House majority whip James Clyburn tells Jonathan Alter: "'Obama picks as a running mate someone who has never lived in Washington,' a reference to Biden taking the train home to Wilmington every night. ... Clyburn also notes that Biden, whose wife is a schoolteacher, actually has a negative net worth of $300,000. Not sure if that's true--but it's very on message."

As Alter points out, it's not entirely clear whether or not Biden has a negative net worth. But if he does, is that really an argument in his favor?