Vice President Joe Biden defended the record and ambitious agenda of the Obama administration last night at a Pittsburgh fundraiser that capped a daylong visit to Western Pennsylvania.

"For the folks who say we're taking on too much, I've got news for them, we're not stopping," Mr. Biden told a crowd of roughly 200 Democratic donors at the Rivers Club, Downtown.

The vice president was introduced by Bill Caroselli, a prominent Pittsburgh trial lawyer and veteran Democratic fundraiser, who referred to the Scranton native's longtime claim to the title of Pennsylvania's third senator.

Mr. Biden underscored his familiarity with the state's political scene as he left the podium during his introduction to greet former Pittsburgh Mayor Sophie Masloff, who was seated in a chair just beyond the velvet rope. Mr. Biden apologized for the interruption, but defended himself as he said of the former mayor, "I love her."

While acknowledging the stubborn ills of the economy, Mr. Biden said they would be much worse without the aggressive administration efforts to stimulate spending in the face of the profound downturn in world markets.

"The banks and financial system are stabilized, not back to where they were, but stabilized," he said. "The foreclosure crisis is not over, but remember where it was."

After citing the administration's effort to forestall the liquidation of GM and Chrysler, he said of their overall efforts to right the economy, "I know we've lost a lot of jobs, and we have, but how many more jobs would we have lost?"

Mr. Biden's first stop in the state yesterday was an effort to spotlight one part of the unprecedented $787 billion stimulus package that President Obama signed weeks after taking office. He visited Seneca High School, near Erie, to tout the promise of a $4 billion package of grants and loans available to extend broadband Internet access to rural and other underserved areas of the country.

"This funding is a down payment on the president's commitment to bring the educational and economic benefits of the Internet to all communities," Mr. Biden said in a statement.

The northwestern Pennsylvania stop marked the beginning of a rural full court press by the administration with cabinet members and other administration officials barnstorming across the country in coming days, hoping to sustain support for Mr. Obama's economic policies.

Mr. Biden was accompanied at the earlier, official stop by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a Pittsburgh native.

Joining them in Wattsburg's Seneca High School was U.S. Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, one of the freshman Democrats who swelled the Democrats' House majority in the party's wave of victories last year.

Pennsylvania Republicans, whose congressional ranks have dwindled over the past two election cycles, took the opportunity to criticize the administration.

"I find it incredible that Vice President Biden would visit our energy-rich Commonwealth while supporting the job-killing national energy tax known as cap and trade," said Rob Gleason, chairman of the state GOP committee. "This massive tax increase will cripple Pennsylvania's energy industries, including the coal and natural gas sectors."

Ms. Dahlkemper was among the House Democrats who broke ranks with their leaders and the administration to vote against the energy bill, which is designed to curb the emission of greenhouse gases.

While the president's personal popularity remains high, his critics, like Mr. Gleason, have been emboldened by apparent softening of support for individual policies and the threat of continuing deficits that accompanies them.

"I find it fascinating that people say we're doing too much," Mr. Biden told his Rivers Club audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have no choice."

Turning to the gathering battle on health care reform, he said, "It's well beyond a moral imperative now. It's an economic necessity, a fiscal necessity. ... Business people know we need radical health care reform even more than labor does now," he said, contending that a failure to transform the status quo would inevitably bankrupt families and business.

Mr. Biden buttressed the coffers of the Democratic National Committee at an event where most tickets went for $500. Several dozen more select members of the crowd paid between $10,000 and $30,000 for additional time with the VP at an earlier reception. The DNC had no immediate estimate of the total raised.

Among the others in the crowd were U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, State AFL-CIO President Bill George, Dan Onorato, the Allegheny County executive and likely gubernatorial candidate, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Pittsburgh city Controller Michael Lamb, Allegheny County Democratic Chairman Jim Burn, and Jean Milko, the vice chair of the state Democratic Party.

Mr. Biden opened his remarks to the political crowd by lauding their efforts in helping to carry the state for Mr. Obama last November.

He alluded to the '08 results in his hometown of Scranton as he said, "There's only one election result I looked at immediately on election night ... What are the results in Lackawanna County. I think it [was] about a 15-point turnaround. I take great satisfaction in that."