Yep, It's Biden

Posted by Liliana Segura, AlterNet at 5:17 AM on August 23, 2008.

The text message arrived at 3am, officially confirming what had been leaked hours before:

"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!"

Read more here or here.

General consensus is that Biden was chosen to "fill the gaps" in Obama's resume, given his 36 years in the Senate and the fact that he chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But when it comes to Obama's base, Biden isn't exactly the "change" agent people might want. (And of course, there was that whole "clean," "articulate" thing.)

The McCain campaign immediately released as statement claiming that "there has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama's lack of experience than Joe Biden" and CNN and MSNBC, relieved to have something to show on the air besides speculating pundits and the people camping out in front of various would-be VPs houses, has started playing some clips to that effect.

Of course, it's too soon to know how this will be spun -- let alone what Obama's supporters and detractors do with this news. For now, here's what you find when you Google "biden wiki." (Yes, it has already been updated.)

Tagged as: cnn, msnbc, barack obama, election 2008, presidential election, joseph biden

Liliana Segura is a staff writer and editor of AlterNet's Rights and Liberties and War on Iraq Special Coverage.