Long-time pals Biden and McCain now spirited foes

By Thomas Ferraro - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee in August, Joe Biden called Republican White House rival John McCain "my friend."

Now Biden denounces McCain as "an angry man" whom he accuses of trying to take "the low road to the highest office in the land" with a campaign of fear and personal attacks.

Colleagues in the U.S. Senate for 22 years, the relationship between the two has been torn -- at least for now and perhaps forever -- as they near the November 4 election.

"With friends like Joe Biden, John McCain doesn't need enemies," said Paul Light of New York University's Center for the Study of Congress. "John McCain is not going to forgive. He's not a forgiving type."

Norm Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who has conferred with McCain and Biden on various matters the past two decades, disagreed.

"They have been very good friends. I don't think the damage in their relationship is permanent. But it's going to take time to repair," Ornstein said.

"One way or the other they're going to reach out and move on," said James Thurber of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. "They'll need each other."

If Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama prevails, Biden would be U.S. vice president as well as president of the Senate, where McCain would remain as the senior senator from Arizona.  Continued...