With John Kerry out of the race, you just knew that Biden would pick up the slack:

Mr. Biden is equally skeptical-albeit in a slightly more backhanded way-about Mr. Obama. “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

What is striking about this remark is not only the racism but the condescension. Typical! (Here is his response to the uproar over his remark — where it the apology? If this had been a Republican, there would be calls for him to apologize at least 30 or 40 times.)And then there’s this:

Though Mr. Biden, 64, has never achieved his national ambitions, he has in recent years emerged as one of the party’s go-to experts on foreign policy. In the past week, he has spearheaded the Democratic pushback against the President’s plan to increase troop levels in Iraq, opposing the move with a non-binding resolution that his party has rallied around.

If Biden is the Democrats point guy for their foreign policy, then no wonder it’s incoherent. Just look at his plan for Iraq:

By contrast with what Mr. Biden describes alternately as his opponents’ caution and their detachment from reality, the Senator from Delaware has for months been pushing a comprehensive plan to split Iraq into autonomous Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish ethnic regions that is controversial, to say the least.

Under the plan, local policing and laws will be the responsibility of regional authorities. Most of the American troops would be withdrawn, with small numbers remaining to help with anti-terrorism operations. The ensuing chaos from ethnic migrations within Iraq would be contained with the help of political pressure created by a conference of Iraq’s neighbors.

It is nuts to try to split up the country the way that he is trying to do since it is integrated, especially in Baghdad.And he doesn’t care if other don’t support it, he likes it:

Mr. Biden says that support for his Iraq plan is growing. The influential New York Senator Chuck Schumer has declared at various times that he supports the plan-albeit in an uncharacteristically quiet manner-as has Michael O’Hanlon, a prominent Iraq policy expert at the Brookings Institution.

But their support, for Mr. Biden, is almost an afterthought. If one thing is clear about him, it is that he doesn’t mind being alone.

“They may be politically right, and I may be politically wrong,” he said. “But I believe I am substantively right, and their substantive approaches are not very deep and will not get us where I want to go.”

Isn’t Bush being criticized for this type of go it alone thinking?And with this crappy plan, I don’t think there is too much he can say about the plan of his opponents:

“From the part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’ We’re not going to equip them? O.K. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea.”[…]”I don’t think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about,” Mr. Biden said, when asked about Mr. Edwards’ advocacy of the immediate withdrawal of about 40,000 American troops from Iraq.”John Edwards wants you and all the Democrats to think, ‘I want us out of there,’ but when you come back and you say, ‘O.K., John'”-here, the word “John” became an accusatory, mocking refrain-“‘what about the chaos that will ensue? Do we have any interest, John, left in the region?’ Well, John will have to answer yes or no. If he says yes, what are they? What are those interests, John? How do you protect those interests, John, if you are completely withdrawn? Are you withdrawn from the region, John? Are you withdrawn from Iraq, John? In what period? So all this stuff is like so much Fluffernutter out there. So for me, what I think you have to do is have a strategic notion. And they may have it-they are just smart enough not to enunciate it.”

Though, it would be good if he pushed them to answer what would happen if we actually pulled the troops before the Iraqi troops are ready.Update: A racist blast from the past:(via)