Ooh, I do think it was a bit more than that. Biden took large chunks of Kinnock's speech, including saying that he came from a family of coal miners, which was patently untrue. Additionally he took unattributed quotes from Robert Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey. Now I think this makes him a political thicky rather than someone who should be tarred and feathered, but I don't think we should pretend it never happened.

That said, I would prefer someone who has a good record of long public service at many levels of government and dogged if uninspired devotion to good legislation as VP even if he is incapable of writing his own speeches, to someone who may be wholly original but who lacks any practical substance.

If the job was for speechwriter, I might reverse my position.