Barack Obama chose Senator Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, to be his vice presidential running mate, selecting one of the party's leading foreign-policy figures and harshest critics of Republican John McCain's national security views.
The Obama campaign sent a text message to supporters at about 3 a.m. New York time announcing the decision. Obama and Biden are scheduled to appear together at a rally in Springfield, Illinois, today at 2 p.m. local time.
The choice of Biden, 65, is aimed at addressing questions about Obama's inexperience on international affairs, his biggest vulnerability against McCain. Biden has led the attacks on the Republican candidate, assailing McCain for supporting President George W. Bush's policies, including his argument that Iraq is the main front in the battle against terrorists.
McCain ``talks about the central concern is the war on terror, yet it's in Afghanistan,'' Biden said at a July 14 news conference in Washington. ``It's in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And John's policy in Iraq prevents us from having a larger strategy to deal with that.''
Biden visited Georgia earlier this month, and is urging that more money be spent there to help the country recover from its conflict with Russia. Biden has emerged as the leading Democrat to weigh in on the crisis.
Working-Class Appeal
Biden, a Roman Catholic and a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania, also might help Obama with working-class, union households, where he ran poorly against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primaries. In the latest Bloomberg/Los Angeles national survey this month, McCain is running ahead of Obama among Catholic voters.
Clinton, Obama's chief rival for the nomination, had herself been considered a possible vice presidential running mate for Obama. In choosing Biden, Obama ``has continued in the best traditions for the vice presidency by selecting an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant,'' the New York senator said in a statement.
``Senator Biden will be a purposeful and dynamic vice president who will help Senator Obama both win the presidency and govern this great country,'' Clinton's statement said.
Outspoken Senator
The outspoken Biden, who once said ``my candor sometimes gets me in trouble,'' has spent more than 35 years in the Senate, placing him fifth in seniority. To some voters, this may seem to conflict with Obama's pledge to change the way business is done in Washington. During the primary debates, Biden on several occasions criticized Obama for his lack of Washington experience.
Last year, Biden said that he didn't believe Obama was ready to be president, citing his lack of foreign policy experience.
``There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama's lack of experience than Joe Biden,'' McCain spokesman Ben Porritt said in a statement. ``Biden has denounced Barack Obama's poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing -- that Barack Obama is not ready to be president.''
Biden saw his own presidential ambitions eclipsed by Obama's surging popularity earlier this year, dropping out after January's Iowa caucuses, where he got less than 1 percent of the vote.
Second Bid
It was Biden's second bid for the presidency. His previous campaign for the Democratic nomination collapsed in 1987 after reports that he had plagiarized portions of some speeches as well as a 1965 law school paper. Months later, he suffered a brain aneurysm and almost died; he fully recovered.
Since that campaign two decades ago, respect for Joseph Biden has grown among colleagues such as Senators Richard Lugar of Indiana, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.
Biden would bring some tough foreign policy views to an Obama White House. Biden was elected to the Senate at the age of 29 in 1973. Biden will make his first big speech as the VP candidate on Wednesday, August 27 -- the third night of the Democratic convention.
A timeline of U.S. Sen. Joe Biden's life and career:
Nov. 20, 1942 — Joseph Biden Born in Scranton, Pa., the first of four children.
Summer 1953 — Joseph Biden Moves to Claymont, Del.
Sept. 1957 — Joseph Biden Attends Archmere Academy in Claymont, a Catholic prep school.
June 1965 — Joseph Biden Graduates from the University of Delaware with a double major in history and political science, enrolls in Syracuse University law school.
Aug. 27, 1966 — Joseph Biden Marries Neilia Hunter.
June 1968 — After graduating from law school, Joseph Biden begins work as a trial attorney at a law firm in Wilmington, Del., and serves as a public defender.
Feb. 3, 1969 — Birth of first child, Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, now attorney general of Delaware.
Feb. 4, 1970 — Birth of second child, Hunter.
November 1970 — Joseph Biden Elected to New Castle County Council.
Nov. 8, 1971 — Birth of third child, Naomi Christina.
November 1972 — Joseph Biden Elected one of Delaware's U.S. senators, beating an incumbent Republican.
Dec. 18, 1972 — Joseph Biden's Wife and three children are in an automobile accident while Christmas shopping. Wife Neilia and daughter Naomi die. Sons Beau and Hunter are critically injured but fully recover.
Jan. 5, 1973 — Joseph Biden Sworn in to the U.S. Senate at the bedside of the still-convalescing Beau and Hunter in Wilmington.
January 1975 — Joseph Biden Becomes a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which he later chairs.
June 17, 1977 — Joseph Biden Marries Jill Tracy Jacobs, a schoolteacher.
January 1977 — Joseph Biden Becomes a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he later chairs from 1987 to 1994.
November 1978 — Joseph Biden Wins re-election to U.S. Senate.
