The campaign season is now over but Vice President Joe Biden is still making his usual near-daily gaffe, and, unsurprisingly, the self-described “mainstream” media is continuing to cover them up.
On Nov. 19, the vice president sent a congratulatory letter to Eric Bodenweiser, a Republican state Senate candidate who withdrew from Delaware's 19th District race in October after he was charged with 113 felony counts of raping a boy 39 times between 1987 and 1990.
“Congratulations on your recent victory in our great State of Delaware,” the letter began. Biden served as a U.S. Senator from that state from 1973 until he became vice president in 2009 as the running mate of fellow Democrat Barack Obama.
The document continued:
As you prepare for the responsibilities and challenges of public office, I encourage you to reflect on the extraordinary moment we are living in -- we have an economy to improve, a workforce to rebuild, a Nation to defend, an environment to protect, and a future to secure for our children.
“The President and I remain confident that with your help, America's best days lie ahead,” the letter added. “Again, congratulations. I wish you all the best.”
When the details of the scandal were revealed by local news outlets in October, Bodenweiser withdrew from the race, citing “personal reasons.”
One of those “reasons” was information provided by his alleged victim, who was 13 years old when the child abuse began and is now in his 30s.
After Bodenweiser bowed out of the race, former Georgetown, Del., Mayor Brian Pettyjohn launched a write-in campaign -- which he won with 59.8 percent of the vote.
But the victory didn't come without some serious confusion.
A court order before the Nov. 6 election granted the Republicans’ spot on the ballot to Pettyjohn, according to David Martosko, executive editor of the Daily Caller website.
But Delaware’s computerized system, including the Commissioner of Elections website, was legally required to list Bodenweiser’s name as the Republican candidate since he had originally been nominated.
The Delaware state government explained the odd turn of events in red letters at the top of the election results Web page.
“[V]oting machines show the name of Brian Pettyjohn … The Election Management System, however, still has the name of Eric Bodenweiser,” the notice read. “The machine votes reported here as Bodenweiser, therefore, are actually votes for Pettyjohn.”
Meanwhile, Doug Denison of the delawareonlne.com site, took a kinder, gentler approach to Biden's involvement in the situation.
Vice President Joe Biden is known for the close ties he’s kept to his home state, but somehow he missed one of the biggest, strangest Delaware political stories of the last election -- to somewhat embarrassing effect.
Denison referred to Biden's missive as “a nicely written note” sent out with other form letters to newly elected and re-elected lawmakers, and the documents were described as “suitable for framing.”
The reporter said there was “a likely explanation” for the mix-up.
After Bodenweiser withdrew and Pettyjohn was placed on the ballot in his stead, the internal systems at the Department of Elections were not updated to reflect the change. The department's election results site lists Bodenweiser's name even though the votes counted were for Pettyjohn.
Denison agreed with Martosko's description of the red text on the top of the page, which he suggested “the vice president's office must have neglected to read.”
Ooops. Martosko had a simpler and more direct answer regarding Biden's stumble: “There he goes again.”
While the story has received local coverage, a Google search for the words “Biden” and “Bodenweiser” did not find any mention from the “mainstream media" or cable news networks.
Chalk this up as yet another example of how the national media elites, ever eager to denigrate and highlight mistakes made by former vice president Dan Quayle and former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, are once again ignoring embarrassing news for Joe Biden.
