Joseph R Jr Biden

Vice President Joe Biden, in a somber assessment of the road ahead, predicted Sunday that American casualties would climb in Afghanistan as the Obama administration shifts military priorities in the battle against terrorism. "We've inherited a real mess" in Afghanistan, Biden said. "We're about to go in and try to essentially reclaim territory that's been effectively lost. . . . All of this means we're going to be engaging the enemy more now."

The gaffes keep piling up: the untimely comments stoking fears of swine flu, dismissals of Russia that seem straight out of the Cold War. But in defiance of the normal rules of American politics, Vice President Joe Biden appears to be solidifying his relationship with his boss and accumulating more assignments central to the administration's agenda. Having lined up support in the Senate to assure passage of the $787-billion economic stimulus plan, Biden was recently tapped by President Obama to play a bigger role in the healthcare debate that is now dominating the congressional agenda.

A crack appeared Thursday in a White House communications operation known for staying on message -- in the form of a vice president with a habit of speaking his mind. It happened when Joe Biden went on a morning talk show and, almost as if he hadn't gotten talking points, veered off the team's message about how to avoid swine flu. Biden said he was telling his family members to avoid confined spaces such as planes and subway trains.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee charged Saturday that President Bush has no plan for pacifying Iraq in his last nine months in office, and intends to "muddle through and hand the problem off to his successor." Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who this week will preside over a long-awaited hearing on Iraq, said in the Democrats' weekly radio address that because Bush's year-old troop increase has not led Iraqi groups to settle their differences, it has been a failure.

Joe Biden is what you would call a close talker. He gets right in your face, almost nose to nose. This unnerves those with personal-space issues, but that is clearly not the case for hundreds of people who have pushed their way to the rope line outside a pro football shrine to shake the hand of Barack Obama's running mate, passing him folded-up notes, a white cap and ticket stubs to autograph. "Bring my brother home from Iraq, please," one woman begs.

Sarah Palin must sound authoritative and authentic. Joe Biden must sound informed and inoffensive. Both need to reach through the television to connect with middle America. With Wall Street gyrating and voter interest skyrocketing, tonight's televised contest stands as an oddity: a vice presidential debate that could actually matter. The stakes could hardly be greater, particularly for the Republicans.

A day after the vice presidential debate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware took a break from the campaign Friday to bid farewell to a son leaving for military duty in Iraq. Delaware Atty. Gen. Beau Biden, 39, is a captain in the Army National Guard's 261st Signal Brigade, which leaves Sunday for a yearlong tour. The Democrats' vice presidential nominee, known for being talkative, said at the deployment ceremony that his son gave him sage advice: "Keep it short, Dad. We're in formation."

It's official: Thursday's debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was must-see TV. Just shy of 70 million people tuned in, 34% more than last week's showdown between White House hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama. The figures from Nielsen Media Research don't include PBS, which estimated that it had 3.5 million viewers. It was by far the most-watched vice presidential debate since Nielsen began tracking viewership in 1960.

The National Rifle Assn. is turning up the volume in its campaign against Barack Obama, airing more ads about his record on guns. Starting as early as Sunday, new spots will air in battlegrounds including Ohio, Virginia and Florida. The NRA already has spots in Colorado, New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Some use Obama's line, uttered at a San Francisco fundraiser, about "bitter" people clinging to their guns.

. -- U.S. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Joe Biden made a triumphant homecoming to this hardscrabble coal-mining city Sunday, where they laid blame for the nation's worsening economic woes at the feet of the Republicans and their nominee John McCain, even as they exhorted their supporters to work hard until election day.