I read it as Biden expressing surprise that a black man could speak coherently and knew how to work the taps on a bathtub.
So Biden thinks Obama is pretty smart, for a black guy. What’s next - “Hilary isn’t nearly as hormonal as you might expect”.
Admit it - if Biden were a Republican, y’all would pop a gasket screaming racism. I mean, come on - right out of the chute, and the first thing he says that he didn’t steal from someone is stupid.
This is gonna be a fun campaign.
Regards,
Shodan
I think it makes a lot more sense the other way. When you say a politician is “clean” or “dirty”, you’re not generally talking about his hygiene, but about whether he’s crooked or not.
You do know the difference between talking a lot and *saying * things, I trust. Biden just talks a lot.
Empty suit. No power to inspire followership. Out no later than New Hampshire, if he gets that far. Worth following only to see if he or Dodd bails first.
It’s a completely moronic statement with nasty undertones. He managed to make it sound like all of those positive characteristics were unusual in a black man, and he was even dumb enough to say “articulate.” In short, Shodan is right.
In black presidential candidates, they are. Who’s run in the past? Jackson, Sharpton, Mosley-Braun? None of them were exactly electable.
You seem to have misread the title of the OP. Yes, Biden is far more qualified than Obama and would probably make a better President; but that has nothing to do with his chances, which are slim and none.
There are plenty of ways to interpret “clean.” I very much doubt that he was refererring specifically to hygiene; and I doubt very many intelligent people would interpret it that way. The way I took it as “clean-cut,” in the sense of looking somewhat all-american boyish. e.g. Obama/Will Smith/Tim Duncan vs. Al Sharpton/Snoop Dogg/Allen Iverson.
I think of it as a compliment; however given that Will Smith and Tim Duncan are criticized as being sell-outs or “acting white,” I suppose some would disagree. Regardless, it was certainly a stupid thing to say. It is, to use the cliche, insensitive to say the least, and would end his campaign and haunt his career were he a Republican.
He didn’t say electable. He said clean, bright and articulate. It’s insulting, and “article” is both the most insulting and the least accurate.
The man chose to go snotty and negative on his first day of the campaign. I would have considered him as candidate, but he deserves what he gets for this one.
It takes a rather uncharitable view of Biden’s remarks (ill-considered and ill-phrased they may be) to take his use of the word “clean” to have meant to refer to Obama’s familiarity with soap and water. In the English language, “clean” and “political candidate” have a pretty solid history of referring to someone’s ethical character. To suggest otherwise is to go hunting for offense.
I think the “articulate” was the most insulting. I mean, why not say he was “well-spoken,” while you’re at it? Jesus.
The part about “and a credit to his race” is supposed to be inferred by the listener, right?
Do you think Obama talks more than other Senators? Or do you think the media simply pays more attention to what he has to say?
I’m not outraged by Biden’s comments. But I am impressed by Barack’s response:
*“I didn’t take Sen. 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.” *
I like how he defended the folks who came before him, even if they are more polarizing figures. I think it was a sincerely respectful gesture but one also guided by political astuteness. And I agree with him that he’s not the first “articulate” black candidate. His voice may not reasonate “blackness” as much as, say, Al Sharpton’s, but that does not make him more articulate. But it does make him more mainstream, which I think was Biden’s point.
I don’t think Biden meant personal hygiene by his use of the word “clean”. I think he meant “attactive”, as in “clean cut” and wholesome. He could have used another word, but I don’t think he should be lambasted for it. There’s plenty of time before now and the elections for the real racist commentary to rear its ugly head. I say let’s save our ammo for those moments.
Perhaps I was a little too hard on Biden there - but at best, I think he meant to say something kind but belittling. He failed and said something worse.
I’m misreading my own title? 
Go back and read what I was responding to, and tell me you don’t understand what my point was. Yes, I understand that Clinton and Obama are waaaaay ahead of him, but why? Are we so much a bunch of suckers that we always want the newest thing?
As for Biden’s foot-in-mouth comment… it’s too bad it happened on the first day of his campaign, but it’ll be forgotten next week. Yeah, it was a really stupid thing to say, but he’s famous for not knowing when to shut up. The best thing he could do is just laugh at himself and blow it off. Say something like “Well, that was a helluva way to kick off a campaign. It’s going to be only up from here, folks!” Anyone “offended” by his comment has too much time on his hands.
Actually, the lefty blogosphere has been all over this one all day. As Atrios put it:
It occurred to me just now that Biden might have engineered this whole thing so that Obama could sew of the African-American vote. Think about it: Biden knows he can’t possibly win, but if he enters the race and makes a gaffe, that just removes him from the Presidential race, without casting aspersion on his Senate term. He’s gotten Obama major props, at the cost of his nonexistent chances for election.
Yeah, I, um, uh …
:smack:
This is one of the most unlikely theories I’ve ever read on this board. Biden has been talking about running for years, and I have no numbers but he must’ve spent a lot of time and raised and spent a lot of money to put a campaign together - and you think that a year before the primaries, he’d just go "I’m not going to win, so I may as well say something semi-offensive to try to give some small boost to Barack Obama’s poll numbers? It doesn’t make sense on any level.
“the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”
Its taken a long time but I can only surmise from that statement that Biden feels that African Americans have finally made a breakthrough and may just be able to take a seat alongside whites.
The first mainstream African-American who is articulate ?
The first mainstream African-American who is bright ?
The first mainstream African-American who is clean ?
The first mainstream African-American who is nice looking?
I don’t know about the rest of you, but that one line just screams racism to me.
Well, he did say “and” to all those things. And by “clean”, I think he means either “clean cut” or “w/ no skeletons in his closet”, most likely the latter. So, that rules out Sharpton and Jackson. Carol Moseley Braun might qualify as well (although she’s not my type 
), but that’s about it. Shirley Chisholm? We can forgive him for forgetting about her. Oh, and let’s not forget “mainstream”. Maybe Biden should’ve left it at that.