Looking too American not a problem in the States

Much of the British reaction to Barack Obama's choice of running mate has honed in on the rather embarrassing incident in which Joe Biden was caught plagiarising a speech by Neil Kinnock.

I'm not sure how much of an asset Biden will prove to be: if nothing else channeling Kinnock hardly screams "winner" does it? Still, so long as he avoids stunts like the one in this video, all may be well.

Given Biden's reputation as the most long-winded member of the US senate it is possible that he admired Kinnock as a model of brevity and laconic wit. Anyway, given that this unfortunate incident is half-forgotten in the US (like Kinnock in the UK, I suppose) I imagine it will be dragged up a few hundred times between now and the election.

If I were advising Biden, I'd suggest that he wittily defuse the situation by opening his speech to the Democratic convention by screaming "We're allll riiiiight."

PS: John McCain has been accused of lifting stuff from Wikipedia - the fact that it's foreign policy stuff, his supposed strong suit, hardly inspires confidence either. It could be worse, though, somehow I could imagine him borrowing from Iain Duncan Smith; a prospect that hardly bears thinking about.