Give this to Joe Biden: His dedication to family is real, is deep, and is inspirational.

When candidates were asked by debate moderator George Stephanopoulos to describe their greatest career setbacks and how they coped, Biden had the first turn to answer. He changed the question’s focus, saying professional setbacks aren’t as important as personal ones. With dignity, and somehow without seeming to play for teary sympathy in a maudlin and crass politicization of tragedy, Biden spoke of losing his wife and infant daughter in a car accident, and then of losing his grown son to cancer.