The stainless steel-tongued Joe Biden gets his own page. Make that a booklet.

Even Obama should get a pass for once saying he had campaigned in all 57 states with one to go, a mental detour interpreted by fevered minds on the right as proof that he's a secret Muslim. (There are -- aha! -- 57 member states in the Organization of the Islamic Conference.)

One small slip, repeated and amplified, can have serious consequences. A new Beliefnet.com exit poll found that half of McCain voters think Obama is or was a Muslim, with 32 percent saying, "He used to be Muslim and still has too many connections to Islam."

Although Republicans, led by the renowned neologist George W. Bush, are doubtless equally guilty of foot-in-mouth incursions (Trent Lott's infamous birthday paean to Strom Thurmond comes to mind), the GOP might benefit as much from an Adultery & Wide Stance Amnesty Act.

Given all the words uttered in the course of a presidential campaign, some are going to be screamingly funny; others ridiculous; some embarrassing and still others painful.

Covering all of the above, Biden, speaking to the Columbia, S.C., Rotary Club, all but boasted: "Hey, I'm from a slave state, too!"

Well, dang, Bubba, why didn't you say so in the first place?! At the risk of a too-brisk segue, sometimes intelligent, thoughtful, talented people simply step in it. And though some misstatements are too delicious to ignore, there really ought to be a point at which good outweighs bad; when smart outpaces stupid.

When even a screamer like Dean, who as Democratic National Committee chair rebuilt his party in all 57 states to run Republicans out of Washington last week, ought to be remembered best for the latter.

Make that all 50 states.

And give Summers a break.