Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden taped an interview with Terry Moran that will air on ABC’s Nightline tonight. Biden had some interesting things to say about the tactics being used by the McCain campaign, and the state of the economy.

Biden said that these negative attacks by McCain against Obama are rooted in the fact that McCain and Palin don’t want to talk about the issues, “They don’t know what to say about the economy, for God’s sake. I mean, look, the economy’s going to hell in a hand basket, $2 trillion of people’s retirement just blown away in a week of bad judgment. You know, eight years of economic mismanagement are coming to a head, and what do they say?”

Biden also said that he refuses to believe that McCain had anything to do with Virginia GOP Chairman Jeffrey M. Fredericks telling campaign volunteers to draw connections between Obama and Osama Bin Laden, “I don’t believe it … I can’t believe it. I’m surprised John McCain hasn’t gone down and whacked the guy with his fist. I mean, I don’t think there’s a prejudiced bone in John McCain’s body. But that kind of stuff is really off the wall. I refuse to let myself believe John McCain has anything to do with any of that.”

He pointed out that it is dangerous for the McCain campaign to put out ads that call Obama a terrorist, “I don’t think John McCain believes that, but you know, when you fool around, like these ads … now the average person probably looks at that picture they put up there and think it’s an al Qaeda guy or something. … So I don’t know. John seems to have figured it out. He looks like he’s trying to tamp it down.”

Remember, when most people thought that Biden was chosen to be on the ticket with Obama because of his foreign policy experience? How often have we heard Biden discuss foreign policy this fall? He has been just as valuable, if not more, to the campaign because of his ability to talk about the economy in a very blue collar way. I could never see Barack Obama saying that the economy is going to hell in a hand basket, yet this is way people talk about it with friends or when they are sitting around with family at night.

Joe Biden has brought a voice to the campaign that contrasts nicely in tone and style with Obama’s. Perhaps the most important role that Biden plays in this campaign is easing the fears of some older voters about Obama. He seems to do more than just campaign for Obama. Biden vouches for him.

The Senator from Delaware is correct in pointing out that McCain and Palin don’t say much about the economy , because there isn’t a whole lot they can say about it. Instead, they try to create distractions and frighten people about Obama. I don’t think that McCain is a racist, but the attacks that his campaign is using attract those types of people. Americans deserve better than what some GOP operatives are trying to pull. Obama deserves better. McCain deserves better. We all deserve something better than a campaign that appeals to the worst in people.

You can read about the Biden interview here.