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So much for Joe Biden's campaign
WASHINGTON
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden said he meant no harm nor racist foul when he cracked wise about Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, one of several fellow Democrats seeking the party's 2008 presidential nomination.
"I believe I was quoted accurately, but they weren't meant to be shots," Biden said of a story published in The New York Observer Wednesday. In it, he is quoted saying of Obama: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
"My mother has an expression: Clean as a whistle, sharp as a tack. That's the context. He's crisp and clear," Biden said, explaining his comment.
"The idea was very straightforward and simple. This guy is brand new and something no one has seen before. ... Barack Obama is probably the most exciting candidate that either party has produced since I've been around," Biden said.
Accomplished Activists Asked whether he wanted to throw down the gauntlet and respond to Biden's quoted remarks, Obama refused to be drawn into the fight.
"I am not going parse his words that carefully. ... You'd have to ask Senator Biden what he was thinking," Obama said.
"I don't spend too much time worrying about what folks are talking about during a campaign season," he added.
In an afternoon conference call to discuss his presidency, Biden said he's sure the African-American community isn't taking offense at his description of Obama as "articulate," a no-no that can be traced back at least to the 1996 effort to draft Colin Powell for a run for the president. At the time, comedian Chris Rock slammed the description of Powell as articulate in a riotous stand-up routine that forever put the expression in the trash bin of backhanded compliments.
"I have no doubt Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the rest know exactly what I meant," Biden said of African-American leaders. "They know what I was saying. That this is a special guy. It's like catching lightning in a jar... I really regret that some have taken my words out of context. I've spoken to Barack about it."
Biden also yielded to his colleague to say whether he was offended or not.
"Ask Obama what I thought. He knows what I meant by it," Biden said.
But Biden, who's never been shy to speak his mind, wasn't entirely generous in his appraisal of Obama. In the article, which had plenty of less-than-flattering comments about other 2008 Democratic presidential wannabes, Biden questioned Obama's electability, calling him "a one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate."
Biden added: “I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic” on Iraq.
As for Hillary Clinton, Biden said the New York senator's position on Iraq "baffles" him.
“From the part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’" Biden tells the Observer. "We’re not going to equip them? OK. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea.”
Biden, whose ideas include dividing Iraq into three autonomous republics divided by ethnic group -- Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite, reportedly said Clinton's policy on Iraq would result in “nothing but disaster,” and he goes on to question the former first lady's electability.
“Everyone in the world knows her,” Biden, 64, told the Observer. “Her husband has used every single legitimate tool in his behalf to lock people in, shut people down. Legitimate. And she can’t break out of 30 percent for a choice for Democrats?"
He also called former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards — along with 2004 running mate Sen. John Kerry — "perfect blow-dried candidates," adding that on Iraq, "I don't think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about."
Biden described Edwards' position on Iraq as "like so much Fluffernutter out there."
"So for me, what I think you have to do is have a strategic notion. And they may have it — they are just smart enough not to enunciate it."
Biden conducted a less contentious interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, saying he learned his lessons from his 1988 run at the White House — namely "words matter" and "to lose one's temper is not a good thing."
Biden appeared to have his sense of humor intact Wednesday while listening to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. In it, Kissinger, denied a quote attributed to him in Bob Woodward's book "State of Denial." In it, Kissinger supposedly told then-White House speechwriter Michael Gerson that the United States needed to "humiliate" radical Islam in Iraq.
Kissinger said he "never said anything like that" and expressed disdain for "a kind of journalism" that takes "an alleged quote" and "spins a theory around it." To that response, Biden, the panel's chairman, quipped: "Last time you help him write a speech."
In his announcement of a presidential bid, which appears on his campaign Web site, Biden took a serious tone: "The next president of the United States is going to have to be prepared to immediately step in and act without hesitation to end our involvement in Iraq without further destabilizing the Middle East and the rest of the world. Our safety is at stake."
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Delaware Sen. Joe Biden said he meant no harm nor racist foul when he cracked wise about Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, one of several fellow Democrats seeking the party's 2008 presidential nomination.
"I believe I was quoted accurately, but they weren't meant to be shots," Biden said of a story published in The New York Observer Wednesday. In it, he is quoted saying of Obama: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
"My mother has an expression: Clean as a whistle, sharp as a tack. That's the context. He's crisp and clear," Biden said, explaining his comment.
"The idea was very straightforward and simple. This guy is brand new and something no one has seen before. ... Barack Obama is probably the most exciting candidate that either party has produced since I've been around," Biden said.
Accomplished Activists Asked whether he wanted to throw down the gauntlet and respond to Biden's quoted remarks, Obama refused to be drawn into the fight.
"I am not going parse his words that carefully. ... You'd have to ask Senator Biden what he was thinking," Obama said.
"I don't spend too much time worrying about what folks are talking about during a campaign season," he added.
In an afternoon conference call to discuss his presidency, Biden said he's sure the African-American community isn't taking offense at his description of Obama as "articulate," a no-no that can be traced back at least to the 1996 effort to draft Colin Powell for a run for the president. At the time, comedian Chris Rock slammed the description of Powell as articulate in a riotous stand-up routine that forever put the expression in the trash bin of backhanded compliments.
"I have no doubt Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the rest know exactly what I meant," Biden said of African-American leaders. "They know what I was saying. That this is a special guy. It's like catching lightning in a jar... I really regret that some have taken my words out of context. I've spoken to Barack about it."
Biden also yielded to his colleague to say whether he was offended or not.
"Ask Obama what I thought. He knows what I meant by it," Biden said.
But Biden, who's never been shy to speak his mind, wasn't entirely generous in his appraisal of Obama. In the article, which had plenty of less-than-flattering comments about other 2008 Democratic presidential wannabes, Biden questioned Obama's electability, calling him "a one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate."
Biden added: “I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic” on Iraq.
As for Hillary Clinton, Biden said the New York senator's position on Iraq "baffles" him.
“From the part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’" Biden tells the Observer. "We’re not going to equip them? OK. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea.”
Biden, whose ideas include dividing Iraq into three autonomous republics divided by ethnic group -- Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite, reportedly said Clinton's policy on Iraq would result in “nothing but disaster,” and he goes on to question the former first lady's electability.
“Everyone in the world knows her,” Biden, 64, told the Observer. “Her husband has used every single legitimate tool in his behalf to lock people in, shut people down. Legitimate. And she can’t break out of 30 percent for a choice for Democrats?"
He also called former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards — along with 2004 running mate Sen. John Kerry — "perfect blow-dried candidates," adding that on Iraq, "I don't think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about."
Biden described Edwards' position on Iraq as "like so much Fluffernutter out there."
"So for me, what I think you have to do is have a strategic notion. And they may have it — they are just smart enough not to enunciate it."
Biden conducted a less contentious interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, saying he learned his lessons from his 1988 run at the White House — namely "words matter" and "to lose one's temper is not a good thing."
Biden appeared to have his sense of humor intact Wednesday while listening to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. In it, Kissinger, denied a quote attributed to him in Bob Woodward's book "State of Denial." In it, Kissinger supposedly told then-White House speechwriter Michael Gerson that the United States needed to "humiliate" radical Islam in Iraq.
Kissinger said he "never said anything like that" and expressed disdain for "a kind of journalism" that takes "an alleged quote" and "spins a theory around it." To that response, Biden, the panel's chairman, quipped: "Last time you help him write a speech."
In his announcement of a presidential bid, which appears on his campaign Web site, Biden took a serious tone: "The next president of the United States is going to have to be prepared to immediately step in and act without hesitation to end our involvement in Iraq without further destabilizing the Middle East and the rest of the world. Our safety is at stake."
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