The Amtrak Candidate

Want to know how the Obama campaign is countering Biden's 'Creature of Washington' image? One word (or, you know, talking point): Amtrak.

Linda Douglass, Obama campaign traveling spokesperson, to MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski, on a "Morning Joe" special edition: “He has decades of experience in Washington and, yet, uniquely, he is not of Washington -- he goes home to his family in Delaware every single night."
 
Robert Gibbs, Obama campaign Senior Strategist for Communications and Message, to ABC’s Kate Snow, on "Good Morning America Weekend": “We have somebody who hasn't forgotten where he comes from and goes home to Delaware every night on the train."

Barack Obama, Democratic presidential nominee, in Springfield, Ill.: "For decades, he has brought change to Washington, but Washington hasn’t changed him... He never moved to Washington. Instead, night after night, week after week, year after year, he returned home to Wilmington on a lonely Amtrak train when his Senate business was done."

No word yet on whether Chicago plans to outfit Biden in one of these:

UPDATE, 3:59 p.m.: Also worth noting, in terms of messaging, is the number of times Obama mentioned Biden's hometown of Scranton (which is located in must-win Pennsylvania): three. The number of times he mentioned the safer state of Delaware? Once. "Pennsylvania's Third Senator"--Team Obama's words, not mine--indeed.

And as for Biden calling Obama "Barack America"?  As Bidenisms go, it was surprisingly on message.