The other day Sen. Barack Obama urged his supporters to get in people's faces.

Today, we get reports that his No. 2 is following his lead.

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.

Yet Joltin’ Joe has also become a fascinating Off Broadway spectacle in his own right. He is a distinctive blend of pit bull and odd duck whose weak filters make him capable of blurting out pretty much anything — “gaffes,” out-of-nowhere comments (pivoting midspeech to say “Excuse my back!” to people seated behind him), goofy asides (tapping a reporter’s chest and telling him, “You need to work on your pecs.”)

If Joe Biden poked me in my chest, I'd break the offending digit.

If the Secret Service felt obliged to defend him from his own foolishness, then I'd charge him with simple assault.

Finally, does anyone doubt that if Sen. John McCain had done the same thing -- with his famous temper as a template -- that we would be treated to article after article of why he's unfit and out-of-control?