Opinion: Joe Biden can spell, but counting is another matter

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Dan Quayle’s image -- justified or not -- as an in-over-his-head vice president was well-established by 1992. But as he and his president, George H.W. Bush, sought reelection that year, any chance he had of changing that perception was wiped out by a spelling mistake during a seemingly innocuous stop at a school in Trenton, N.J. (For the detailed story on the miscue -- and how it took off as a story -- check out this piece: ‘Gaffe with an ‘e’ at the end).

Joe Biden -- justified or not -- long ago passed a credibility threshold with the public that Quayle never could. Indeed, the new L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll found that 76% judged this year’s Democratic vice presidential nominee capable of filling the top job, with only 13% demurring from the view.

So chances are that Biden’s stature will be unaffected by a stumble earlier this week on the campaign trail. Besides, it wasn’t a spelling error, it was a counting one.

Still, we thought we’d pass it along:

-- Don Frederick