Biden draws Romney rebuke with 'chains' remark
DANVILLE, Va. (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden sparked a campaign commotion Tuesday, telling an audience in southern Virginia that included hundreds of black voters that Republican Mitt Romney wanted to put them "back in chains" by deregulating Wall Street. He later mocked Republican criticism over the remark while conceding he meant to use different words.
Campaigning in Danville, Biden said the Republican ticket wanted to "unchain Wall Street" by getting rid of regulations Obama signed into law two years ago. He added: "They're going to put y'all back in chains."
Romney later criticized Biden, saying the remarks were part of pattern of "reckless" comments by Obama's campaign and his surrogates "that disgrace the office of the presidency."
In Chillicothe, Ohio, as he ended his bus tour Tuesday night, Romney called Biden's comment "another outrageous charge" and added: "The White House sinks a little bit lower. This is what an angry and desperate presidency looks like."
Biden, speaking in Wytheville, Va., said he had meant to use the term "unshackled." But he did not apologize and mocked the Romney campaign for showing outrage.
"If you want to know what's outrageous, it's their policies, and the effects of their policies on middle-class Americans," he said.
Obama's campaign stood by Biden, saying the comments were a variation on remarks he makes often about the need to "unshackle" the middle class. The campaign said the metaphor was meant to counter Republican calls to unshackle the private sector from Obama-backed regulations.
But the remark still proved to be a distraction, prompting Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter to issue a statement calling the Romney campaign's outrage "hypocritical."
"Let's return to that 'substantive' debate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan promised 72 hours ago, but quickly abandoned," she said in a statement.
The flurry over Biden's remarks underscored what the Obama team knows is a constant risk with the vice president — that his penchant for speaking off the cuff can sometimes result in inartful or off-color comments.
In a less-noticed gaffe Tuesday, Biden told the crowd he was confident their support would help the Obama-Biden ticket carry North Carolina. He was speaking in Virginia at the time.
Still, Obama's campaign sees Biden as one of its most valuable assets. The Scranton, Pa., native has a more natural appeal to working-class voters in battleground states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. He also has willingly embraced the traditional vice presidential attack-dog role, often launching the campaign's most vigorous criticisms of Romney, and now Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan.
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Associated Press writer Kasie Hunt in Chillicothe, Ohio, contributed to this report.
Campaigning in Danville, Biden said the Republican ticket wanted to "unchain Wall Street" by getting rid of regulations Obama signed into law two years ago. He added: "They're going to put y'all back in chains."
Romney later criticized Biden, saying the remarks were part of pattern of "reckless" comments by Obama's campaign and his surrogates "that disgrace the office of the presidency."
In Chillicothe, Ohio, as he ended his bus tour Tuesday night, Romney called Biden's comment "another outrageous charge" and added: "The White House sinks a little bit lower. This is what an angry and desperate presidency looks like."
Biden, speaking in Wytheville, Va., said he had meant to use the term "unshackled." But he did not apologize and mocked the Romney campaign for showing outrage.
"If you want to know what's outrageous, it's their policies, and the effects of their policies on middle-class Americans," he said.
Obama's campaign stood by Biden, saying the comments were a variation on remarks he makes often about the need to "unshackle" the middle class. The campaign said the metaphor was meant to counter Republican calls to unshackle the private sector from Obama-backed regulations.
But the remark still proved to be a distraction, prompting Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter to issue a statement calling the Romney campaign's outrage "hypocritical."
"Let's return to that 'substantive' debate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan promised 72 hours ago, but quickly abandoned," she said in a statement.
The flurry over Biden's remarks underscored what the Obama team knows is a constant risk with the vice president — that his penchant for speaking off the cuff can sometimes result in inartful or off-color comments.
In a less-noticed gaffe Tuesday, Biden told the crowd he was confident their support would help the Obama-Biden ticket carry North Carolina. He was speaking in Virginia at the time.
Still, Obama's campaign sees Biden as one of its most valuable assets. The Scranton, Pa., native has a more natural appeal to working-class voters in battleground states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. He also has willingly embraced the traditional vice presidential attack-dog role, often launching the campaign's most vigorous criticisms of Romney, and now Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan.
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Associated Press writer Kasie Hunt in Chillicothe, Ohio, contributed to this report.
What p***** me off the most is the purposeful devisiveness the Obama admin has promoted by pitting the poor, lazy and minorities against those who are more successful than them. The country is being ruined by a shifting paradigm that being successful is now seen as disdainful.
