Fox News: "Biden Stumbles Out of the Gate With Backfiring Shots at Dem Rivals"

Biden Stumbles Out of the Gate With Backfiring Shots at Dem Rivals

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.

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.

Obama's office later put out an official statement.

"I didn't take Senator Biden's comments personally, but obviously they were historically inaccurate. African-American presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns, and no one would call them inarticulate," he said.

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.