Is Biden-bashing the lamest joke in politics?

I’ve never had a strong reaction to Joe Biden’s politics or style.

His personal story – his wife and daughter were killed in a car crash while Christmas shopping in 1972, not long after Biden won office — is heartbreaking.

But other than that poignant personal detail, and his weird decision to plagiarize a line or two from British Labour leader Neil Kinnicock, he’s never struck me as a terribly colorful character.

Competent, centrist — you either like his politics or not, but it kind of ends there.

But for years, the media has trotted out the notion that Biden is gaffe-prone. Late night comics still dine out regularly on jokes about the VP’s tin ear.

The latest supposed misstep was admitting that he encouraged Barack Obama not to run for president last year. Yawn.

And before that, he used the words “heck of a job!” — to praise officials in Georgia responding to flooding.

George W. Bush used those same words to praise former FEMA director Michael Brown, who was rather flamboyantly not doing a great job at the time.

But given that the Georgia folks were, in fact, doing a heck of a job, that’s hardly a zinger.

Slate.com actually has a “Bidenisms” page, purporting to collect the most delicious examples of the Veep’s missteps. Here’s a sampling:

“These guys are smart. Some of the guys Chuck and I have campaigned for are turkeys. Not all Democrats are created equal, while most Republicans are.”—complimenting three Democratic nonturkey congressmen at a fundraiser in the home of former Sen. Chuck Robb, Alexandria, Va., Sept. 24, 2009

“You heard it in the debate, John McClain. John McClain, excuse me—John McCain. I don’t recognize him anymore. I used to know him well. … Bad joke.”—Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 24, 2008

“The idea that we’re not building these new Humvees with the V-shaped things is just crap, man. Kids are dying that don’t have to die. Second thing is we’re going to shove it down his throat.”—proposed response to then-President Bush’s decision to veto Iraq funding bill, Columbia, S.C., April 27, 2006

I mean, that’s thin gruel.

Reminds me a bit of the old “Gerald Ford is clumsy” gag, a myth that Bob Schieffer acknowledged was a media-created put on.

Yes, Mr. Ford fell once or twice (sorry for the awful audio track) but he was also a talented athlete whose public image was re-invented from whole cloth by the likes of Chevy Chase.

So, memo to late-night comedians: There might be something funny about Joe Biden, but the gaffe-bit is out of gas.