While President Obama speaks at Cape Canaveral on the future of the country's space program, Vice President Joe Biden is back to serving one of his best roles -- fund-raiser for Democratic candidates.

Biden appeared today with top Democratic recruit John Callahan, the Bethlehem mayor who is challenging Republican Rep. Charlie Dent in Pennsylvania's 15th District. With a large majority in the House, this is one of just a few districts around the country that the party has a decent chance of picking up.

"Not only is John going to win, but you're going to look at his record in Congress and be as proud of him as you have been of him as mayor," said Biden, according to a pool report. He threw in that he'd campaigned with some "real turkeys," but that Callahan is not one of them.

Callahan said a phone call from Biden last summer was what triggered his final decision to run.

The crowd of nearly 300 people at the Blue Grillhouse in Bethlehem paid between $250 and $1,500 to attend the event. It should provide a good start to the second fundraising quarter for Callahan. Both he and Dent finished the first quarter with $825,000 in the bank.

Dent raised $431,000 in the first quarter, while Callahan raised $320,000.