Do Biden's Gaffes Matter Anymore?
I think Biden's remarks raised hardly a ripple for other reasons that tell us more about his political future, or lack of it. Hillary Clinton has not officially announced her candidacy either, but she obviously is laying the groundwork with a non-campaign campaign, beginning with her recent book tour.
Early polls show the former secretary of state way ahead in Iowa and nationally. A Sept. 12 CNN/ORC poll shows her to be the choice of 53 percent of Iowa Democratic voters, way ahead of Biden's 15 percent and Sen. Elizabeth Warren's 7 percent.
Biden's importance as a newsmaker, even as a gaffe-maker, is being overshadowed by the air of inevitability surrounding the former secretary of state.
Besides, as gaffes go, Biden's endless stream tends to reinforce an old media narrative of him as the dotty old uncle whom everybody puts up with because you know he means no harm.
Even in the letter of complaint from Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, about Biden's Shylock remark, Foxman praised Biden as "friendly to the Jewish community and open and tolerant" as an individual.
As Rebecca Nelson at the National Journal reported, Biden's approvals have remained remarkably static during his vice presidency, despite more than enough gaffes to fill a "top ten" list on Time's website.
Media narratives feed on themselves. Since Biden has no record of antipathy toward any group, except maybe some Republicans here and there, his racial-ethnic blunders haven't had much traction.
Of course, that could change if his presidential aspirations show any chance of becoming reality. For now, however, he appears to be too trapped by his past reputation for shooting from the lip to make his remarks do much more than energize his partisan rivals.
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E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.
(c) 2014 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
