Obama Picks Biden as his Running Mate

At around 3 a.m. on Saturday, Senator Barack Obama sent out email and text messages announcing Senator Joseph Biden, D-Del, as his running mate.

The text message was brief: “Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm ET on www.BarackObama.com. Spread the word!”

And his e-mail announcement began: “Friend — I have some important news that I want to make official. I’ve chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate.”

Obama’s selection ended a two-month search that was conducted almost entirely in secret.

According to NYT:

The selection was disclosed as Mr. Obama moves into a critical part of his campaign, preparing for the party’s four-day convention in Denver starting on Monday. Mr. Obama’s aides viewed the introduction of his vice presidential choice — including an afternoon rally Saturday at the old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., the same place where Mr. Obama announced his candidacy on a freezing winter morning almost two years ago — and a tour of swing states as the beginning of a week-long stretch in which Mr. Obama, 47, hopes to dominate the stage and position himself for the fall campaign.

Word of Mr. Obama’s decision leaked out hours before his campaign had been scheduled to inform supporters via text and e-mail message, and hours after informing two other top contenders for the vice presidential nomination — Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana and Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia — that they had not been chosen.

Seems like a smart move to me. Biden is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and is familiar with foreign leaders and diplomats around the world.

For more info. visit NYT.
Image via AP.

Fun Fact: Biden, 65, was at the dentist’s office, where he had taken his wife to have a root canal, when Obama called to let him know he had been chosen. [NYT]