BILD tells the story of Wolfgang Hatz, until recently head of Porsche development and boss of Jörg Kerner. In a “night of the long knives” type operation, Hatz was suspended in fall of 2015 along with many high-ranking and lower-ranking engineers throughout Volkswagen. Most took the golden parachutes thety were offered, and bailed, henceforth not to be seen in public. Hatz professed his innocence, and “Müller wanted to bring his old buddy back into the board,” wrote BILD. Union representatives voted against it, and Hatz finally was let go in late 2016. It was a very cushioned fall from grace. Until his retirement (Hatz is 58) the engineer will draw a monthly salary of around $54,000, wrote BILD. A likewise generous pension is paid for. The whole package is said to be worth $13 million, not including the Porsche 911R supercar Hatz received as a good-bye present.

The Guardian / March 26, 2017 Joe Biden believes he could have won the presidency in 2016, had he made it through a tough Democratic primary. Barack Obama’s vice-president also hopes Donald Trump, who has had a tempestuous first two months in office since beating Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, “grows into the job a little bit”. “I don’t have a lot of hope now,” Biden said. “I hope that he succeeds.” The former Delaware senator with a dazzling smile was speaking to a student audience at Colgate University in central New York state on Friday. A local newspaper, the Observer-Dispatch of Utica, reported his remarks. “On a college campus I will never, never do anything other than answer the question completely unvarnished and straightforward,” said Biden, 74. “The answer is that I had planned on running for president. And although it would have been a very difficult primary, I think I could have won.” Biden had “a lot of data collected” which backed his confidence, the paper reported. In October 2015, after much press speculation and an organised attempt among activists to draft Biden, the vice-president announced that he would not run for the White House for a third time, after short runs in 1988 and 2008. In an emotional speech delivered in the White House rose garden, with Obama and his wife, Dr Jill Biden, at his side, Biden said the “grieving process” for his son Beau, who died of brain cancer in May 2015, had affected his decision. At Colgate, Biden said: “At the end of the day, I just couldn’t do it. So I don’t regret not running. Do I regret not being president? Yes.” He added: “I didn’t run because no man or woman should announce they’re running for president of the United States unless they can look the public in the eye and promise you they can give you 100% of [their] attention and dedication to this effort. I couldn’t do that.” Clinton, who defeated a strong primary challenge from the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, beat Trump by nearly 3m ballots in the popular vote but lost in the electoral college, after a string of working-class states usually strongly Democratic plumped for Trump’s populist platform. “I don’t regret not running in the sense that it was the right decision for my boy, for me, for my family at the time,” Biden said. “But no man or woman announces for president of the United States unless they honestly believe that from their experience they’re the best-qualified person to do that. And at the time I thought that the circumstances were such that I was the best qualified.” Biden’s question and answer session with students followed a 30-minute lecture about technology, taxation, education, infrastructure investment and what Biden called “the fourth industrial revolution”. “To all of you students assembled in this auditorium, we’re counting on you,” he said. “You understand this better than most of us.” The Observer-Dispatch highlighted what it said was Biden’s likely bipartisan and multigenerational appeal, quoting the husband of a local Republican couple in their 60s who said he thought Biden was “an extremely intelligent person”. “I think if he had run,” the husband said, “I would have liked to have heard what he had to say.” .