Biden: No 'Real Gaffes' as VP

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Biden: No 'Real Gaffes' as VP

November 03, 2008 6:35 PM

ABC News' Matt Jaffe reports: On Election Eve, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said that in the past two and a half months since Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., selected him as running mate, he has been "value-added" to the Democratic ticket and never made any "big gaffes."

"I think we've run a really good campaign," Biden said today. "And for all the stuff about gaffes, I don’t think there have been any real gaffes. I mean, I don’t see anything in your polling data demonstrating any of that stuff you guys love to write about."

"I never make any big, big gaffes," he added. "I mean, you guys love saying that about me, but I tell you what, just look at the numbers. I don’t have any problem with what I’ve said and there’s nothing I’ve said that I would back off of."

Republicans have ripped numerous Biden remarks over the past few months, with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., at one point calling him "the gift that keeps on giving." The GOP nominee also used Biden’s words against Obama, airing a Republican campaign ad featuring Biden’s guarantee at a Seattle fundraiser that if elected, Obama would be "tested" by an international crisis.

Aboard his afternoon flight from Kansas City, Mo., to Columbus, Ohio, today, the Democratic vice presidential nominee came to the back of the plane to speak with reporters for the first time since an off-the-record session with reporters on a flight Sept. 9 from Chicago to Boston. Various comments from Biden's 45-minute session that night leaked to The Associated Press, which did not have a reporter on the plane, and the news agency later reported some of Biden's off-the-record remarks.

"You may remember my saying to you all at the very beginning -- in the off-the-record meeting we had, which turned out not to be off-the-record, which is why I haven't been back to see you in a long while, is John is a genuine economic conservative," Biden told reporters.

"John genuinely believes in this economic policy, which we in somewhat derisive terms call trickle-down," continued Biden, before criticizing McCain's foreign policy approach of "American exceptionalism."

"John's basically a go-it-alone guy," said the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "You know, it is John's fervent, and I admire it, fervent belief in sort of American exceptionalism, I mean, you know, 'Just gonna, we just go out and do it.'"

"John is the guy who lectures our Europeans friends, you know what I mean, and says 'Hey, let me tell you'," Biden said. "You know, and so diplomacy isn't a big piece of John. So in those two ways, John has been completely in my view, consistent with who John was."

In recent weeks, Biden has blasted McCain's campaign tactics and today he acknowledged that he was "disappointed" in GOP attacks and believed McCain had to be "uncomfortable" with them, too.

"I don't have any regret about it on our side," Biden said. "I really am a little disappointed in John. You know, I don't think John consciously sits down and says, you know, 'Let's go do the stuff that…' -- I can't believe he's not uncomfortable with it. You know what I mean? I just think John's like, 'I just gotta put on these combat boots, man, I gotta sludge through this, I got one shot, I gotta punch through and guys, you got the campaign, do what you think you gotta do and I'm gonna go out there and make my case about not quitting it and what it is.'"

Perhaps not to get drawn into any partisan digs, Biden refused to comment on a McCain adviser calling Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin "a whack job" and "a diva."

Citing the heated battles of the campaign trail, the Delaware lawmaker emphasized the importance of bridging the partisan divide in the country, no matter who wins on Election Day, but he expressed optimism that Americans are so focused on getting the nation "back on track" that the days of bitter partisanship are coming to an end.

Biden noted that he does believe that the president-elect has to win by such a substantial margin on Tuesday night to gain "an electoral mandate" to accomplish things in Washington.

"There is, there is this sense across the board -- big things are happening, man," he said. "This isn't small-bore stuff. This is not small-bore stuff, whether you view it as crises or not, it's not small-bore stuff. And uh, I think that, so I think that there is at a minimum a mandate for -- trite phrase -- for change. I think the debate's gonna be what is changing. Nobody, nobody out there can look at the status quo, you know, so it really is top-down, bottom-up."

Heading into Election Day, Biden predicted a victory in the state of his birth, Pennsylvania, but was not as optimistic about two other key battleground states that he is visiting in his last day on the trail -- Ohio and Missouri.

"I still think we win Pennsylvania, to be honest with you," he predicted. "I'll be surprised if we do not. I'll be disappointed if we do not. I feel good about it."

"If I had to I’d bet you on Pennsylvania," said the Scranton-born senator. "I don’t want to bet you on Ohio or Missouri."

But Biden cautioned that the Keystone State is always a closely fought race and that former POW McCain does have a certain appeal to voters there.

"We have never won it by more than 51 percent of the vote, so no matter how you cut it, no matter how good you are, it's always close when you win, number one," he said. "And I expect it to be close again. And number two, I think John has a -- an appeal as a war hero. I don't -- I mean that in a complimentary way."

November 3, 2008 in Biden, Joe, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans | Permalink | User Comments (41)

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Joe Biden is looked on as a fool by his Senate colleagues. This comment proves he is as stupid as his Senate colleagues think he is. The man is a joke.

Posted by: Warner Todd Huston | Nov 3, 2008 8:47:47 PM

You can say a lot of things, Warner Todd Huston, but that doesn't make them true, no matter how many times you repeat them.

Posted by: Donna Hughes | Nov 3, 2008 8:57:24 PM

ROTFLMAO!
'Stand up, Chuck, oh, God love ya'!'
With goofy grin, "When Roosevelt went on TV in 1929 to talk about the stock market crash..." etc....
ROTFLMAO!

