John McCain Catches a Brief Case of the Bidens

One of the most fun things about having Joe Biden in the campaign is that, once he gets on a roll, you never know what he’ll say next. The examples are legion and many of them are highly amusing. This, in fact, is one of the entertainment factors that makes me look forward to tomorrow night’s Vice Presidential debate so much. This morning, however, during an interview with NPR, it seemed as if John McCain stepped off of the Straight Talk Express for a breather and was filled with the spirit of Joe Biden for a few moments.

Given what you’ve said, Senator, is there an occasion where you could imagine turning to Gov. Palin for advice in a foreign policy crisis?

I’ve turned to her advice many times in the past. I can’t imagine turning to Sen. Obama or Sen. Biden, because they’ve been wrong. They were wrong about Iraq, they were wrong about Russia.

But would you turn to Gov. Palin?

I certainly wouldn’t turn to them, and I already have turned to Gov. Palin, particularly on energy issues, and I’ve appreciated her background and knowledge on that and many other issues.

Really? You’ve turned to her many times in the past? I know I’m getting on in years here, but from my dim recollection, it seems to me that John McCain had never even met her until roughly a month ago and had only a single, one hour interview with her prior to announcing her as his pick. Since then, she has spent some of her time back in Alaska and some making individual campaign stops. In this same period, until the financial mess blew up, Senator McCain hasn’t even been back to Washington to cast a vote, debate an issue or perform any of the normal functions of the Senate. What subjects did he specifically require consultation on during these few weeks where he had to tap Governor Palin’s vast experience to formulate his plans and policies?

Methinks that might have been a bit of “off the script” freestyle chatter there. Almost Bidenesque, you might say. Then again, they’ve both been in Congress since Sarah Palin was in second grade, so who knows?

Americablog has some similar observations on the subject.