"do the bloggers that pile on Biden really believe that he is racist, or are you just playing piling on for fun?"

Can't speak for others, but for myself the answer is: just for fun.

    Do we really have to go over this again.  If Trent Lott had said those things, what would you think?  So now we're the hypocrites for pointing out his bigoted comments?  I don't think so.

Kathleen Sebelius is one of my favorite politicians in the country.  She's done a jam-up job in Kansas and would be a great addition to any ticket.  (She also had, in my humble opinion, the best TV ads of the entire 2006 election cycle.  I especially loved the paper clips one.)

Richardson is indeed looking svelte.  I was blown away by the difference in his appearance from when he visited SC in June versus his latest visit a few weeks ago.  I asked him staffers how much weight he'd lost, and they said about 50 lbs!  Of the candidates who've visited SC so far, Richardson's one-on-one people skills are unmatched.

Are these Saturday speeches posted anywhere yet?  Any links yet?  I couldn't find them.  

You can see Edwards' speech from Friday at:
http://www.vsocial.com/video/?d=68265

Actually, you can see all the speeches from Friday at:  
http://www.c-span.org/

If this were coming from someone without a recent history for mind-numbingly ignorant remarks, then you may have a point.

But Biden's the guy who commented about needing a "slight Indian accent" to go to a 7-11 or Dunkin Donuts in Delaware. Or that Delaware tried to secede but couldn't because there were a couple other states in the way...and that the latter comment was made as a blatant pander to a conservative audience.

One comment on its own can be a mistake. But several borderline (or flat-out ignorant) comments in a year indicates Biden has a real problem. No, he's not a racist--I'd use that term quite sparingly, even for repugs. But he does seem to play fast and loose with racial and ethnic stereotypes in a way that betrays a real insensitivity to the issue.

Those are the kinds of thing you expect from you crotchety old uncle, not from a presidential candidate.

I'm not a blogger, so I haven't had a chance to make a big deal about Biden's remarks, but I think Biden is clearly tone-deaf when it comes to racial issues and the African-American experience in this country. Does that make him racist? I dunno. Not really in a usual sense of the word, but that's kind of a semantic argument that I'm not interested in. I'm sure he doesn't look at, say, John Lewis and think bad thoughts, for instance.

But he's definitely guilty of having zero sensitivity to African-Americans. You just don't try to make a connection with a Southern audience by bragging on your state's history as a slave state if you has any sensitivity at all or value the African-American community. And the words he used in this case ("articulate" in particular) reek of paternalistic attitudes toward African-American politicians ("Oh, look, he doesn't sound black!") He certainly may not have meant it that way (Obama really is extremely articulate compared to anyone in politics today), but ... it's just one of the minefields someone like Bill Clinton would just instinctively know to avoid. Without the previous comments (like the Slave state one), and without the disrespect for Jesse Jackson, Mosley-Braun, etc, Biden could probably have gotten away with calling Obama articulate, but ... with the whole package, he just stepped right on the landmine. Boom.

* Biden seemed very tired, he can be a good speaker, but it obviously has been a rough week.  The good news is that he kept it short.

* Richardson was the clear "winner" of the day.  Lots of stanging ovations, etc.  The problem was that he started off talking about how he did not want to give a usual political speech -- there was real anticipation that he would be different -- then he gave a usual political speech, albiet a good one.  He did look great.  I think Richardson has the most "breakout" potential among the second tier.  Expect to hear a lot more about New Mexico, but not much about the real reason for his state's fiscal success -- plenty of easy revenue from gas drilling.

* Vilsack opened talking about his remarkable personal story -- we are going to hear a lot about his early years as an orphan.  Its always a tough role to close a meeting like the DNC.  I did not think he was up to it.  Vilsack is just so low key and the already distracted Dems had little reason to pay attention.  The teachers in the room liked his attack on "No Child Left Behind."

In evaluating whether Gravel's is a vanity candidacy, remember that he is one of the self-admiring VP candidates who helped push McGovern's acceptance speech til 2 am EDT.  He even seconded his own nomination.

Biden's problem is not shadow stereotypes, but emitting first-draft thoughts.  Most chain convenience stores and doughnut shops in Northern Delaware are owned by South Asians.  Delaware was indeed a slave border state with a secessionist element.  Wallace drew 19 percent in Delaware's middle county in 1968.  Biden has said that he considered entering politics as a Republican in those days because in Delaware its leaders were superior to Democrats on race.

I was at the Friday session, and I got a flier from the College Democrats.  They're aiming to get to 10,000 on facebook in the next two months!  I managed to avoid laughing out loud after the Obama stories here on mydd.

...because of his Delaware comments. His Obama comments just make me think he's a condescending elitist, but the Delware as a Confederate State line really substantively bothers me. And I don't he has apologized for it yet.

Vilsack has not been a particularly popular or successful governor, IMHO. He made some incredibly bad decisions concerning appointments to the Board of Regents of the state universities with the upshot being a feactured board, multiple resignations, a spectacularly messed up presidential search for the president of the University of Iowa, and very bad feelings in a system that has previously been pretty smooth-running as such things go. He has also been unable to make progress on many of the economic and political issues facing Iowans (property tax reform, increasing cigarette taxes). Granted, he had a fractious state house and senate, but leaders need to be effective in producing wins even when the stars are not well-aligned. I can't see the orphan story being enough to outweigh his record in Iowa.

Since Kathleen Sebelius speaks your language, perhaps you could translate the phrase "a Democratic trimvate" for us?

I'm guessing "triumvirate", but even so, what three men would she be referring to?

Communication and controlling message are not merely a means of winning the "interview" to get the job of president, but are in fact required on-the-job skills.  Biden apparently did not realize that millions of Black Americans find the term "articulate" directed at them to be condescending in the extreme; Biden is theoretically in the Democratic politics business, or so it is rumored.  

It's sort of like an attorney not realizing that he or she has to wear a business suit to court.  Who cares if the attorney graduated top 10% of his class; the bottom 90% knows how to show up dressed.  Of course, this precise example is terrible for Biden, since he is known for academic (ahem) records issues in his not-too-bad study at a not-too-bad law school, whereas the now-blessed-by-Biden-as-articulate! Obama graduated Harvard Law and was Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Law Review, making him the most accomplished law student his graduating year on the entire North American continent.  So who is articulate now, Joe?