Reaction to Biden

24 hours have passed since Delaware Senator Joe Biden (D) was announced as Barack Obama's running mate for the 2008 presidential election. The official announcement took place today in Springfield, Illinois the place where Obama kicked off his run for president about 2 years ago. Living in the world of instant news these days, the announcement wasn't a surprise at the 2 pm speech because CNN broke the story around 1 am last night, due to some leaks in Obama's camp. So where does that leave us heading into the ever so important 4 day democratic convention in Denver next week? McCain was quick to denounce Biden as a poor choice and said that it shows Obama is not as confident as he may appear. The left wing media seems to be behind the decision so far, even though Biden's past is certainly sketchy. So who is Joe Biden and will this turn out to be a smart move?

As far as the other candidates for VP goes, Biden is probably the most politically qualified. He became a senator at the young age of 29 and has had 2 presidential runs himself (1988,2008). Biden is an ivy league scholar and a pillar of the democratic party. Biden's main selling points are on 2 very important issues that Obama really needed to win on. Biden is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and a chief expert on international policy. Biden is very respected in the Senate and is even a friend of McCain's. Biden will be bringing 35 years of experience to counteract criticism of Obama not being ready. Another major selling point is that Biden comes from working class roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The battleground states for this election will be Pennsylvania and Ohio and hopefully Biden can get PA in the bag for Obama.

Unfortunately for the good, there must be the bad. Leading up to the primaries it was Biden himself who was Obama's biggest critic. Biden has stated publically that he didn't feel Obama was ready to handle the presidency. He also made semi-racist comments about Indian's and said Obama was one of the "cleanest, well put together, african americans he's seen." Both of these comments got him major flack and are already coming back to haunt him. Then you have his infamous 1988 presidential run where he was in a position of coming very close to obtaining the democratic party nomination. That was until it was discovered he had been copying speeches from British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock. He admitted to the plagiarism and was forced to drop out of the race. His bid earlier this year ended even quicker. Biden does bring the visual of an old well established white man to the ticket which will help go up against McCain's image, but he is known to be long winded in speeches and doesn't always know when to stop. Biden once told a reporter he "thinks he has a much higher IQ than him" after being asked about his ivy league education. He has also stated that he loves to hear himself talk, and has spent much of his interviews in the past going on tangents about his family and personal life.

I think Obama may have shown a little weakness with Biden but there aren't too many better candidates that he had to choose from. I think the positive part about Biden as VP is that he is a fighter and will stick his ground in debates and on important issues. He is a roman catholic but liberal enough to support abortion. He originally voted for the war in Iraq but since then has admitted his mistake and has constantly questioned President Bush's actions. Biden is a family man that experienced a very big tragedy in life when his wife and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, were killed when a tractor-trailer broad-sided her station wagon. While this event happened decades ago and he has since remarried and had kids with another woman, it could still make a great personal interest story to pull the heart strings of voters.

Only time will tell how Joe Biden will fare on the campaign trail, but with a strong VP candidate in his corner Barack Obama has made himself a well rounded force to be reckoned with. I'll have some coverage throughout the Democratic National Convention this week. For more information on Obama's campaign click here.