Biden the un known VP is an A Hole. I guess there is a reason we havent heard much of him in the 4 years he's served. What a Jerk.
They all should get to the damn ISSUES instead of blaming on each other,fighting each
other for no good reasons,that's not good for our country !
Biden knew exactly what he was saying - he got a response which is what he was looking for .
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The crazy thing is it was Republicans that helped free the slaves not the Democrats. Funny how history gets distorted.
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Republicans want black Americans (ALL Americans) to be able to make it on their own and be free from Entitlements (Social Slavery). That is not to say an individual doesn't need government help from time to time. BUT we have GENERATION after GENERATION in many cases living off the government - that is economic slavery and what the Democrats support!
VP Biden's remark was uncalled for and based on campaign rhetoric that the "Big Banks" are one of the enemies of the poor and middle class minority groups. I can understand what he meant just that he may have taken it a bit to far. So shame on him, but shame on Romney too for taking what the VP had said way out of context.
C'mon folks, no matter what you gotta admit this is hilarious! Im black and this is hands down the funniest thing I've seen in weeks!
All you Republicans and Democrats stand by your party so stubbornly while also pointing out how both parties are privy to the same hypocrisy, yet nobody wants to vote for a 3rd party....what is wrong with everyone?  Both major parties are destructive and it's time we let some other voices into our decision making process.
 @virtual anomaly Amen. Maybe in ANOTHER four years, when the rich start losing money due to failed policies, and broken promises, the "sheep" will awaken and put their money into a PROMISING future, and a NEW way. Until then, the rest of us will just to have to suck it up, and bide our time. This current political "regime" WILL end. Google "democratic government longevity"......the average is about 200 years. Greed ALWAYS destroys democracy. Guess what........
@LoudNoises I've heard about that 200 years thing...unfortunately I still believe in democracy. Just that the people need to wake up and start voting for a diverse candidate pool. The same two parties running things and working together to keep other voices out of "their" domain is not what democracy should be.  Unless people step up and start voting for candidates who challenge the status quo we may not re-write history.
 @virtual anomaly  @LoudNoises We'd better re write something SOON. We're circling the bowl. However, on a good note, I've seen more public awareness of government corruption this election than in any other. A step in the right direction? I believe in Democracy too, when it's applied as it was MEANT to.
Using underlying tones of "racism" in a speech? Obama's puppet would NEVER do such a thing! After all, they ARE as transparent as Casper The Friendly Ghost......right? Or would Biden call him a "SPOOK"........just to play the race card? Hmmmmmmm.
"Romney called Biden's comment "another outrageous charge" and added: "The White House sinks a little bit lower"
I say Biden took that play right out of Romney's play book. Romney said for the 3rd time he would like to stop the negative ads. This after smearing his own peeps with massive nasty ads, so many Romney could not keep up with them.
So, take like a man Mitt, it is your game.
Remember all the mainstream media could talk about a couple of weeks ago was Romneys "gaffs" on his trip to the Mideast and Europe. And it all started when Romney while on a trip to Israel and declared Jerusalem was Israel's capital. Immediately the mainstream media jumped Romney for his "gaff." Didn't seem to matter to the mainstream idiots that Jerusalem IS the capital of Israel.Â
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Meanwhile they ignore this:Â
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http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/joebiden/a/bidenisms.htm
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And who can forget this moron?
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http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama-isms.htm
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@ByeByeBarry You say it is the capital and so does Mitt. The Israelis call Jerusalem the capital.
Reagan, Nixon, Clinton, Ford, Carter, Bush H, Bush W say Tel Aviv is the capital. If you understood the politics of this country, whichn don't seem to. You would know that Palestinehas some legitimate claim to half of the city and the Israelis have been trying to push them out.
Study the region before you side with Mitty or you will seem as stup as he is.
@ByeByeBarry  Fortunatly they don't let Biden give speeches overseas or we'd probably be in at least one more war by now.
