February 11, 2009 5:24 PM

Joe Biden's Oops Moment

By
Hillary Profita
(CBS)  The Skinny is Hillary Profita's take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.


As for today's campaign 2008 news, it appears that there is finally nothing else to say about Sen. Hillary Clinton. At least for now. At least on the front pages.

Instead, one of the first notable snafus of the election season makes its debut on the front page of the New York Times: Sen. Joe Biden officially announced his candidacy yesterday and during an interview with the New York Observer, published the same day, described Barack Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

And the political world came to a screeching halt.

He later explained that he had called Obama to explain and "Mr. Obama had assured him he had nothing to explain," writes the NYT. Then there was a written public statement.

And in a finale that made the whole situation that much more similar to a Christopher Buckley novel, "The day ended, appropriately enough for the way politics is practiced now, with Mr. Biden explaining himself to Jon Stewart on Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show.'"

There, he explained himself thusly: "What got me in trouble was using the word clean. I should have said fresh. What I meant was he's got new ideas."

What About Rudy?

Meanwhile, USA Today wonders if Rudy Guiliani can get the Republican nomination considering his liberal social views. "Can the thrice-married New Yorker — a supporter of abortion rights, gay rights and gun control — win the nomination of a Republican Party that has become increasingly dependent on and influenced by conservative Christians?"

The answers -- from various political strategists, former politicians, and Tony Perkins – are maybe, definitely, possibly and absolutely not.

One Step Closer To A Non-Binding Solution

The dramatic suspense may soon be over. The Senate is one step closer to gaining broad bipartisan support for a nonbinding resolution rebuking the White House's increase of troops in Iraq by 21,500. "The revised resolution would express the Senate's opposition to the troop increase but would vow to protect funding for the troops," writes The Washington Post.

The Wall Street Journal's newsbox and the front page of the Los Angeles Times take note of the news as well. The resolution, sponsored by Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) also calls "for written commitments from the Iraqi government to achieve certain goals," writes the LAT.

House Democrats have reached a similar conclusion, and will draft a resolution similar to Warner's next week. The Post notes that on NPR yesterday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also "publicly hint[ed]" that she would push for actual binding legislation. "I believe that you'll see initiatives on the floor to this effect: that we have this year in which we should be able to drastically reduce the number of troops," she said.

The Dangers Of Daylight Saving Time

The front pages this morning also touch on some more practical issues. Like daylight saving time. Traditionally, (well, for 20 years) explains the Post, clocks were set forward on the first Sunday in April and set back on the last Sunday in October.

Then Congress had to go and shove a little tidbit into a 2005 energy bill that "lengthened daylight saving time by four weeks in the name of energy efficiency." That places the special day as March 11 of this year.

Lots of technicians are freaking out. Why? The Post provides the doomsday scenario: "It's one thing to arrive an hour late for church on the first day of daylight saving. It's another for a security system to log the wrong time of crucial events, for pilots to misunderstand their takeoff times or international communications components to stop synchronizing."

And unfortunately, "large swaths of private and corporate America seem oblivious to the approaching change…"

The good news? Well, that only applies to people in Hawaii or Arizona – where daylight saving time is not recognized.

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Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved.
Add a Comment See all 18 Comments
by slclark0029 February 3, 2007 4:17 AM EST
Lets just all hope that someday, people will learn to live without all this racial bulls**t, and learn to care about things that really matter in this world.
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by katia327 February 2, 2007 9:07 AM EST
Joe Biden definitely meant this as a compliment. His 'clean' comment, meant 'fresh', as in new ideas, as cited in this article.

When he gets picked apart, for COMPLIMENTING another candidate, then the ones making something out of nothing, are grasping.

And when he says this...about Obama...
"I think he's great. I think I'm better."

He's right. I'm going on experience alone, because they are both intelligent, articulate men.

I'd like to see any ONE of you, answer questions constantly, and say the right thing, ALL the time, every time.

And if you DO say everything right, they'll STILL make something out of it.







Reply to this comment
by erichsh February 2, 2007 3:20 AM EST
I don't remember any stories about Virginia Sen. George Allen's "oops" moment. But I do remember LOTS of stories going on for weeks about how totally vicious and nasty his "macaca" comment was. Biden's remark can be passed off as a little "oops" and life goes on, but the press screamed bloody murder, and demanded and ultimately got Allen's head. So it goes.....
Reply to this comment
by frb01 February 2, 2007 1:01 AM EST

Sen. Biden has always talked to much. Even though he probably doesn't like to bring it back up, he should be talking about how he lost his wife in an accident and raised two sons, and how he starting going home on the train every night and still does. The American public respects someone who has picked themselves up from the worst that life has given them.
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by lawyertom1 February 1, 2007 11:33 PM EST
If Senator Obama wanted to show he is as classy a fellow as he appears to be, he would put his arm around Joe Biden in front of the cameras, and have a big laugh. Talk about a media event! It would be all over the evening news and newspapers, and he would show that he is a truly quality guy.
Reply to this comment
by roth510 February 1, 2007 8:36 PM EST
IT'S TIME TO LET SENATOR BIDEN ALONE REGARDING BARACK OBAMA. BARACK HIMSELF UNDERSTOOD WHAT SENATOR BIDEN WAS TRYING TO SAY AND HOLDS NOTHING AGAINST HIM.
SENATOR BIDEN IS A WONDERFUL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND SENATOR AND DESERVES BETTER.
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by one_american February 1, 2007 7:58 PM EST
"He's very CLEAN."

- Paul McCartney, speaking about his grandfather in "A Hard Day's Night".
Reply to this comment
by one_american February 1, 2007 7:56 PM EST
Joe Biden: "[Obama is] a superstar, the most exciting candidate from either party in decades, he's fresh, he's new, he's smart, he's insightful, a very special guy, who is like catching lightning in a jar. I think he's great. I think I'm better."

No kidding, those are Biden's own words.

It just doesn't get any funnier than that, folks.
Reply to this comment
by rhs648 February 1, 2007 7:47 PM EST
Isn't it possible that Senator Biden was simply trying to compliment Obama. Although I am not fond of Joe Biden, it seems unfair to fault him for trying to say something nice about his opponent. Can any of us claim that we haven't said something that sounded awkward or different from our intent.
Reply to this comment
by billzor February 1, 2007 7:05 PM EST
I wonder if Senator Biden considers himself to be a mainstream candidate who is articulate, bright, clean and good looking? I think he just lost his potential to be looked at favorably in any of those categories. Senator Obama is being gracious in his response to the remarks. And, he has every right to, because he is articulate, bright, clean and good looking--it's just that he isn't the only one. So, who was Senator Biden referring to when he said that there were other candidates who didn't fit that description?
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