Defensive Back
John McCain isn’t breaking any new ground by throwing Joe Biden’s quotes about Barack Obama back at him.
During the Democratic presidential primary debate in Des Moines last December, moderator Carolyn Washburn asked Biden:
“Senator Biden, you in your campaign have had a number of occasions to correct or clarify things you've said relating to race, including your remarks about Senator Obama being, quote, ‘clean and articulate,’ your comment about Indians working at a 7-Eleven; and recently to The Washington Post, in which you spoke about race, while describing disparities between schools in Washington, D.C., and Iowa. Do these gaffes or misunderstandings or however you would characterize them indicate you're uncomfortable talking about race or are people just being too sensitive?”
After Biden responded, Obama made a point of defending his Senate colleague:
“I just want to -- I just wanted to make the comment: I've worked with Joe Biden,” Obama said. “I've seen his leadership. I have absolutely no doubt about what is in his heart and the commitment that he’s made with respect to racial equality in this country. So I will provide some testimony, as they say in church... that Joe is on the right side of the issues and is fighting every day for a better America.”
Biden returned the favor this spring. In May, Pres. Bush told the Israeli Knesset, in what was widely regarded as a dig at Obama: “As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”
In response, Biden slammed the president, telling reporters: “This is bullshit, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset ... and make this kind of ridiculous statement.”
Biden has continued to defend Obama’s foreign policy credentials against GOP attacks. When Obama’s committee oversight of the war in Afghanistan was questioned by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) in July, Biden sent DeMint a letter saying that Obama had “displayed great leadership on this issue.”
The evolution of Biden from Obama’s campaign rival to tag-team partner was gradual, but now, apparently, complete.
(SEAN J. MILLER)
Biden's a good choice if you want extreme contrast between the candidate for President and the candidate for Vice President. For every "uh" that comes out of Obama's mouth, Biden can spit out ten real words? Now, ..which is the great orator, the "eloquent" candidate?