The most telling thing about the money trail is that there’s not much of a trail, which may speak to her experience.

Biden

Biden went from the New Castle County Council to the U.S. Senate, knocking off a big power, J. Caleb Boggs, a former U.S. senator and Delaware governor.

Since 1989, Biden has raised $27.4 million, with 76 percent of that coming from individual contributions. The top contributor is MBNA Corp., the bank holding company, which has given him $214,000, according to opensecrets.org. The bank, which has its headquarters in Delaware, is the world’s largest dispenser of credit cards. The company also has been singled out by Public Broadcasting for some of its controversial practices involving credit-card customers.

Another big giver is Peter Angelos, the lawyer who also owns the Baltimore Orioles.

What’s interesting about Biden is that he didn’t get a lot of respect, either, from Democrats when he ran for president earlier this year.

Biden raised $13 million, but Obama generated $389 million through the end of July, while Hillary Clinton raised almost $235 million, according to opensecrets.org. Chris Dodd raised more than $17 million and Bill Richardson raised $23 million. Even Dennis Kucinich raised nearly $5.5 million.

That means Democrats weren’t hitching their wagon to Biden, either.

And yet, they’re both here.

Address correspondence to Andy Ostmeyer, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, Mo. 64802 or e-mail aostmeyer@joplinglobe.com.