Finished Before He Started

Ah, that Joe Biden. Such a joker.

On Tuesday, Joe Biden announced that he is running for President in 2008. Joining the 2,346 other candidates. In fact, I may announce my own candidacy next week. A Beer in Every Fridge.

Then, right away, he put his foot in his mouth.

In case you missed the hype, here's his words about Barak Obama:

[Obama is the] first mainstream African American [presidential candidate] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.

Awesome. Because Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton, two other African-American Presidential hopefuls, are scandalous and inarticulate? Not at all. As Obama said: "African-American presidential candidates like [those I just named above] gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns, and no one would call them inarticulate."

So Joe Biden insists he didn't mean it, and called Obama to apologize. Obama claims to have taken no offense. But I suspect that's because that phrase sealed Biden's fate as a go-nowhere candidate. Again. If Biden posed a real threat, I suspect Obama may have taken more offense. But when an opponent drops a latently-racist comment, it makes your job easier.

If you remember, back in June, Biden was nailed saying

You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts [in Delaware] unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking.

Yeah, this is the guy we want as President. Maybe he'll take this guy as a running mate.