 @Mej47 I like that, Biden, the WMD.Â
 @ByeByeBarry The truth is, I love gaffes, no matter who is saying them. Biden, Obama, Quayle, Palin, I love 'em all.Â
 @kennewickmanÂ
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And that's fine. But the problem arises when you have a media whose job it is to bring the facts and report the truth to the American people so that they can make informed educated choices on election day and instead that media chooses to highlight mistakes by Republicans, painting them as fools, while totally ignoring the same kinds of mistakes made by Democrats. When Palin mispoke she was a fool. And who can forget when Dan Quayle spelled potato with a "e" on the end, we never heard the end of it. Then there was Bush's pronunciation of the word nuclear. The list goes on and on. But right now we have two of the most gaff prone executives in history in dumb and dumber and the mainstream media either ignores their constant barrage of mistakes or makes excuses for them.  Â
 @ByeByeBarry It is all perspective, the press loves screw-ups by anyone.Â
But on a friendlier note on the topic of gaffes, just in case you haven't heard of them, every year, by Christmas tradition, my wife gives me a "Stupidest Things Ever Said" calendar. They are one of these page-a-day things. I keep one in my office by the very computer where I type out our daily congenial correspondence. Â The gist is that every morning, I can grab my coffee, wander into my office and read some refreshingly and incredibly stupid thing some person once said. You gotta get one.Â
What a despicable race baiter!
 @gotrhythm Yeah, can you believe that Mitt is trying to stir up the white folks with his contrived outrage?
I am offering a new campaign slogan for Romney and Ryan. Utah will eat this one up!
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"ROMNEY / RYAN - The White and Delightsome Candidates!"
 @kennewickman So I wonder if a tanning booth tax would be racist... in any way? Because you see blacks and browns don't... oh... never mind..
 @kennewickman y do you have to bring race into this? dont worry im not expecting an answer from you since you never cant just simpily answer my questions.
@takingamericaback oh no, not you again...
 @takingamericaback Because the way a candidate really feels about race is relevant. Mitt Romney has such a lack of character and lack of integrity that he let his devotion to a bizarre cult override any sense of human decency. He wasn't some young kid, he was 31 years old when the Mormons, facing several lawsuits, finally had a sudden and magic revelation which resulted in a change in their theology. It is not his fault that he was taught at an early age that black were inferior but any decent human being would have repudiated such a despicable theology long before age 31. Let's face it, Mitt is a sociopath and will do or say anything to satisfy whatever crowd is in front of him. The last thing we should ever expect Mitt to do is show even an ounce of personal integrity.Â
 @takingamericaback Oh, please! The black panther thing has been blown out of proportion. As well, the Southern Poverty Law Center does classify the New Black Panthers as a hate group and encourages them to be treated as such, hardly some left-wing cover up. I personally think anyone threatening a voter should be tossed in jail for, let's see, forever. As to your first question, Mitt and Paul won't talk about race unless they have to. Mitt knows to avoid the issue for the obvious reasons, his track record is not pretty.Â
 @kennewickman has mitt or ryan said anything about race? no they have not the left are the only ones talking about race. since you wanna talk about race though how come nothing has happened to the black panthers when they were standing outside of toll booths waving clubs around intimdating voters? why was nothing done when the organization put a bounty on the head of george zimmerman regardless weather zimmerman was wrong or right its still against the law to put a bounty on somebody's head but obama did not address it niether did our attorney general eric holder.
A rebuke from Mitt about chains? Yeah right! Mitt thinks we are stupid. Mitt is the moron who just added Paul Ryan to his ticket. Paul Ryan, the sponsor of a national "personhood" bill that would have effectively outlawed all abortions and birth control. Yeah, not physical chains made of metal but just a way to legally chain women nonetheless. Gosh, it also turns out that Ryan sponsored a bill that would let hospitals deny emergency abortions to women even if the life of the woman was in danger.Â
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Biden is right on the money with that remark.Â
 @kennewickman Pot meet kettle. Biden and his buddies have put plenty of chains on us. This is what happens when we have a government that is about nothing more than controlling every aspect of our lives regardless of what party they belong to.
 @Dan Sherman Well, our job as citizens is to repel those who would chain us. Biden was right, Romney and his corporate cronies do want to put chains on us, these particular chains just happen to look like McDonalds uniforms.Â
 @kennewickman Corporate cronies? Heh... You might want to take that one out of your "Hating Romney for Dummies Book."  Do we REALLY have to delve in  (for my gazillionth time) about Obama and his corporate floozies?
This certainly won't be the last dumb remark coming out of Biden's mouth over the next few months.
 @glamdring2012 The only thing dumb about Biden's remark is that he didn't remind the audience how Romney thought it was okay to be part of a church that treated blacks as animals because they weren't "white and delightsome" enough.Â
@kennewickman  It doesn't seem to bother you that Obama spent twenty years sitting in a church that preached racial hatred or that Harry Reid is also a member of the same racist cult that Romney belongs to. I guess a person's religion can only count against them if they have an R beside their name. Not really surprised.
