Article snippet: Joe Biden refused calls to apologize Wednesday for saying that the Senate ‘‘got things done’’ with ‘‘civility’’ even when the body included segregationists. The former vice president was particularly defiant in rejecting criticism from Sen. Cory Booker, one of two major black candidates seeking the Democratic nomination. The New Jersey Democrat had called on Biden to apologize for his comments. By Wednesday night, Biden said it was Booker who should apologize because the senator ‘‘should know better’’ than to question his commitment to civil rights. The firestorm is quickly becoming one of the most intense disputes of the Democratic presidential primary, underscoring the hazards for Biden as he tries to turn his decades of Washington experience into an advantage. Instead, he’s infuriating Democrats who say he’s out of step with the diverse party of the 21st century and potentially undermining his argument that he’s the most electable candidate in the race. The controversy began at a New York fundraiser on Tuesday when Biden pointed to long-dead segregationist senators James Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia to argue that Washington functioned more smoothly a generation ago than under today’s ‘‘broken’’ hyperpartisanship. ‘‘We didn’t agree on much of anything,’’ Biden said of the two men, who were prominent senators when Biden was elected in 1972. Biden described Talmadge as ‘‘one of the meanest guys I ever knew’’ and said Eastland called him... Link to the full article to read more