Good ol' Joe: Talk all you want, Just not in Front of People

I'm so taking your job

It seems every few months Biden is good for something that will make national news.  From asking a wheel-chaired Sen. Chuck Graham to stand up for a round of applause, to cursing just off camera while still wearing a hot microphone, to speaking to the Irish Prime Minister about his dead mother that’s still very much alive to telling a group of citizens in southern Virginia, the majority African-American mind you, that the Romney economic policies will ‘put them back in chains.’  While Biden is quite entertaining whenever he speaks, during a tight campaign, this lack of discretion could start to become a liability. 

John McCain and Sarah Palin today suggested that the President trade-in old Joe for Hilary Clinton as a running mate.  Obama responded that the he and the White House were entirely behind Biden and his remarks yesterday in
Danville, VA (and the last person they ought to be taking running-mate advice from is John McCain).  Biden, the White House underscored, was an integral part of this winning ticket.  Truth be told, the ‘back in chains’ comment he made yesterday sounded significantly worse than he meant for it to.  He was stating that the Romney-Ryan economic policies will let Wall Street and the banks run amok again, much like the did during the Bush II years, which caused the recession.  He used the metaphor ‘unshackled’ as in letting the bank do as they please and by doing so, constraining us, the citizens again – putting us back in chains. 

Whatever the case, it was a very poor choice of words and is being used as a rallying cry by the right-wing.  Tea Party types are actually using this escapade as a platform through which to increase fundraising efforts, citing yet another reason why Romany-Ryan needs to win (can you imagine if Biden had to be President…?).  Even on the Democratic side, Gov. Joe Wilder, formerly of Virginia found Biden’s comment to be absurd.  He went further to say that if Obama were to actually drop Biden for Clinton, he wouldn’t be neck-in-neck in the polls but rather handedly leading.  Technically, the President can actually change out running mates until September 6 – the day the ticket is formally nominated though I wouldn’t expect it.  The public sees Biden as a straight-shooter, a person that holds nothing back and that is one of his greatest strengths but also one of his biggest weaknesses.

The Obama campaign needs to be careful how Biden is handled; where he is sent, what he is told to say.  Can he be completely controlled?  Absolutely not and as a positive note for the Obama campaign, people have come to expect Biden saying things at moments he shouldn’t be saying them.  That positive will only go so far if the Romney people are smart about seizing moments like those and spinning them to their advantage.  Fortunately for Obama, with what we’ve seen of the Romney campaign staff, that’s not likely to happen.

What are your thoughts?  Should Biden be dropped?