'Regular Joe' Wades Into Fray

If VP candidates are a campaign’s attack dog, Joe Biden is “a big, thirsty St. Bernard,” who loves kissing babies and getting in the mix, reports the LA Times. Now that the media obsession with Sarah Palin is fading, reporters are remembering that Biden is still out on the hustings. And with his “folksy stories and plain speak,” he may be winning people over.

Biden plays up his working-class Catholic background, and may be gaining ground with the Rust Belt white voters Obama has struggled to win over —especially with his recent call for the wealthiest 5% to be "patriotic" and cough up more of the tax burden. He shows a Clintonian knack for listening, the Times notes, and his garrulous style “goes over big at a labor union hall in Akron.”