Creigh Deeds: Biden v. Wilder

Joe Biden is the Old Faithful of national politics. Every 90 minutes or so, another torrent of nonsense gushes from his mouth.

The vice president was in particularly fine form the other day when he swung through Virginia. During an appearance at J. Sargeant Reynolds, he said the country would go bankrupt without massive expenditures. "People, when I say that, look at me and say, 'What are you talking about, Joe? You're telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?' The answer is yes."

Later, Biden attended a fundraiser for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds. Biden called Deeds the authentic "real deal" -- the kind of politician who sticks to his principles: "The thing I love about this guy is he will not change his brand."

That would be news to Doug Wilder. The former governor declined to get involved in the Democratic primary this spring -- and he had some uncomplimentary things to say about Deeds' shifting positions on hot-button issues. (Deeds used to oppose efforts to close the so-called gun-show loophole; now he supports them. He voted for the state's marriage amendment; now he calls it a mistake. He used to support a ban on partial-birth abortion; now he opposes it.)

"What Creigh is saying now is, 'I've changed my philosophy,' " Wilder said a while back. "Suppose we had elected you before? Would you have changed?" "What are you talking about, Joe?" probably is something Biden hears a lot. And if it isn't, it probably should be.