ANOTHER SHORT CAMPAIGN FOR JOE BIDEN?….Jason Horowitz writes today about a conversation with Joe Biden, “discussing his rivals over a bowl of tomato soup in the corner of a diner in Delaware.” Turns out he thinks Hillary is doomed and Edwards is a lightweight:
Mr. Biden is equally skeptical — albeit in a slightly more backhanded way — about Mr. Obama. “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
But — and the “but” was clearly inevitable — he doubts whether American voters are going to elect “a one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate,” and added: “I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.”
I’ve never really had the animus toward Biden that a lot of people do, but jeebus. He’s just a gaffe machine waiting for someone to flip the power switch on. Back to the Senate, Joe.
UPDATE: Josh Marshall suggests that Biden’s comment was transcribed poorly. Audio here confirms that he’s right. It goes like this:
Biden: I mean, you got the first, sorta, mainstream African-American.
Horowitz: Yeah.
Biden: Who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.
I still think this comment indicates that Biden has a problem with his mouth (not something likely to provoke much argument, even from Biden), but he really didn’t say what the original transcription seems to suggest.
