Obama names Joe Biden his running mate

[Randy J.]

Obama chooses Biden as running mate
Foreign Relations Committee chairman has globe-trotting credentials


WASHINGTON - Barack Obama named Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate early Saturday, balancing his ticket with a seasoned congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defense issues

Biden, who has served in the Senate since being elected at the age of 29, is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Obama's decision leaked to the media several hours before his aides planned to send a text message announcing the running mate, negating a promise that people who turned over their phone numbers would be the first to know who Obama had chosen. The campaign scrambled to send the text message after the leak, sending phones buzzing at the inconvenient time of just after 3 a.m. on the East Coast.
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A statement on Obama's Web site said Biden "brings extensive foreign policy experience, an impressive record of collaborating across party lines, and a direct approach to getting the job done."

In selecting Biden, Obama passed over several other potential running mates, none more prominent than former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, his tenacious rival in dozens of primaries and caucuses.

Clinton issued a statement Saturday praising Obama's decision and calling Biden "an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant."

The decision is intended to give the Democratic ticket depth in areas Obama was labeled as weak by his Republican opponents — foreign policy and global security.

In recent years, Biden has traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan two times and to Iraq eight times. He returned Monday from a fact-finding trip to Georgia.

[phocas]

That was a wise choice.

======================

BBC Profile: Joe Biden

Senator Joseph Biden's greatest strength is perceived as Barack Obama's biggest weakness: foreign policy. His expertise in this area could help Senator Obama defend himself against Republican attacks that he is not ready for the role of commander-in-chief.

They also complement each other in other ways. While the Democratic presidential hopeful comes across as cool and collected, Mr Biden can be lively and combative in his attacks on opponents.

Mr Biden is no stranger to presidential races. He ran against Mr Obama for the 2008 nomination but dropped out in January. He also ran for presidency in 1988 but withdrew after he admitted plagiarising a speech by the then leader of the British Labour Party, Neil Kinnock.

Mr Biden is a long-time Washington insider, having represented the small, north-east state of Delaware in the US Senate since 1972. He has chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee three times. Although he voted to approve the Iraq war, he started warning of the costs of a long occupation of Iraq before it began. Since then he has advocated a federal solution to the conflict in Iraq, envisaging a loose division of the country along ethnic lines. His connection to Iraq also has a more personal note.

His son, Beau Biden, Delaware's attorney general, is a captain in the Army National Guard, and his unit is set to be deployed to Iraq shortly. "He'll go… I don't want him going," Mr Biden said recently. "But I don't want my grandsons or granddaughters going back in 15 years. So how we leave makes a big difference."

Forceful speaker

Mr Biden was born in 1942 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of four siblings in an Irish-Catholic family. The family later moved to Delaware where he attended the University of Delaware and Syracuse Law School.

The Delaware senator could play an important role in wooing blue-collar white voters who so far have been a difficult group for Mr Obama to win over.

Mr Biden's strength as a foreign policy big-hitter and experienced Washington hand does have a downside. Having such a long-serving running mate may underscore Mr Obama's own relative inexperience.

It may also make it harder for the Obama team to emphasise their theme of change. Mr Biden's reputation as a forceful speaker can be eclipsed by the ability to ask simple questions in a complicated way. And he is prone to the occasional gaffe.

In 2007, he described Mr Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy". He is now going to be spending a lot of time with the guy in question.

[mikemcgrath]

In 2007, he described Mr Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy". He is now going to be spending a lot of time with the guy in question.

oh snap! did he mean as the first presidential canidate, or did he mean ever? either way, dayum.

[spider_bigger]

obama isn't "African-American," or he would be ineligible to be president.

bashing of political correctness aside, could you please list any other "mainstream" black candidates for president?

i'm with you if he meant ever. that's not so good.

[The Professor]

Obama is THE definition of African-American ---

His dad is from Kenya... His mother from Kansas... African + American... BOOM - the definition

[spider_bigger]

he was born in africa, then moved to america?

[spider_bigger]

OH... you must mean his dad. wait, no... i'm not sure his dad became a citizen of america.

[spider_bigger]

barack hussein obama jr (or II) was born august 4, 1961 in honolulu, hawaii, U.S.A.

that's just american. he does have kinda black skin, like a lot of people in africa, sure. hey, his dad was from there, too. but he's all american. and race? well, that'd be homo sapien sapien. or perhaps presidential,in some circles.

[spider_bigger]

born in africa as a citizen of an african nation, move to america and become a citizen here. african american. boom?

[spider_bigger]

how far back can we go? grandparents? greats? do let me know how far... because i'd have a REALLY long politically-correct title, depending.

[Becca]

Heyy it's the RAVE Act guy!

[spider_bigger]

heh... Reducing Americans Vulnerability to Ecstasy.

fucking hilarious.

[thoughtbombing]

obama isn't "African-American," or he would be ineligible to be president.

bashing of political correctness aside, could you please list any other "mainstream" black candidates for president?

i'm with you if he meant ever. that's not so good.

Jessie Jackson.

Second of all, Biden had to drop out of his own race, when he was basically the presumed nominee-because he plagiarized a speech. JUST LIKE OBAMA.

Perfect butt buddies!

[spider_bigger]

i was hoping that would be the answer.

ole bug eyed jessie isn't nice looking.

[spider_bigger]

and man... don't think for a second i'm defending anybody or siding on some... side.

i know about the plagiarism. it's been well-covered.

[spider_bigger]

we may also need to define "mainstream"

[spider_bigger]

or even "clean." jessie has a bit of controversy surrounding him.

[thoughtbombing]

Obama is THE definition of African-American ---

His dad is from Kenya... His mother from Kansas... African + American... BOOM - the definition

being black doesn't make you african anything. His lineage is African, Caucasian and Asian. He was born in America.

He is an American of Negro and Mongolian, as well as Caucasian bloodlines. You are born in America and hold American citizenship, you are an American.

Any prefix coming being American infers coming TO this country and being naturalized. His father never was, and his ass was an American living overseas for a while. American-Indonesian is what he would have been there.

Here, he's just an American.

McShame, on the other hand, was born in Panama--which makes him ineligible to BE President, even if he was born to American Parents on an American base. The base is leased land by the US Government--not a US Territory.

That aside, I'd vote for Biden over Obama any day. He's not a fake piece of shit like Obama.

[phocas]

born in africa as a citizen of an african nation, move to america and become a citizen here. african american. boom?

Hyphenated Americans are boring, and part of the bigger problem.

Decide where you are from, and leave it there.

[thoughtbombing]

Joe Biden is probably the smartest person on Obama's staff, Obama included. He doesn't know when to shut the fuck up though, so count on him somehow going down in flames in the next 2 months.

Hell, I know they just lost the Sharpton/Jackson black vote due to the "Obama is the first smart and well spoken black candidate" quote