June 8, 1981 — Joseph Biden Birth of daughter, Ashley.
November 1984 — Joseph Biden Re-elected to U.S. Senate.
June 9, 1987 — Joseph Biden Announces candidacy for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination.
Feb. 11, 1988 — Joseph Biden Undergoes successful surgery after two brain aneurysms are diagnosed.
November 1990 — Joseph Biden Wins re-election to U.S. Senate.
November 1996 — Joseph Biden Re-elected to U.S. Senate.
November 2002 — Joseph Biden Wins re-election to U.S. Senate.
Jan. 31, 2007 — Joseph Biden Announces his bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
Aug. 1, 2007 — Joseph Biden Releases his memoir, "Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics."
Jan. 3, 2008 — Joseph Biden Drops out of presidential race after poor showing in the Iowa caucuses.
Aug. 23, 2008 — Joseph Biden Named Barack Obama's running mate.
For years, Joseph Biden called on the White House to send more troops to Afghanistan and to pursue terrorists in Pakistan -- two positions Obama has since adopted.
Joseph Biden voted for the final U.S. Senate resolution authorizing the invasion of Iraq, even as Obama, then a state senator, spoke out against it. Later, Joseph Biden called for the federalizing of the country, or the setting aside of three mostly autonomous governments for Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. He has called on Bush to protect United Nations peacekeepers in Darfur and urged the UN to designate China as ``a violator of human rights.''
Rhetorical Stumbles
Biden is also known for his rhetorical stumbles -- including remarks about Obama.
In an interview last year with the New York Observer, Joseph Biden said Obama, who is 47, is the ``first mainstream African- American (presidential hopeful) who is articulate and bright and clean.'' He later apologized and said he didn't mean to be dismissive of any past black presidential candidates.
Biden also drew fire for a perceived slight of Indian- Americans when he said that in Delaware, ``you cannot go into a 7-11 or Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.'' He later explained that he was complimenting Indian entrepreneurship.
Still, he proved a tough campaigner, once disparaging Republican contender Rudy Giuliani for what Biden said was his limited experience. ``There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: A noun and a verb and 9/11,'' Biden said of the former New York mayor during a Democratic debate in October.
Senate Experience
First elected in 1972, Biden has spent more than half his life in the U.S. Senate. Only three other senators -- Democrats Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts -- share that distinction, according to Congressional Quarterly.
His decades of votes may provide fodder to Republicans, who will comb his record for any potential controversies. The long years of service may also clash with Obama's promise to bring change to Washington.
Biden may run into trouble with some feminists and abortion-rights activists because he has repeatedly voted against ``partial birth abortion,'' a late-term-pregnancy procedure. He also opposes public funding of abortion.
``It goes to the question of whether or not you're going to impose a view to support something that is not a guaranteed right but an affirmative action to promote,'' he said on television's ``Meet the Press'' in April 2007.
Family Tragedy
The son of a Scranton, Pennsylvania, car dealer, he practiced law in Delaware and advanced from a county council post to the U.S. Senate at the age of 29. His wife, Neilia, and an infant daughter were killed in a car accident a month after he won his Senate seat for the first time. He only took the post after urging from Democratic congressional leaders. Biden later married Jill Tracy Jacobs, his current wife.
In the Senate, Biden also served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee from 1987 to 1995, where he helped push through a broad-based anti-crime law and other legislation.
He was criticized for his panel's handling of the 1991 nomination of Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court. The committee initially didn't give much credence to professor Anita Hill's claims of past sexual harassment by Thomas until after they were leaked to news organizations.
Drawing Fire
Biden also drew fire from Republicans for his treatment of the two most recent Supreme Court justices, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, during their confirmation hearings. He opposed both, complaining that Roberts was ``brilliantly evasive'' about his views.
``Although I got criticized for being too tough on both of them, the Democratic Party wasn't tough enough,'' he said at a July 2007 presidential candidates' forum.
Biden and Obama are in basic agreement on trade and key economic issues. Both argue that labor and environmental protections should be built into any open-market agreements, a position supported by labor unions.
Both have said they want to rescind Bush's tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans. Joseph Biden says even the targets of that initiative would applaud the move.
``Imagine what we could do if we had a president who had the nerve and the wisdom to understand that rich folks are just as patriotic as poor folks -- you just have to ask them,'' he said at a presidential candidates' forum last year. ``I spoke to a group of millionaires about taking away their tax cut, and when I explained how I'd use it, they gave me a standing ovation.''
Joseph Biden has run twice for the presidency himself, once in 1988 and again in 2008, dropping out early in both cases. Mr. Biden quit the presidential race this year he came in fifth place in Iowa. He was forced to quit the 1988 presidential race in the face of accusations that he had plagiarized part of a speech from a Neil Kinnock, the British Labor Party leader. Shortly afterward, he was found to have suffered two aneurysms.
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