AFP - Vice President Joe Biden inadvertently tossed raw meat
to Republican rivals Tuesday barely 24 hours ahead of the first
presidential debate, saying the middle class has been "buried" during
the last four years.
With President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney laying
low ahead of Wednesday's Denver showdown, their running mates battled
for the spotlight, and Republicans suggested Biden's gaffe marked a
stunning admission five weeks away from the November 6 election.
"How they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that's been
buried in the last four years," Biden, addressing supporters in North
Carolina, said in reference to the period he and Obama have been leading
the nation.
The White House quickly sought to douse the flames, saying Biden was
talking about how president George W. Bush's policies continued to hurt
the middle class deep into Obama's term.
And Biden himself offered up his own correction in a tweet from his
official Twitter feed: "'The middle class was buried by the policies
that Romney and Ryan have supported."
But the Republicans, who argue that the middle class has been hard
hit by four years of an Obama economy, let fly in the blink of an eye.
"Agree with @JoeBiden, the middle class has been buried the last 4
years, which is why we need a change in November," said a tweet from
Mitt Romney's official Twitter account.
Romney's running mate Paul Ryan issued a scathing response.
"Unemployment has been above eight percent for 43 months. Our economy
is limping along right now. Vice President Biden, just today, said that
the middle class, over the last four years, has been 'buried.' We
agree," he told a rally in Iowa.
"That means we need to stop digging by electing Mitt Romney the next president of the United States."
Republicans suggested it would be an easy punchline for Romney during Wednesday's prime-time debate.
"Thank you Vice President Biden," former New Hampshire governor John
Sununu, an aggressive Romney surrogate, quipped to reporters.
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