Obama Chooses Senator Joe Biden as Running Mate

Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, has choosen Senator Joe Biden of Delaware as his vice presidential running mate. The first appearance of the two running mates is scheduled at the Old State Capitol today in Springfield, Illinois.

On Friday, Obama prepared a text message to send to his supports this morning that would announce his choice for the VP slot. The Secret Service was tipped off in advance, and was dispatched last night to protect Biden and his family at their home in Wilmington.

Biden, 65, is the current chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is considered one of the Democrats' top foreign policy experts. Obama's choice thus seems logical as his lack of foreign policy experience has been an issue of contention for both Democrats and Republicans alike.

The downside of Biden as his choice for VP is he is a longtime Washington insider with some baggage of his own. First elected to the senate in 1973, plagiarism charges forced him from the 1988 presidential election. You can be sure that the Republicans won't forget about that.

In choosing Biden as his running mate, Obama has also alienated supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton, who argueably won the most important states in the Democratic primaries. And with a large percentage of Clinton supporters unwilling to or unsure that they will support Obama this fall, it leaves a Obama in a very precarious position. Without full Democratic support will he be able to pull off a win?

While Biden will undoubtedly offer his unwavering support of the junior Illinois senator now that he has been chosen as his running mate, that wasn't the case during the primaries. Last year he was forced to apologize after referring to Obama as the first "clean" and "articulate" African-American candidate for president, an obvious slap in the face to prior African-American candidates. And during the 2008 primaries, Biden threw out another comment directed at Obama that fits in quite nicely with John McCain's "Is he ready to lead?" campaign. During one debate he said:

"I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training."

Obama's other top choices for the VP spot included Senator Evan Bayh (Ind.) and Governor Tim Kaine (Vir.) They were told earlier in the day that they would not be Obama's pick. Clinton was also informed that she was not chosen, but according to reports her aides said she was never given serious consideration and was not vetted by the Obama camp.