U.S. Elections 2008

News & Polls

25 August 2008
Barack Obama Selects Delaware Senator Joe Biden as Running Mate

By Michelle Austein
Staff Writer

Washington -- Presumed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has selected Delaware Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate, saying, “Joe won't just make a good vice president -- he will make a great one.”

In a presidential-campaign first, thousands of supporters learned of Obama’s selection via text message -- which was sent at 3 a.m. EDT August 23. The announcement was followed by a joint appearance at a rally attended by about 30,000 in Springfield, Illinois. Springfield is the capital of Obama’s home state and the site where he launched his presidential campaign.

“Joe Biden is that rare mix -- for decades, he has brought change to Washington, but Washington hasn't changed him,” Obama said.

“He's an expert on foreign policy whose heart and values are rooted firmly in the middle class. He has stared down dictators and spoken out for America's cops and firefighters. He is uniquely suited to be my partner as we work to put our country back on track.”

Biden, 65, has represented his small mid-Atlantic state for 36 years. Best known for his international relations and national security experience, Biden chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has a powerful role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. He has traveled to many countries as a U.S. senator, most recently to Georgia, where he met with the country’s president.

Biden sought the presidency himself in 1988 and again in 2008, when he withdrew from the race after the Iowa caucuses. Political experts considered him a likely vice presidential contender, noting that Biden’s foreign policy resume may alleviate concern among some voters that Obama does not have enough experience to handle difficult international issues.

PERSONAL AND STRATEGIC DECISION

A presidential candidate often considers selecting a running mate from a swing state, in hopes that those states’ voters will want to see their leader elected vice president. Even though Delaware’s three electoral votes are considered safely Democratic, Obama’s campaign might be hoping Biden can influence voters in the neighboring swing state of Pennsylvania -- Biden’s birthplace. Biden is also Catholic and Catholics can often be swing voters.

In his first speech as the presumed Democratic vice presidential nominee, Biden said he was honored to be a part of what he called “this journey.” Biden’s speech focused on criticism of his long-time Senate colleague, presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain, but also reiterated the Obama campaign’s key theme of change.

“I have never in my life seen Washington so broken. … These times call for a total change in Washington's worldview. These times require more than a good soldier. They require a wise leader -- a leader … who can deliver. A leader who can deliver the change we need,” Biden said.

Biden praised his running mate, saying he learned a great deal about the Illinois senator during their time campaigning against each other in the primaries.

“No one knows better than I do that presidential campaigns are crucibles in which you're tested and challenged every single day. And over the past 18 months, I've watched Barack meet those challenges with judgment, intelligence and steel in his spine.”

McCain called Biden to congratulate him, but McCain’s campaign quickly unveiled a negative television ad highlighting a quote from a 2007 Democratic debate in which Biden criticized Obama as inexperienced. The ad also features a 2005 quote of Biden praising McCain. Another ad from the McCain campaign questions why Hillary Clinton, who accumulated the second-highest number of pledged delegates, was not selected as the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

McCain is expected to announce his running mate a few days before the Republican National Convention, which begins September 1.

U.S. vice presidential candidates are selected by the presidential nominees. The decision, though typically made with advice from others, ultimately is a political and personal one, Leonard Steinhorn, professor of communication at American University in Washington, told America.gov.

“This gives us a bit of a window into [the presidential candidates’] thinking and the types of judgments they have about people,” Steinhorn said. (See “Vice Presidential Candidate a Political and Personal Decision.”)

Biden will be nominated officially on the final day of the Democratic National Convention and will address the convention hall on August 27. For more on the political conventions, see U.S. Elections.

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