Barack Obama’s decision to pick Joseph Biden as his running mate will add experience to the Democratic ticket, but the Delaware senator’s selection also has already provided Republicans with some ammunition.
Biden, 65, is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He ran for the Democratic nomination this year but dropped out after failing to gain traction in the Iowa caucuses. Biden was largely seen as the safe pick and someone who would complement Obama’s candidacy.
{mosads}Running against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Illinois senator has to overcome an experience gap and Biden is expected to help fill that hole in Obama’s resume.
Despite his inability to catch fire with his own presidential campaign, Biden is seen as an affable and accomplished legislator with friends on both sides of the aisle.
Evidence of this was provided by the Obama campaign Saturday morning. Spokesman Bill Burton sent an e-mail to reporters, pointing to praise that the Democratic ticket has received from Republican Senate colleagues.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) called the ticket “a very impressive and strong team,” adding that Biden’s “selection is good news for Obama and America.”
Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the foreign relations panel, and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who works with Biden on the Judiciary Committee, also praised the Delaware senator.
Though the Illinois senator’s campaign promised supporters to inform them of the pick first, news broke early Saturday morning that Biden will be the choice.
A more formal announcement is planned for 3 p.m. EST in Springfield, Ill., at the Old State Capitol.
While helping to alleviate concerns over Obama’s relative inexperience, Biden’s choice also has some potential drawbacks. Most notably, the Delaware senator is prone to the occasional gaffe.
His 1988 presidential candidacy was sunk when he was discovered to have plagiarized a speech from a British politician, and in 2006 he made the comment that you can’t visit a 7-Eleven convenience store or a Dunkin' Donuts in Delaware “unless you have a slight Indian accent.”
Biden drew much criticism in early 2007 when he referred to Obama as the first black candidate for president who was “clean” and “articulate” — comments many interpreted as vaguely racist in their undertone.
The Delaware senator was mostly an also-ran on the campaign trail this year, so the microscope will be far more intense now that he is a vice presidential candidate.
At the same time, Biden has proven an effective debater and attack dog. He gained prominence after quipping during a debate last year that former New York Mayor and GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani formed all his sentences with just three things – “a noun, a verb, and 9/11.”
The selection of Biden will also be cast as counter to Obama’s theme of changing Washington and running against the status quo there.
Biden is one of the most senior lawmakers in all of Congress, serving in his sixth term in the Senate. He was first elected in 1972 at the age of 29, which means he has spent the majority of his 65 years as a senator.
Republicans made it clear that Biden’s words and time in Washington would be used against him.
Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) campaign immediately launched an ad using clips of Biden saying during the campaign that Obama wasn’t ready, at the time, to be president and that Biden would be proud to run with or against McCain, “because the country would be better off.”
The Republican National Committee immediately rehashed the plagiarism charges from Biden’s past.
The theme was consistent in House Minority Leader John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) reaction.
“Americans looking for a pair of candidates who are ready to fix a broken Washington aren’t going to find them on the Obama-Biden ticket,” Boehner said. “In Joe Biden, Barack Obama has not only found a running mate who doesn’t believe he’s ready to be president, he’s proven his opposition to an ‘All of the Above’ energy reform strategy to lower fuel costs for families and small businesses.”
Obama’s decision was praised by Democrats, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who many saw as having designs on the spot herself.
Certain Clinton supporters will undoubtedly be upset that Obama didn’t pick her as his vice president, as raw nerves from a contentious Democratic nominating process continue to heal. But Clinton had high praise for Biden’s selection.
“In naming my colleague and friend Sen. Joe Biden to be the vice presidential nominee, Sen. Obama has continued in the best traditions for the vice presidency by selecting an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant,” Clinton said in a statement. “Biden will be a purposeful and dynamic vice president who will help Sen. Obama both win the presidency and govern this great country.”
Biden is up for reelection this year, meaning he will have to decide whether to abandon that campaign in order to run for vice president. He does not face a top GOP challenger, though, and it appears likely he could successfully run for both at once, as Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) did in 2000.
If Biden is successful as Obama’s running mate and the two make it to the White House, it’s unclear whether that could form a springboard to the presidency for Biden. He likely wouldn’t be able to run in four years, when he would be 69, and he would be older than McCain if he were to run in eight years.
Sam Youngman contributed to this report.