Joe Biden Calls Romney “Bush on Steroids”

In a sign that Democrats are going to continue to use the relative unpopularity of former president George W. Bush as a weapon during the coming election, Vice President Joe Biden recently referred to Republican nominee Mitt Romney as “George Bush on steroids.”

The Boston Herald reports that Biden was speaking at a fundraiser for Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) Monday at the Westin Seattle Hotel when he made the statement. Cantwell is heavily favored to win reelection in her campaign against State Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R-Wash.) and others.

The vice president appears to be on a supporting tour of democratic politicians. The same day he made his remarks concerning Bush, Biden was also in Kansas City, Mo. at another fund raiser, this one for Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

In Kansas City, Biden criticized Republicans for bashing bills that they once backed, according to the Kansas City Star.

“This is the first group of Republican congressmen who will not vote for things I know they are for,” Biden said. He claimed they oppose bills “they know would help the economy along. … They are voting against things they absolutely, specifically voted for in the past.”

That said, he was kinder to Romney in Kansas City that he was in Washington. Rather than comparing Romney to Bush, he said Romney wasn’t a bad guy, just someone out of touch.

“The new Republican Party, they don’t get it,” Biden said at the event. “They’re not bad guys, but they don’t get it.”

Back in Washington however, Republicans wasted little time in trying to push Biden’s statements to the sidelines.

“While never knowing what gem might come out of Biden’s mouth makes him a lot of fun, he certainly isn’t someone who is going to help Washington with job growth and the economy,” Kirby Wilbur, the Washington State Republican Party chairman, said in a statement.