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Vice President Joe Biden raised eyebrows at a Virginia campaign rally today when he said Mitt Romney and his economic ideas would “put y’all back in chains.”

Of the Republican ticket and newly-minted VP nominee Paul Ryan‘s budget plan, Biden said: “They’ve said it. Every Republican’s voted for it.”

“Look at what they value. Look at their budget and what they’re proposing. [Romney] said in the first 100 days, he’s going to let the big banks once again write their own rules – unchain Wall Street … They’re going to put y’all back in chains.”

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While Biden likely meant that Americans would be shackled, metaphorically, by corporate greed, his words conjured up more provocative imagery.

Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul said “The comments made by the vice president are not acceptable in our political discourse and demonstrate yet again that the Obama campaign will say and do anything to win this election.”

Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter didn’t back down.

“I think [President Obama] probably agrees with Joe Biden’s sentiments,” Cutter said. “He’s using a metaphor to talk about what’s going to happen.”

 
“I appreciate the faux outrage from the Romney campaign. If you want to talk about use of words, take a look at [Romney’s] stump speech where he basically calls the president un-American. The bottom line is that we have no problem with those comments.”

What do you think? The Romney campaign making something out of nothing, or remarks laden with racial overtones unreasonably deployed by Biden?

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