Could Joe Biden be the downfall of the Obama campaign? It's possible that the common American will look at him with the same sort of incredulity that was cast generally on Sarah Palin during the 2008 campaign (thanks to her unflattering portrayals in the media). But the White House isn't giving up on him. From The Hill:

Republicans are being “ridiculous” and are trying to “distract attention” with their focus on Vice President Biden and his controversial comments earlier this week, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

“They know that what they're saying about this is ridiculous," Carney said at a briefing with reporters, adding that it's an “obvious” attempt to take attention away from policy issues.

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign lashed out at Biden and President Obama this week after the vice president in an address in Virginia said the Republican’s approach to the financial industry would “put y’all back in chains.” Biden made the remarks in front of a racially mixed audience.

If it wasn't that bad, then why did the Biden camp try to cover it up? Why the fascist and unprecidented crackdown on the press coverage? From The Blaze:

Pool reports, written by members of the traveling press and then shared with the media at large, are standard practice on the campaign trail. As Martin noted, they’re sent to White House staffers who then forward them to a distribution list:

But on two occasions during Biden’s Virginia trip, his staff sought to have certain elements in the reports highlighted while reporters drafted them and discussed the contents with the reporters after the summaries had been sent but before they had before sent to the broader media.

Staffers spinning reporters to frame events the best they can is, of course, commonplace in politics. But attempting to intervene in the drafting of accounts that reporters share with one another is all but unheard of and reflects the deep concern Biden’s team has about offering any fodder to the opposition.

NBC News’ White House correspondent and political director Chuck Todd called the report “an outrage” and said the pool system must be changed to keep out any White House interference.