 @virtual anomaly That is not a bad desire but, at least for the foreseeable future, it can only be a fantasy. Human nature mitigates against your dream. As humans we team up, we seek allies and we form alliances. Alliances of 2 or 3 soon become 10 or 15 and those eventually would become parties. You say you vote on principle. Dude, we all do. Take a look at the abortion issue, one side supports personal freedom, the other does not. It is really as simple as that. I vote for the principle of personal freedom, you call it voting a "party line". If only Democrats support personal freedom, I have to vote solely for Democrats. Those who are against personal freedom for women will vote for the Republicans.
@kennewickman
Yes a third party, and then a 4th, 5th and 6th, until there are no "parties" just different candidates with their own individual points of view. I don't vote along party lines and I wish no one else did either. I vote for principle based on the actions and promises of each individual candidate.
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Your "rationale" is the same reason why we are stuck with two parties that control everything, rather than having 100 INDIVIDUAL Senators and individual Representatives.
@virtual anomaly And your solution is, let me guess, a third party. Don't confuse defeatism with rationality.
@kennewickman Such a defeatist attitude...
 @virtual anomaly You will get no disagreement from me. The Patriot Act violates our Constitution in about 100 different ways and should be repealed and government officials jailed for violating sacred Constitutional provisions. However, the fix is in on this one, the courts included. The American public could change this but the American public seems to want this "security theater" stuff and until they want their Constitution more, it ain't gonna change. A third party could help but the American people would have to act collectively and everybody hates each other too much to work together. Sorry guy, I hate to say it but this one is beyond the control of the citizens right now. You can't fight both parties at the same time.Â
@kennewickman @Mej47 I believe both parties are accepting the use of cameras, drones, and other robotic/electronic means of policing the citizenry...is that not intrusive? How about the Patriot Act...the single most intrusive piece of legislation this country has ever seen, I don't see ANY democrat or republican talking about repealing this appalling side-step of our constitution.
@Mej47
Don't confuse with with an Obama fan. I am actually not that big of a fan of him due to his failure to pursue true Church/State Separation. He claimed he would in his run-up to being elected but then he went all squishy on the topic. But, compared to the other products available out there, I gotta go with what is the least caustic to our Constitution.
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You don't really even need to think about this much. Romney, and especially Ryan, actually support giving the government the power to reach into the personal life of a woman and, with the full force and weight of the government, control her personal reproductive choices. That does it for me right there and it really isn't even about abortion, it is about ceding an insane level of intrusive authority to the gov't. I can't do that, Americans should have autonomy in their personal lives and not support those who would intrude in the lives of the citizenry.Â
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 @Mej47 Like I said, he has a glaring double standard. He then plays ignorant like he doesn't see it.
 @kennewickman its also funny how obama and biden cannot run on there record and they know it so they have to trash mitt and ryan
 @takingamericaback You know the truth is that every time you guys say this I want to reach through the computer and give you a big ol' hug. The reason for this feeling is because you unknowingly are admitting what we leftists already know. Deep down, you know that Romney's and Ryan's records are very troubling and you rightly fear the consequences of having the attention of the voters directed to their previous records. The only bad thing is that, no matter how often you plead or even beg us, we know that the best route to prevent America from being turned over to corporate thugs is to just let the people really know who your guys really are. So, I sadly have to say that, while I freely acknowledge that you have asked us to talk about the things that Obama will be doing in his second term, we will do what is most effective to secure his re-election and that is talk about the stuff before Romney's never-to-be-had term.Â
 @kennewickman It sure is entertaining watching you try to defend Biden's gaffe. All you can come up with are attacks on Romney's religion. If you are going to attack Romney for being a Mormon, than why not attack Biden for being a Catholic while you are at it? I know you have lots of disdain for both religions. I guess with you, a politician should only come under fire for their religious beliefs if they have an "R" next to their name.
@glamdring2012 Oh how I love your mental gymnastics that you employ to get around the point that Biden was ahead of church leaders, Romney never has been nor will he ever be. Harry Reid is just as guilty as Romney, I wouldn't vote for him if there was another Democrat I could vote for.
 @kennewickman  And Joe Biden (a lifelong Catholic), didn't change his stance on gay marriage until he was 69. And he is still a practicing Roman Catholic...a church that doesn't punish their priests who abuse and rape little boys, and protects them instead. So by your very own reasoning, he must support all the actions of his church, or else he would leave it.