Posted by: SweetAlmondVerbena | Nov 3, 2008 9:08:30 PM

Honestly, I fail to see what the huge deal is about.
Sure, he has let some comments slip that gave the GOP some mud to sling, but in reality the Polls and Opinions of the Pundits reflect that his small blunders have not affected the race at all.
You know when Karl Rove predicts a Democrat landslide that the race is over.

Posted by: Holden L | Nov 3, 2008 9:25:21 PM

This stuff is only a fraction of 1% of the speaking Joe has done! Anyone who speaks a lot will misspeak or garble something up on occasion, due to fatigue, distraction, and so on. Not everyone is so "fortunate" as to have the press waiting to pounce on it and amplify it.

This stuff is small potatoes! No scandals, not on the take, still a middle class guy who loves his family and his country, knows how to get things done in congress, and is an expert on foreign policy.

Posted by: Donna Hughes | Nov 3, 2008 9:25:24 PM

Donna,
That is an insightful take on the situation.

Posted by: Holden L | Nov 3, 2008 9:28:35 PM

Thank you, Holden L. I'm tired of people and press beating up on Joe. He is a good man.

Posted by: Donna Hughes | Nov 3, 2008 9:33:50 PM

I honestly cannot understand why that FDR tv thing is so quoted by republicans. Sure it's a mistake, but a small one. FDR did broadcast and have more media connection than any president before, and it was on electronic media, the radio. Radios at the time were as prevalent as tv's and computers are now.

Posted by: Jeff Borger | Nov 3, 2008 9:40:17 PM

-- I honestly cannot understand why that FDR tv thing is so quoted by republicans. --

It's about the only thing they got.. and they feel disadvantaged because there are entire SNL skits done on verbatim Palin interviews.

Posted by: Concerned American | Nov 3, 2008 9:52:53 PM

Joe's a great guy; smart but grounded, prone to telling the truth. He's going to be a fantastic VP.

Posted by: sarahjane | Nov 3, 2008 10:02:03 PM

I think McCain and Palin will win this election tomorrow. Obama spend maybe even 10 times more than McCain did and the polls put Obama just a few points ahead. And I dont beleive the polls, It sure look like Obamabots polling Obamots. McCain will win with a landslide. McCain and Palin will be going to the White House, not Obama and Michelle,
McCain will be the best president for our time and for our future. and we can trust his patriatism, and his leadership, he is for us, for America.

Posted by: Sandy | Nov 3, 2008 10:32:22 PM

Sandy, could you be FURTHER from reality?

A loss by Obama, writes Slate's John Dickerson, “would mark the biggest collective error in the history of the media and political establishment.”

Sure there is a slight chance he may win, but McCain himself would burst out laughing if you predict a landslide for him tomorrow.

Make whatever case you may for either candidate, time is essentially up.

---
On a further note, I've taken a course on Statistics and well-conducted polls turn out to be pretty reliable.
Try checking out unbiased sources such as pollster.com for a collection of polls put into one electoral map.

Posted by: a | Nov 3, 2008 10:55:02 PM

Much as I like Joe, no gaffes ... are you kidding?

What is regrettably unfair, though, is that if either of the Repubs made comparable statements, the press would have been much more diverted into hours of critique and analysis than they were by any of Sen Biden's misdirections.

Posted by: OneObservation | Nov 3, 2008 11:01:25 PM

Now you must be kidding, OneObservation!For Joe has been mercilessly misquoted and skewered and defined as one big walking gaffe waiting to happen ever since this election began!

Like I said above: When you can't find anything better to work with you blow up small things into big things.

I'm still seeing McCain's ad on TV where he cherry picks Joe's statement about Barack being tested!

Posted by: Donna Hughes | Nov 3, 2008 11:36:44 PM

"McCain and Palin will be going to the White House, not Obama and Michelle" quote Sandy.

Are you saying that Palin is like a wife to McCain or that Michelle is like a VP to Obama? huh

Posted by: lol | Nov 4, 2008 12:07:50 AM

Biden should back off from ending his sentences with a preposition. As for his gaffes, most voters are aware his medical history did not include brain scans, because after two surgeries there isn't much left of his brain to scan.

Posted by: Bytheway | Nov 4, 2008 1:40:51 AM

Joe, we love you just as you are, and don't expect or want you to change. You've done so much for this country. You're a breath of fresh air, and your honesty and integrity mean more than short riffs of rubbish from others. It speaks volumes knowing that your beautiful wife, loving family, vast number of friends and acquaintances and much of America love you...I don't see that with most of your detractors. You're fine being you.

Posted by: Dash | Nov 4, 2008 2:14:47 AM

Oh, forgot to add the most important part: I was totally over the moon when Obama announced Joe Biden as his running mate! Couldn't be happier with this wise choice.

Posted by: Dash | Nov 4, 2008 2:22:46 AM

They haven't been that big, but they have been funny: http://tinyurl.com/5omrdq

Posted by: Nathan Explosion | Nov 4, 2008 11:05:10 AM

If you Democrats have finally achieved your goal to lie, steal and cheat a marxist thug into office along with a commie congress, congratulations. The Anti-Americans are now in charge of America. You really think you will like the result? We shall see, morons. We shall see. If you are not in gov't or the legal field and make more than $30k you might want to look into becoming a Cayman Islands LLC. Oh, and forget heating your house.

Posted by: megapotamus | Nov 4, 2008 1:16:46 PM

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