Via Jim Geraghty, we learn something odd about this Joe Biden assertion from his debate with Sarah Palin:

“Look, all you have to do is go down Union Street with me in Wilmington or go to Katie’s Restaurant or walk into Home Depot with me where I spend a lot of time and you ask anybody in there whether or not the economic and foreign policy of this administration has made them better off in the last eight years.”

What’s wrong with that?  Katie’s Restaurant doesn’t exist.

Delaware Online:

Katie’s closed in the 1980s.

Still that shouldn’t stop Biden from doing a photo op at the old haunts.  But a warning:  here’s what the backdrop looks like today.

It’s now a “Wings to Go.”  Must be just left wings.

Former Bush adviser Dan Bartlett describes Joe Biden as “a rhetorical train wreck.”

Looks like being so closely associated with Amtrak is a double-edged sword.

Campaigning in Virginia yesterday, Joe Biden repeated a line he’s been using a lot recently on the campaign trail.  It goes something like this:

Nowhere has Senator McCain been more out of touch than what you have been watching about on your television the last couple of days. The so-called financial turmoil. Senator McCain at 9:00 a.m. yesterday said, yesterday morning, he stated again, “The fundamentals of this economy are strong.” I’m not just saying this to get a boo. I’m saying this to point out just how out of touch John is. At 10:00, as we Catholics say, John had an epiphany.

Which makes us wonder, are we allowed to invoke religion in politics now?

In 1988 Joe Biden had to drop out of the presidential race after claiming a coal-mining lineage that had an amazing resemblance to Neil Kinnock’s life story.

Which makes this item in today’s Bristol Herald Courier all the more curious:

In his first visit to Southwest Virginia, Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, speaking at the United Mine Workers’ annual fish fry here on Saturday, was quick to tout his ties to coal.

“I hope you won’t hold it against me, but I am a hard-coal miner, anthracite coal, Scranton, Pa.,” Biden said. “It’s nice to be back in coal country. … It’s a different accent [in Southwest Virginia] … but it’s the same deal. We were taught that our faith and our family was the only really important thing, and our faith and our family informed everything we did.”

Biden might be well-advised to steer clear of the coal narrative, lest he trip over story lines again.  He might be on firmer ground talking about his experiences as a hockey mom.

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama and the New Yorker…

Sarah Palin and US Weekly …

John McCain and Atlantic Monthly …

Used to be, when magazines went creative with covers, there was a greater purpose. …

The U.S. Department of Journalism has ruled: Charlie Gibson gets a scolding for his Sarah Palin interview.

Sunday’s Washington Post editorial:

For all the focus on her supposed befuddlement about the Bush doctrine, the question was imprecise and Ms. Palin’s initial puzzlement understandable.

Poor Barack Obama and that rear tire …

might soon need a lift from Sarah Palin…

Instapundit points us this way:

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, is an experienced, serious and smart man. But, boy, does he say some curious things. A day on the campaign trail without a cringe-inducing gaffe is a rare blessing. He has not been too blessed lately.

Hooo boy.  Rough going.

Don’t tell that to this lone Biden supporter outside an Iowa debate in December.  She’s probably still out there.

Lots of fascinating data in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Here’s something in particular that caught our attention:

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of …

Barack Obama  58% fav/36% unfav
John McCain   59% / 36%
Joe Biden     51% / 29%
Sarah Palin   58% / 28%

Notice that not only does Sarah Palin have the lowest unfavorable numbers (itself quite a stunner), but check out who’s got the lowest favorable numbers: Joe Biden.  Geez, after 36 years in the Senate, shouldn’t more people like you?

Paul Begala gets off a funny line about the race between Rep. Frank wolf (R-VA) and Democrat Judy Feder:

“Judy is a can of Red Bull, and Frank is a bottle of Ambien pills.”

We agree with Paul — it’s best to keep Ambien away from Congress.