Quarantine over for 'foot-in-mouth' Joe

Published on Wednesday 5 November 2008 21:10

IN CONTRAST to his Republican opponent, the Democratic vice-president elect Joe Biden enjoyed a relatively low profile during the campaign.

But this was no accident: the Obama campaign effectively muzzled the 65-year-old Delaware senator after he made a series of gaffes.

A veteran politician with a wealth of foreign policy experience, Barack Obama's future vice-president has three decades of experience in the US Senate and chairs its foreign relations committee.

He is full of ideas, energy and enthusiasm, but his endless chatter and rather careless nature led him to make a series of mistakes.

In fact he did not give a news conference or interview after September, making him less accessible than John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin.

Mr Biden was at odds with Mr Obama on a number of occasions, calling one of his campaign adverts "terrible" and disagreeing with him over some aspects of the US government's handling of the financial crisis.

Mr Obama said his running mate "should have waited" before voicing opposition to the government bailout of US insurance giant AIG last month.

And Mr Biden said that Democrat Franklin D Roosevelt went on television to reassure his country after the 1929 stock market crash – although Republican Herbert Hoover was president during the crash, which predated television.

Even his speech after he was introduced as the vice-presidential candidate was not error-free – he called Mr Obama "Barack America".

All too often in front of reporters and TV cameras his headstrong nature lead to awkward statements, gaffes and goofy smiles.

But in the Senate, he is respected as a thoughtful leader with a passion and commitment to solve America's problems.

Hillary Clinton, who some thought would have created a "dream ticket" as Mr Obama's running mate, said Mr Biden was "an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant" who would be "a purposeful and dynamic vice president".