Joe Biden on Barack Obama:

Aug. 2007 on Obama's experience: "I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training."

Aug. 2007 on Obama's threat to go into Pakistan after Al Qaeda: "The way to deal with it is not to announce it, it's to do it. . . . The last thing you want to do is telegraph to the folks in Pakistan that we're about to violate . . . their sovereignty."

Aug. 2007 on Obama's pledge to meet with leaders of rogue nations: "Would I make a blanket commitment to meet unconditionally with the leaders of each of those countries within the first year I was president? Absolutely, positively no."

Sept. 2007 on Obama's Iraq plan: "My impression is he thinks that if we leave, somehow the Iraqis are going to have an epiphany. I've seen zero evidence of that."

"If the Democrats think we're going to be able to nominate someone who can win without that person being able to table unimpeachable credentials on national security and foreign policy, I think we're making a tragic mistake..."

Biden On Obama's Leadership On Iraq: "I Don't Recall Hearing A Word From Barack About A Plan Or A Tactic."

Biden on McCain:

"I'd feel a lot better if I knew that President Bush was going to be elected--and I'm not being solicitous--if I knew he was going to start to listen to John McCain instead of the secretary of Defense..."

"And so I've believed for a long time, a view shared by my Republican colleague John McCain and many others as well, that we need more force in Iraq. That's not a popular position to take. But we need more force now in order to have less force later. We need to gain control of security in Iraq."

"John McCain is a personal friend, a great friend, and I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off -- be well off no matter who..."

Some of Biden's gaffes:

"You cannot go into a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. Oh, I'm not joking."

"Better than everybody else. You don't know my state. My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state is the eighth largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a northeast liberal state,"

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,"


Again, I think Obama made a mistake here. He can no longer attack McCain for being a "Washington insider". He can no longer run a credible campaign of "change" and "new faces" in Washington. And Biden will eventually have to explain why his opinions of Obama and McCain suddenly changed when his name was added to the ticket. Politics as usual, perhaps? Obama could have done much better with Bayh.