A Pilgrim’s Digression

The Fix at the Washington Post has a catalog of Joe Biden’s Greatest Hits.  The only problem for Barack Obama is that these hits are more reminiscent of the best of America’s Funniest Home Videos, rather than the Led Zeppelin box set.

To say Biden occasionally puts his foot in his mouth is an understatement.  The man must be a contortionist to put his foot in his mouth and keep it there, day in, day out.  Cilliza, author of The Fix blog, doesn’t even list all of Biden’s gaffes.

Yesterday, for example, in speaking of the economic crisis, Biden said that “when the Stock Market crashed” (in 1929), Franklin Roosevelt went on television to explain the situation to the American people.  I know I was not a History major in college, but presuming someone had an early TV in 1929, they might have wondered what the former Secretary of the Navy was doing commenting on the stock market crash.  Herbert Hoover was President in 1929.

Another favorite Joe moment was the time recently when Biden insisted a man in a wheelchair stand and be acknowledged by the crowd.  “Stand up, Chuck!  Let ‘em see ya.  Oh, God love ya, what am I talkin’ about.”

These incidents certainly are funny, even to Obama/Biden supporters.  Whether or not they are harmful to Obama is a matter for debate.  I tend to think they are not harmful, especially looking at the polls.  Obama’s numbers seem unaffected by his running mate, either negatively or positively.

In fact, I’d venture to say that Biden’s gaffes add a bit of color to a campaign that has overall been lacking in humor.  The wheelchair incident was actually kind of endearing, in my opinion, the kind of human mistake any of us might have made.  I laughed, but I also felt embarrassed for Biden.  The way in which he tried to recover by laughing at himself–”You can tell I’m new at this”–was a proper and mature response.

The question I have is whether Biden undermines the central rationale for Obama choosing him in the first place: that he brought a degree of seriousness and experience to the ticket that Obama needed.  Are Biden’s gaffes so ridiculous that he looks completely foolish?  Does the choice of Biden look like such a poor decision that Obama’s judgement can be called into question?

I don’t think so.  I actually find myself liking the guy more now than I did before, when he seemed a very bland, but solid choice.  At the very least, we’ll never lack for comedy in an Obama administration.

On the radio this morning, while laughing uproariously, Fred Grandy commented that Biden makes Dan Quayle look like a genius.  But I think that comparison is fundamentally wrong.  The thing about Quayle was that he couldn’t laugh at himself.  Quayle was so serious, and he never admitted a mistake.  He even blamed the cheat sheet supplied by the elementary school for his misspelling of potato.  Biden, at least, can have a laugh at his own expense.

Will he be booted from the ticket, as Internet rumors insist?  I don’t think so.  Unless there is a legitimate reason for him to drop out–say, a serious illness or a terrible scandal–it would be a much worse condemnation of Obama’s judgement (and his loyalty) for him to switch running mates at this late stage.

Also, I don’t think Biden’s credibility has been so tarnished that he drags down the ticket.  His mistakes are honest and he owns up to them.  If only the same could be said about every politician.