Obama Calls Out Biden for 'Rhetorical Flourish'

Joe Biden is still feeling the repercussions of his weekend comments that if and when Barack Obama becomes president, he for sure will face an international crisis that will test his "mettle."

During remarks he made today after meeting with his national security working group and Biden, Obama addressed the press, talking about problems from the economy to terrorism to the Iraq war. He then took some questions, one of which was his response to Biden.

"Joe sometimes engages in some rhetorical flourishes," Obama said. "But I think his core point was that the next administration is going to be tested. The next administration is going to inherit a whole host of really big problems.

"The question is, will the next president meet that test by moving America in a new direction, by sending a signal to the rest of the world we are no longer about bluster and unilateralism and ideology, but we're about creating partnerships around the world to solve practical problems. That's going to be the best way to meet that test and I have confidence that we're going to be able to do so."

The McCain-Palin campaign continued to hammer away at Obama and Biden on the remarks today.
Speaking in Ohio Palin said: "I guess that the looming crisis that most worries the Obama campaign right now has gotta be Joe Biden's next speaking engagement."

"The real problem is that these warnings by Joe Biden are similar to his earlier assessment of Barack Obama in the primary," Palin said, noting that during the Democratic primaries, Biden himself said Obama wasn't up to the job and that "the presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training."

Also in the press conference today, Obama was asked about his transition team and whether people are place to effectively deal with the economic issues facing the nation. Obama said whoa, not so fast, but said he does the ears of people in the "uppermost policy-making chambers," including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

"I don't want to make commitments at this point ... before I've even won the election," he said.