Biden: Clinton a better veep pick than me

There's praising a colleague effusively.

And then, there's going so far that the praise diminishes yourself.

At a town hall in Nashua, N.H., this afternoon, Senator Joe Biden seemed to veer off into the latter when talking about Hillary Clinton, whom many of her supporters wanted Barack Obama to pick as his running mate instead of Biden.

"Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America," Biden said. "Let’s get that straight. She’s a truly close personal friend; she is qualified to be president of the United States of America. She’s easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America and quite frankly it might have been a better pick than me, but she is first-rate.”

Republican John McCain's campaign quickly sent out a video of it. It has been courting Clinton's supporters, especially white women, and the polls suggesting McCain is making inroads.