If the NRSC’s shot at Richard Blumenthal today took too many detours to land cleanly, a sucker punch from one of his putative allies may do more damage.  Joe Biden turned the Democratic nominee for Chris Dodd’s Senate seat into the butt of a joke today, a measure of how problematic the Connecticut Attorney General has become for Democrats — and perhaps a signal that the White House will keep its distance from the military-service fabulist:

Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday took an unexpected dig at Democratic Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal for misstating his military service record.

While speaking at a barbecue for wounded soldiers, he commented about veterans coming home from the Vietnam War. Biden, who has a penchant for being loquacious, veered into the Connecticut Senate race.

“I didn’t serve in Vietnam. I don’t want to make a Blumenthal mistake here,” he said according to a pool report. “Our attorney general from Connecticut, God love him.”

Later he said “I have a bad habit of saying exactly what I think.”

That’s why we like to keep an eye on your appearances, Mr. Vice President.  God love ya!

If it’s a slip, it couldn’t come at a worse time.  After Blumenthal finally offered an apology by e-mail through his campaign spokeswoman — which Ben Froland tweeted made Blumenthal “AWOL from his own apology” — the momentum behind the story might have dissipated.  Instead, Biden’s quip will focus attention once again on Blumenthal’s multiple fabrications just when Blumenthal tried changing the narrative to his nomination by acclamation. Also, the venue in which Biden chose to deliver his joke adds even more news value to his jab at a fellow Democrat, honoring warriors who don’t have to fabricate their overseas service to bolster their credibility.

If it’s not a slip, it signals that the White House wants no part of Blumenthal — which in a Democratic state like Connecticut would be bad news indeed.