Biden Gets His Hand Slapped

Joe Biden has already contributed a wealth of gaffes to the pantheon of political speech, but when he criticized an ad put out by his own campaign, he finally got the attention of his Obama handlers. They must have slapped his hand because he's trying to undo the damage:

CHICAGO – Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden Jr. was on the defensive Monday night, issuing a statement of clarification after saying that he thought an Obama campaign ad tweaking Senator John McCain’s computer skills was “terrible.”

In an interview with CBS that was broadcast on Monday evening, Mr. Biden, a long-time Delaware senator who often refers to his friendship with Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, was asked about the ad, which highlighted Mr. McCain’s admission that he was not especially proficient at using a computer.

“I thought that was terrible by the way,” Mr. Biden said of the commercial. “I didn’t know we did it. I’d had anything to do with it, we’d have never done it. And I don’t think Barack, you know, I mean, I just think – I don’t think there was anything intentional about that.”

The McCain campaign quickly issued a statement using Mr. Biden’s statement against Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic nominee.

“Barack Obama has brought the sleazy gutter politics of Chicago to our national stage, exposing his call for a ‘new politics’ as a lie and embarrassing even his own running mate with the low road campaign he’s running,” said a McCain spokesman, Brian Rogers.

By coincidence, the McCain campaign earlier on Monday had released an ad, titled “Chicago,” that depicted Mr. Obama as an heir to the legacy of combative politics that is part of Chicago lore.

Soon after the McCain camp hit the Obama-Biden ticket, the Obama campaign issued its own statement in Mr. Biden’s name.

“I was asked about an ad I’d never seen, reacting merely to press reports. As I said right then, I knew there was nothing intentionally personal in the criticism of Senator McCain’s views which look backwards not forwards and are out of touch with the new economic challenges we face today,” Mr. Biden said.

“Having now reviewed the ad, it is even more clear to me that given the disgraceful tenor of Senator McCain’s ads and their persistent falsehoods, his campaign is in no position to criticize, especially when they continue to distort Barack’s votes on an issue as personal as keeping kids safe from sexual predators,” Mr. Biden added.

Unfortunately for Mr. Biden (and for The Caucus where I got the report above and who still doesn't get it) Byron York proved that the McCain ad was factually correct. Biden will have to find something else to complain about.

UPDATE: Biden slapped down by Obama...again.