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See how ridiculous and flawed your argument is? At least I'm not stupid enough to judge Biden based on whatever the Catholic Church does, the way you judge Romney based on whatever the Mormon Church does (or did in the past). Like what has been said before...the only reason you have such a problem with Romney being a Mormon, is because of the "R" next to his name. Do you think Harry Reid (also a Mormon) is a racist as well? Do you think Obama agreed with everything his radical pastor Jeremiah Wright said, because he sat in those pews and listened to him for 20 years? Of course you don't.
 @glamdring2012 BTW, you do realize that you are supporting a guy who was part of a racist religion well into his adulthood, right? You good with that are you? Probably you are it seems.Â
 @glamdring2012 Dude, Mitt was 31 before they changed their faith for monetary reasons. 1978 isn't all that long ago for a politician Romney's age.
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But hey, maybe Mitt was just out of touch for awhile and wasn't really paying attention to the news all that much. You are right, I am glad that Mitt was happy to be in a church that classified blacks as too inferior to be part of their priesthood for a full ten years after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Maybe he never heard about that and therefore really couldn't be expected to think blacks were human.Â
 @kennewickman The Mormon Church hasn't held those views about blacks in years. Why should Romney have to come out and "make a statement" against something his church doesn't even teach anymore? Does that mean Biden needs to "make a statement" against every bad thing the Catholic Church has ever done or taught in their history, and if he doesn't...that automatically means he must support it? I don't think so.
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Sorry, but there's no "facts" to see here. Just your double standard.
 @glamdring2012 I gotta say you are like some abused spouse, you are fighting recognizing the facts before you. The problem is that he never made any statement against it. At least Biden came out and said he differed from the policy guys in his church. That is no small deal for a religious person who is taught from childhood that the leaders know better. It is a statement that says "I am following my own conscience and am not beholden to you to ever think for me again." I want that kind of guy in the government, not some conniving sociopath always trying to find some statement of ambiguity that never puts him at risk and always too protective of his position to ever stick his neck out.Â
And do you have proof that Romney was tied with the racist aspects of Mormonism back then? Do you have some old quote of his or something to back up your claim with? Or, do you only assume that because he is a Mormon, he automatically must have held those racist views?
 @glamdring2012 It is too bad that you cannot see the difference. Mitt waited to distance himself from the racist aspects of Mormonism only after the leaders of the Utah cult recanted. I have to wonder if his church had not recanted, would Mitt still be quoting the "white and delightsome" nonsense. Importantly, when Biden recently pronounced his support of gay marriage, he did while his church still condemns it. Biden stuck his neck out and did the right thing in spite of being affiliated with a craven religion. So, the difference is, one guy thinks civil rights are important enough to place above his religion, the other guy does not. Â
 @kennewickman  Your claim is that Mitt Romney is a racist because he is a Mormon. You are defining his views of black people based solely on what his religion used to teach. You don't apply those same standards to Biden. With Biden, you give him a free pass because you know he disagrees with his church on gays. With Romney, you don't care whether he disagrees with what his church used to teach about blacks or not...you still call him a racist for even being part of a church that held those views on blacks. By those same standards, you should be calling Biden a homophobe for knowingly being part of a church that is against gay marriage and teaches homosexuality is a sin....but you won't do that, because you apply completely different standards to him than you do to Romney. If you can't see where your double standard lies, then I guess you just aren't as smart as you try to make yourself out to be.
 @glamdring2012 No double standards here. Joe has actively participated in civil rights issues, Mitt has not. And that, good sir, is the difference.Â
 @kennewickman And Romney is not a racist and does not see black people as 2nd class citizens despite what his religion taught in the past. You have an obvious double standard, good sir.
 @glamdring2012 I guess subtle details escape you. Joe supports gay marriage in spite of his religion which me he places civil law above the primitive creeds. Mitt does not support gay marriage which means he places civil law below his primitive creed. It is only by pushing such creeds to the background that we advance as a society.Â
 @kennewickman But isn't Joe part of a religion that teaches homosexuality is evil? If being a Mormon automatically makes Mitt Romney a racist...doesn't being a Catholic automatically make Joe Biden a homophobe?
 @glamdring2012 Joe is indeed a Catholic. Somehow he manages to be a decent human being in spite of that handicap.Â
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Mitt doesn't seem to be able to figure that part out.Â