At least he's honest

[DNA]

By John Fund

Joe Biden has hardly been heard from lately amid all the news about Sarah Palin, but the Democratic vice presidential nominee is gamely campaigning around the country. Mr. Biden is nonetheless dogged by questions about his own selection. Sometimes it's from supporters of Hillary Clinton who express disappointment that she wasn't selected. Sometimes -- as was the case earlier this week -- it's from voters who dislike Mrs. Clinton.

Mr. Biden has developed a diplomatic answer for both. At a rally in Nashua, New Hampshire, a male in the audience told Mr. Biden how glad he was that he had gotten the VP nod rather than Mrs. Clinton, "not because she's a woman, but because, look at the things she did in the past."

Sensing a possibility for embarrassment, Mr. Biden quickly moved in. "Make no mistake about this," he told the questioner. "Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let's get that straight. She's a truly close personal friend, she is qualified to be president of the United States of America, she's easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America, and quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me. But she's first rate, I mean that sincerely, she's first rate, so let's get that straight."

Methinks Mr. Biden is shortchanging himself a bit. While trying to appease Hillary voters, he also may end up stoking their resentment by confessing that "she might have been a better pick than me." If that's the case, the next question is clearly: "So why was she passed over by Barack Obama without even the courtesy of being vetted?"

See all of today's editorials and op-eds, plus video commentary, on Opinion Journal.

Interesting comment

[splitbamboo]

Originally Posted by DNA

Interesting comment

Interesting comment but qualified does not equal electability. Seems like a straight-forward answer.