Obama Chooses Biden as Running Mate

Barack Obama today named U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Delaware) as his vice presidential running mate in the 2008 presidential election.

Biden brings some obvious strengths to the ticket, particularly in foreign relations. Biden currently chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is considered one of the Senate’s leading experts on U.S. foreign policy. He is also the former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he earned a national reputation for his leadership in opposing the Supreme Court nominations of Clarence Thomas (later confirmed) and Robert Bork.

Joe Biden and the Environment
But where does Biden stand on the environment? Will Biden’s views on energy and the environment complement those of Barack Obama, and will his environmental record help or hinder the Obama campaign? (Learn more about Biden’s views on energy and environmental issues in a detailed summary of his environmental record.)

Born in 1942, Biden trained as a lawyer and was elected to the Senate in 1972. He has represented the people of Delaware as a U.S. Senator for 35 years. During that time he has created an impressive record on issues related to the environment and U.S. energy policy, earning an 83 percent lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters for his votes on important pieces of environmental legislation.

Biden and Obama hold similar positions on most key energy and environmental issues. It shouldn’t be difficult for them to create a unified approach and to close the gap on the few issues where their views are slightly out of sync.

More difficult to overcome will be statements Biden made about Obama’s lack of experience and readiness to be president during the early months of the campaign when Biden was still a presidential candidate himself. Biden’s early criticisms of Obama are already drawing fire from Republicans trying to exploit a perceived weakness in the new political pairing, but Obama and his advisors surely anticipated that reaction and must have decided their campaign could weather the attacks.
_{Photos by Joe Raedle/Getty Images}

Read what other About.com sites are writing about Joe Biden:

• Profile of US Sen. Joe Biden -- Deborah White, US Liberal Politics
• Senator Joe Biden's View on the Economy -- Kimberly Amadeo, US Economy
• Joe Biden Chosen as Obama Running Mate -- Keith Porter, US Foreign Policy
• Joe Biden's Middle East Policy -- Pierre Tristam, Middle East Issues
• Obama Picks Biden -- Kathy Gill, US Politics
• Obama's VP Pick? Joe "Big Mouth" Biden -- Justin Quinn, US Conservative Politics
• It's Obama/Biden -- Tom Head, Civil Liberties
• Is Joe Biden a Women's Issues Advocate? -- Linda Lowen, Women's Issues
• It's Biden for Obama -- Robert Longley, US Government Info