American Notes WASHINGTON

Last fall it was hard not to notice Delaware's Senator Joseph Biden. The garrulous Democrat was in the spotlight as a candidate for President, and after a plagiarism scandal forced his withdrawal, he remained at center stage as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Bork hearings. But since February Joe Biden has been seen neither on TV nor in the Senate. Much of the time he has spent in Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He checked in on Feb. 12 so doctors could correct an aneurysm near his brain. He returned a month later with a blood clot. Last week Biden was back, again because of an aneurysm. In intensive care after surgery, he was said to be doing well. He is expected to return to duty in the near future.