Circular Firing Squad Watch

Joe Biden comes into the race with a fairly firm grasp on the number six spot on my personal list of the top five Democratic prospects for '08, but that's got little to do with anything he's got to say about his competition.

Whatever you may think of his judgment of Senator Obama, though, it's worth noting that over the course of the extended campaign period we're experiencing this time around, it's likely that every one of our candidates will say something intemperate, ambiguous, misguided or arguably offensive. If we're going to declare them all D.O.A. when the inevitable occurs, we might as well concede the election now and save a lot of time, money and trouble.

Personally, I think John Edwards, and by extension all of the Americans who agree on the need for a prompt withdrawal from Iraq (waving my own hand in the air here) got the worst of Biden's fire, anyway.