The Times’ Mark Leibovich has an excellent profile of Vice President Joe Biden, who is apparently in the dog house (again) with senior aides to President Obama for essentially telling the truth about his position on gay marriage. (“Not helpful” is how one senior Obama aide describes Biden’s comments to “Meet the Press” that he is “absolutely comfortable” with same sex marriage.)
The irony about this controversy–as with any “there Biden goes again” flap in Washington, which is a constant storyline–is White House officials gave the story oxygen by essentially freaking out about the VP supposedly committing a huge gaffe, calling attention to the subtle differences between how Biden has spoken about the issue vs. Obama. But does anyone really believe Obama’s position is that different from Biden’s?
The West Wing has always been a little snooty about Biden–my last cover story for Newsweek was on this very topic. That’s largely because the VP’s propensity to speak off the cuff is something they still haven’t quite learned how to control. But maybe they should stop trying to control it–or at least stop acting like Biden is SO embarrassing. As any reporter who has covered Biden will tell you, the VP’s willingness to speak his mind is refreshing and, unfortunately, very rare in Washington. Since when is being candid a bad thing for the public? (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)