Friday, February 02, 2007

Quote du Jour: Al Sharpton

“I told him I take a bath every day.”

-- in response to a telephone apology from Joe Biden re: his ill-considered description of Obama as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”

Between this and his comments on Fox News boasting about the fact that Delaware was once a "slave state" that would have gotten on board with the South except that "there were a couple of states in the way," I have to wonder about Biden. Sure, he doesn't know when to shut up (lucky Foreign Relations Committee, of which he's now the chairman, i.e., can speak as long as he likes, and indeed he does) but these -- and there are others -- are some disturbing "slips."

If anything, contrary to Sharpton's concern, I think the most lasting effect of this incident is to endear Obama to black voters who may have otherwise, as pundits have been musing, leaned toward Clinton out of loyalty to her husband.

Biden has some good ideas on Iraq, but '08 going to be a whole different kettle of fish than '06.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm pretty sure that Biden meant that Obama doesn't carry all the moonbat baggage that Sharpton, Jackson, McKinney et al do.

That baggage has defeated black politicians in the past and Obama doesn't have that hurdle to overcome.

eudaimonia said...

I hear you there, although I've had a soft spot for Al Sharpton ever since his speech at the 2004 DNC (I admit I don't remember Obama's keynote.)
On the other hand, I'm not immune to Barack's charms and would probably vote for him even if his running mate was Cynthia McKinney (a safe claim, I know.) But the cumulative effect of Biden's remarks -- including something about not being able to go into a convenience store or Dunkin' Donuts without an Indian accent -- is a little troubling from such a bright guy. I wouldn't go as far as Nina Totenberg, who called his "political Tourette's" "tragic" but it is kinda sad that he never learned the 10-second rule.