Biden Flip-Flops on "Terrible" Obama Ad

Senator Joe Biden actually nuked a Democratic ad that was put out by his own campaign.

By: Fred Cunningham | News Channel 7
Published: September 23, 2008 | 0 Comments | Post a Comment

The Campaign of 2008 is looking a whole lot like the race in 2004 to me.

And 2000. And 1996. And 19, well, you get my point.

The only real new variable is the internet, which means the news, reactions and reactions to the reactions come faster.

Try to go a day of watching and following campaign coverage without hearing an attack ad, a slam on the stump or a knock-down cable news argument between John McCain and Barack Obama surrogates.

So it was stunning - and perhaps refreshing - to hear the always candid Senator Joe Biden actually nuke a Democratic ad that was put out by his own campaign.

The ad in question: an Obama campaign spot that claims McCain can't use a computer or send email, to show he's been part of Washington for too long.

Biden spoke to CBS News anchor Katie Couric in an interview that aired Monday night. It featured this exchange:

Couric - "Are you disappointed with the tone of the campaign? The lipstick on the pig stuff and some of the ads and you guys haven't been completely guilt-free, making fun of John McCain's inability to use a computer."

Biden - "I thought that was terrible."

Couric - "Why did you do it then?"

Biden - "I didn't know we did it, and if I had had anything to do with it, we would have never done it"

You can see Biden say it for yourself right here. That part of the conversation begins around 4:10 into the story:

The McCain campaign used Biden's words to stage a fresh attack on Obama, according to The Washington Post:

"Barack Obama has brought the sleazy gutter politics of Chicago to our national stage, exposing his call for a 'new politics' as a lie and embarrassing even his own running mate with the low road campaign he's running," said McCain-Palin spokesman Brian Rogers in a statement.

And by Monday night, The Washington Post reported the following statement from the Obama campaign:

"Having now reviewed the ad, it is even more clear to me that given the disgraceful tenor of Senator McCain's ads and their persistent falsehoods, his campaign is in no position to criticize," Biden said in the statement.

And just like that, one of the most genuine moments that I've seen on the trail in weeks is lost in a series of statements between the dueling campaigns.

As I write this, there are McCain and Obama surrogates live on one cable news network, arguing about this situation.

41 days to go.