I don't think this has anything to do with experience. I think it's a result of Biden having an IQ well above that of the typical turnip, which is a characteristic that sets him apart from Palin.
Experience is an advantage, as a general rule. It's not actually something that will make someone that's brutally and deliberately ignorant into a competent individual.
In terms of foot in mouth moments? I'd say that he is close. Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Palin, but the media would be all over Biden if he were a Republican. Whatever credibility the man may have had from his years in Congress, he has more than spent over the past four years.
How does one objectively measure political credibility? Honest question. I mean we know when someone has it, or at least has less of it. It seems like a measurement that's impossible to separate from personal bias.
---------- Post added 2012-10-09 at 01:26 AM ----------
The McCain campaign put her out front and center and in everyone's view. You're wondering why she got more attention then than the guy the Obama campaign keeps largely quiet?
Perhaps. I left myself open by making him the singular worst. Bachmann, King, Hank Johnson, and there's probably a couple others in the same territory. Surely he's among the worst though. There doesn't really seem to be any correlation between credibility and experience, that I can see.
---------- Post added 2012-10-08 at 09:28 PM ----------
I don't know. I'm not trying to measure it objectively in this line of posting, as I think we're all on more or less the same page. I probably wouldn't even be interested in chatting with someone that thought Bachmann or Inhofe were actually paragons of virtue.
I can't wrap my head around the idea of President Biden if anything happened to Obama. That just seems weird. Not Palin level bad or anything, just weird.
Frankly I think your personal opinion here is too strong to get past. Biden says some dumb stuff. He's one of those people who just says the first thing that pops into his head, we all know someone like that. But that has nothing to do with this ability to perform his job, which is generally respected by his peers and backed up with a long and effective career.
Being a congressman and being a president are very different jobs. I want wonks in congress. Charisma is a lot more important if you want to be president.
To be honest, I know it probably isn't anywhere near true, but here is my theory on Biden.
Obama has him come out and say something crazy, off the wall, provocative and generally laughable. The media has some fun and basically goes "Oh, well . . . . .that's just 'ol Joe Biden!" Then Obama can come out, not sound like a crazy person, and basically back up what he says.
This probably hasn't happened all the time, but I've seen it happen enough times that I actually think Obama a genius if he is employing that strategy. Biden can practically get away with murder because he simply doesn't have the credibility in the eyes of the public anymore. It just softens those talking points in the future.
I think its more that Obama manages to play the calm methodical guy in the room (and if embedded journalists are to be believed that's how he actually is) and that that helps him look good in the circus that is American politics.