Biden living up to his gaffe-prone reputationBy John M. BroderInternational Herald Tribune (
iht.com)
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Senator Joseph Biden Jr., the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, is an experienced, serious and smart man. But he does say some curious things. A day on the campaign trail without some cringe-inducing gaffe is a rare blessing. He has not been too blessed lately.
Just this week, he mused that Senator Barack Obama might have been better off with Hillary Rodham Clinton as his running mate.
"Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America," Biden said Wednesday in Nashua, New Hampshire. "Quite frankly it might have been a better pick than me."Earlier in the week, in Columbia, Missouri, Biden urged a paraplegic state official to stand up to be recognized.
"Chuck, stand up, let the people see you," Biden shouted to State Senator Chuck Graham, before realizing, to his horror, that Graham uses a wheelchair. "Oh, God love ya," Biden said. "What am I talking about?"But it was the Clinton remarks that touched a potentially sensitive spot for the Obama-Biden ticket. With Sarah Palin's addition to the Republican ticket potentially energizing some women voters, Biden's remarks raised anew a legitimate question of whether Obama would have been better off picking the former first lady as his running mate. One could imagine Senator John McCain's campaign even using Biden's remarks in their own ads to exploit female misgivings about the Democratic ticket.
Obama knew what he was getting when he picked Biden as his running mate: A veteran of six terms in the Senate, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, an Irish Catholic with working-class roots, a guy who had twice been tested in the arena of presidential politics.
And a human verbal wrecking crew. This is the fellow who nearly derailed his nascent presidential campaign last year by calling Obama bright and clean and articulate and who noted that you needed a slight Indian accent to walk into a Dunkin' Donuts or 7-11 in Delaware.
The guy who, reading his vice-presidential acceptance speech from a TelePrompter, bungled McCain's name, calling him "
George" ("Freudian slip, folks, Freudian slip," he explained).The guy who, on the day Obama announced him as his running mate, referred to his party's presidential nominee as
"Barack America" and noted that his own wife, Jill, a college professor, was "drop-dead gorgeous" but who, problematically, possessed a doctorate.
The guy who has said he is running for president (not vice president) and who confused army brigades with battalions. Who referred to his Republican vice-presidential opponent as the lieutenant governor of Alaska.
Aides to Obama said that Biden's propensity to misspeak could pose problems, particularly in the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 2. They are watching his performance on the trail warily, but so far have not tried to rein him in.
But they have assigned a couple of veteran minders to travel with him - David Wilhelm, the former Democratic National Committee chairman, and David Wade, former spokesman for Senator John Kerry. Wade said that Biden's occasional stumbles prove to voters that he is human and that they help them relate to the candidate.
"It would be a huge mistake to try to strip away the authenticity that's been his greatest strength for 35 years," Wade said. "For anybody who's gone to Joe Biden events and watched how voters connect with him, there's a pretty big gap between the expectations of the elite media who seem to crave scripted, blow-dried drones out of central casting instead of regular folks who want to see some honesty and candor. They appreciate it that he takes the voters seriously and doesn't take himself too seriously."
Wade added: "I've never heard a voter say they wanted someone who was more scripted, more slick and who talks to me in sound bites. If they wanted stuffed shirts, we'd be preparing for an October debate with Mitt Romney."
Those who have known Biden for a long time say they see him as a man with an equally big heart and mouth.
"He has overwhelming support here, he's well liked," said James Baker, mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden's home. "We forgive him every once in a while when he says something dumb - 'Oh, that's just Joe."'
Biden recognizes that his tongue sometimes ventures ahead of his brain and often catches himself with a smile.
In Fort Myers, Florida, last week, he referred to the "Biden administration," before quickly correcting himself to say the "Obama-Biden administration."
"Believe me, that wasn't a Freudian slip," he said, laughing and crossing himself. "Oh lordy day, I tell ya."
