The other No. 2

That's what the New York Times calls him. The other number 2.

But the reality for Mr. Biden is that while running mates are second-fiddlers by definition, the phenomenon of Ms. Palin has rendered him something of a fourth or fifth fiddle. It is not like last month, when reporters swarmed Mr. Biden’s Delaware home and delegates swooned at the Democratic convention. He is now trailed by just a few national reporters, and struggling to break through in a race marked by historic firsts, political celebrities and charismatic newcomers — none named Joe Biden.

That's gotta hurt.

Still, Joltin Joe carries on, one gaffe after another.

The Obama campaign was hoping to reintroduce Mr. Biden this week as running mate attack dog. But his penchant for verbal rambling ensured that much of the attention he drew was unwanted: he said wealthy Americans had a “patriotic” duty to pay more taxes, a remark the McCain campaign mocked relentlessly.

There's good reason to mock that.

And, Biden doesn't seem to realize that some of us think about all things related to a ticket when we decide how we're going to vote.

Leaving the Elks Lodge in Maumee this week, Mr. Biden threw his arms around volunteers, posed for photos, and said he was flattered about the attention.

“Remember, no one decides who they’re going to vote for based on the vice president,” he said. “I mean that literally.”

Here, he's wrong again. I'm voting for the McCain/Palin ticket, not so much on the strength of Senator McCain, but on the strength of Governor Palin.

As an aside, I got an email a couple of weeks ago that claims that Obama is going to dump Biden sometime during the first week of October and name Hillary Clinton as his running mate. I feel, personally, that this communication was a fevered response to the strength of Sarah Palin and I don't think the rumor has any legs, for two reasons. First of all, I don't think Hillary would take the job. I think she's waiting for Obama to fall flat so that she can re-launch her presidential bid in 2012. The second reason is that I don't believe that even the Democrats can be that cynical.

Then again.