Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden may be trailing the three front runners -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards -- but he insists he's no Dennis Kucinich, who barely registers in polls among the field of eight candidates.



After speaking at a United Steelworkers conference in Cleveland last week, The Plain Dealer asked Biden about his standing as a second-tier candidate who gets lumped in with Kucinich.



The senator from Delaware didn't appreciate the comparison.



"Get a life," he said, gently grabbing the reporter's shoulder. "Nobody compares me with Dennis Kucinich. No one. Have you found anybody who says I'm not qualified to be president? Not one single time since 1952 has the front-runner in the Democratic Party won the nomination. These polls means absolutely zero at this point. Flat zero."



Speaking of Kucinich, he had some fun at the same event last Thursday. Unfortunately, his theatrics again seem to blur his substance.



Noting that he's the only candidate willing to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement, Kucinich introduced his manufacturing plan -- HAFTA.



"Number one, we HAFTA get rid of NAFTA" he said to applause. "We HAFTA withdraw from the (World Trade Organization)."

As for this country's lopsided trade policies with China, Kucinich recalled the childhood tale that if you dig a hole deep enough, you will eventually get to China.

Pausing for effect, he deadpanned, "We're there."