Biden Says Middle Class ‘Has Been Buried Last Four Years’

[JRLeft]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Vice President Joe Biden, criticizing Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan for a plan he said will raise taxes on the middle class, instead stepped on his campaign’s message by saying the middle class has been “buried” over the last four years — the time President Obama has been in office.

“This is deadly earnest. How they can justify, how they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that has been buried the last four years, how in the Lord’s name can they justify raising their taxes. We’ve seen this movie before,” Biden said to a crowd of 1,000 at the Fillmore Charlotte.

Tune in to ABCNews.com on Wednesday for livestreaming coverage of the first 2012 Presidential Debate from Denver, Colo. Coverage kicks off with ABC News’ live preview show at noon, and full debate coverage begins at 8 p.m.

The Republican National Committee and the Romney campaign quickly pounced on a statement. The RNC circulated the clip and the Romney campaign called Biden’s comments a “stunning admission.”

“Vice President Biden made a stunning admission today and we couldn’t agree more: the middle class has been ‘buried’ under the last four years of this President’s policies. Under President Obama, the middle class has suffered from crushing unemployment, rising prices and falling incomes. They can’t afford to be ‘buried’ for four more years. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will take our nation in a new direction and are offering exactly what hardworking families need – real reforms for a real recovery,” Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said in a statement.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/biden-says-middle-class-has-been-buried-last-four-years/

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Stupid comment that plays right into the Republicans' hands.

[JRLeft]

2. I agree the dems have to go into damage control.

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. Coverage of the debate will make this a half day story at best

If Obama had said it instead of Biden it would be more valuable for the Republicans to use in ads, but it's just Joe being Joe. He's actually right and he won't have a problem explaining his point in the VP debate

[Laurian]

3. They have been buried for the last four years due to Repuke obstructionism!

They are so f***ing desperate that they are pulling ANY string they can find.

Preach it Joe!

[JRLeft]

4. This will have a negative effect on the president.

[Jennicut]

7. Please.

Repubs caused the policies that led to the middle class (and those poorer) having the problems they have had for the last 4 years. Obama did his best for two years but then had a Repub House.
The MSM tries really hard to find anything to pelt at the President and it doesn't seem to be working. Most people still blame Bush for where we are.

[BeyondGeography]

5. Ugh...you must be kidding, Joe

Inept.

[MrSlayer]

6. We HAVE been buried the last four years.

I'm still out of work. I've been getting killed the past four years but it's the aftershock of the horrific republican policies that are keeping me and mine down.

So he's just telling the truth.

[gkhouston]

9. ^^ This. n/t

[fugop]

8. Ludicrous to call this a gaffe

Dems would be absolutely spineless to let anyone call this a gaffe. The response is: buried for the last four years due to the economic collapse brought on by eight years of Republican policies.

It's a simple response aided by the fact that it's true. I can't believe any on our side would buy into labeling this a gaffe. Shame on us.

[BeyondGeography]

10. Still digging out from the worst recession...

How hard would it be to get the wording right the first time? Not a gaffe, but an unforced error that a professional should't make.

[Laurian]

15. The man has been going non-stop for months. Give him a break, will you?

I can't believe the way we jump on our own over petty shit.

[fugop]

16. What can I say? I disagree

I think the wording was fine, and if they jump on this, I see Obama and the Dems - if they attack back instead of folding - making HUGE hay out of this. Because all they have to do is remind the public WHY we've been buried for the past four years. And poll after poll has shown that the American people absolutely understand - all GOP claims to the contrary - that our troubles over the past four years came about thanks to Bush and the GOP policies that caused the collapse in the first place.

Frankly, I think they should be made to regret trying to make this a gaffe. And I honestly think it will be incredibly easy to turn this right around on them and remind the voters once again why we've been in trouble for four years (hint: it's not because of Obama and the Democrats).

So yea. Go for it. As far as I'm concerned, one good question about this tomorrow night and Obama freakin' NAILS Romney with the reasons why the middle class is digging its way out of a hole they were knocked into by Bush and the GOP. And the reasons why we're starting to dig out and must refuse to go back.

So again. Yea. Bring it on, I say. As long as Obama and the Dems don't turn on Joe here, which is what they so often do. They need to back him up and go all in on the statement, hammering the fact that the middle class IS buried thanks to the same policies Romney wants to revive. They lose.

[Jennicut]

20. They already did.

In a statement, Obama spokeswoman Lis Smith also clarified Biden’s earlier comment. “As the Vice President has been saying all year and again in his remarks today, the middle class was punished by the failed Bush policies that crashed our economy — and a vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan is a return to those failed policies,” she said,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/02/joe-biden-corrects-himself/?wprss=rss_politics

I think this is a stretch as a "gaffe". It's so incredibly petty. He obviously meant exactly what we have been saying here. It is not Mittens saying "47%". I think some people on DU worry about weirdest stuff sometimes. This is up there with the "2012 is so going to be stolen by Romney and therefore I will be miserable for the rest of the election".

[fugop]

21. Good. I hope they stand firmly behind Joe on this.

The Romney campaign is desperate and reaching for anything. Dems need to be confident and stay unified. Joe spoke the truth. Thanks to the GOP policies that led to the economic crash, the middle class has been screwed and is trying to dig itself out of a hole. And we're not going back to those crappy policies. If they stand strong, we win.

[RBInMaine]

19. Oh Christ, and you're perfect? He misphrased the line. He'll clarify and it will be done.Let it sink

[RBInMaine]

17. Nah, this was a gaffe. He was saying it has been tough but don't want to return to failed policies

that made the mess in the first place and saddle the middle class with taxes when they need a tax cut. He flubbed his line. People know what he meant.

[ChazII]

23. Agreed n/t

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. Guess the election is over now!

[JRLeft]

13. No, but it will have an effect.

[RBInMaine]

18. He will clarify his statement and this will last a day or two at most. This was a gaffe. That's all.

[littlewolf]

14. political ad coming .... nt

[LTR]

22. THIS is the best they got???

Please. Biden's right. Republican policies of the last decade buried the middle class. Nice try, losers!