Obama Passes Off Biden Gaffe as 'Flourish'

Barack Obama sought to blunt criticism of Joe Biden today, saying that though his running mate “engages in rhetorical flourishes,” he was right in saying “the next administration is going to be tested, regardless of who it is,” reports the Chicago Tribune. Critics in the McCain campaign had used Biden’s prediction of imminent international crises to underscore Obama’s foreign-policy inexperience. (More Election 2008 stories.)