WASHINGTON - It’s been a busy week for Delaware Senator Joe Biden. First, he announced that he was throwing his hat in the ring to be the Democratic Party's nominee in the 2008 presidential election. Just 24 hours later, he found himself at the center of unwanted media attention for his statement that presidential hopeful Barack Obama is the “the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Meeting with reporters today, Biden explained his statement.“I did not mean to say that Barack is the first clean African American,” said Biden. “What I meant to say is that Barack is the first clean African American who is also articulate, bright and nice looking. Certainly, Jesse Jackson seems clean, but he isn’t mainstream. Al Sharpton is articulate, but he’s not very clean with all that gel in his hair. Shirley Chisolm was articulate and bright, but she wasn’t easy on the eyes.” Biden added about Obama: “Believe me, I’ve seen him showering in the Senate locker room, and this may sound a little bit homo, but I think he’s nice looking.”
Last year, Biden was criticized for his statement “you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.” Responding to criticism from minority groups that he is not in touch with the challenges still facing minorities, Biden shot back, “Everyone knows that I wasn’t serious about the Dunkin’ Donuts thing. There are lots of Indians working in those little junk shops and gas stations too.”
