With the heightened focus on the Republican vice presidential candidate, it was only natural that the Democratic incumbent in that office would say something to get a little attention for himself. Vice President Joseph Biden, the gift that keeps giving to Republicans, wasn’t content to merely criticize Republican policies at a campaign appearance in Danville, Virginia; he claimed the GOP would revive slavery. As the Weekly Standard noted, affecting a drawl for the benefit of his south Virginia audience, Biden lambasted the idea that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would free up Wall Street to create more prosperity:
“Look at their budget, and what they are proposing,” Biden said. “Romney wants to let–he said in the first hundred days, he’s going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. Unchain Wall Street. They going to put y’all back in chains.”
While Democrats may defend this as just another Biden exaggeration, this is a clear-cut case of racial incitement. After all, unless he is referring to Jews being returned to slavery some 3,500 years after the Exodus from Egypt, the only possible allusion here is to the enslavement of African Americans in the south. This is more than just garden-variety political hyperbole. It is an unfortunate example of just how desperate Democrats are to scare voters into backing the president’s re-election.
We can expect Democratic spin masters to excuse this as merely Joe being Joe, the crazy uncle of our political system whose excesses should be tolerated if not smiled at. But what is on display in this video is a willingness to demonize opponents that eclipses the routine nastiness we’ve become accustomed to during elections. Biden’s comment is at the level of 9/11 truther–let alone an Obama birther. But this is more than just another example of how hypocritical mainstream liberal complaints are about civility in politics.
The Biden blast shows that in this election, there is literally nothing to which the Obama campaign would not stoop in order to besmirch their opponents. If, 
as Seth wrote earlier today, liberals are prepared to call Romney and Ryan “murderers,” why wouldn’t they claim the GOP is in favor of slavery?
While some conservatives are guilty of uncivil behavior, the Biden gaffe (and it will be interesting to see if liberals are prepared to admit it was a gaffe rather than a justified comment) points out commentator Dennis Prager’s insight about the difference between the left and the right. Most conservatives merely think liberals are wrong. Most liberals really believe most conservatives are evil.
While it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable — a character trait for which Ryan is well-known — to expect civility from someone who thinks his opponent is beyond the pale is to demand more than a partisan such as Biden can manage. As long as liberals are prepared to demonize Republicans in this manner, we must expect more of this kind of despicable behavior from Democrats this fall–if not far worse.
Stephanie Cutthroat Just doubled-down on Biden's slavery remark to Andrea Mitchell. n nBiden thought he was in North Carolina when he said during this VA event that we're going to win NC. n
Actually, I think this shows the desperation of the Obama camp- if, at this stage, they still have to scare their black supporters into voting for them, they are in real trouble. There must be some internal polling showing that even the black vote is not assured!
It is pretty ironic for ANY Democrat to be invoking imagery of slavery when they have kept almost 100% of the black population enthralled on their plantation of dependency for more than a generation, and anyone who manages to runaway they tar as an Uncle Tom.
I disagree with Dennis Prager; I believe liberals are evil, based on their observable behavior.
In the tone and tenor of their political discourse, Democrats know but two settings: vicious and extra-vicious. They simply can't help themselves. It won't be long before someone in Paul Ryan's family is accused of something tantamount to murder.
Please do us all a favor by ignoring the rest of the campaign. It has sunk to levels that even the most hardened cynic would not have expected. At the very least it will drastically reduce chances for a serious talk about the deficit and entitlements. I hope that we can get back to that subject in a non-election year some time in the distance future, because it will not happen anytime soon.