The photo of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. above was taken by an Associated Press photographer in Ohio. Is it not, as one might reasonably assume, an edited image to go with an Onion article.
It's not clear whether Mr. Biden is getting closer to his fictional beer-swilling, chest-baring, bar fight-starting alter-ego dreamed up by the satirical newspaper, or whether images of the real man that seem to reinforce his Joe Everyman character are just getting more popular.
But there are two ways in which the man second in line for the presidency will probably never resemble the Onion's version. First, Mr. Biden does not drink, so the chances of him bouncing a check at the liquor store are pretty sl im. Second, as he told Car and Driver last year, he would not drive the Trans Am the Onion envisioned him washing shirtless in his driveway. (But just the Trans Am part is unrealistic, he said: “I have been in my bathing suit in my driveway and not only washed my Goodwood-green 1967 Corvette but also simonized it.â€)
