I agree. Biden has a great ability to given direct answers to complex questions, and is rarely trapped by his own nuance. Plus, he's from Scranton. I don't mean to thread-jack, but I am BEAMING about this pick for a pretty superficial reason.

Yay for Scranton!

Give me a break.
A lot of bloggers don't seem to understand that the poor want jobs and the middle class wants higher paying jobs.  Bill Clinton was popular when he left office because people had Jobs. Bush is unpopular because job creation has sucked.  Who will be better at delivering jobs? McSame or Obama.  This election is about the stupid economy not foreign policy.  Yes we do need better foreign policy but Americans will be voting their pocketbooks this election and we have to win on jobs.

When was the last time Obama focused specifically on jobs? and made a commitment to provide more jobs than Bush?  or went into details on how Obama was going to provide jobs?

The Obama economic message is not resonating with voters, especially in the Midwest, because he is not speaking their language about their concerns which are Jobs, Jobs and Jobs.  Clinton won many of those voters in the primary because a typical Clinton stump speech mentioned jobs 2 or 3 times every minute.  Obama needs to quit running on foreign policy and attack the Republicans on jobs.

Picking Boring Biden is a losing strategy.  I am very disappointed.  

The big downside-- Biden has said nasty things about Obama. Here's what Biden said about Obama's foreign policy experience, from a press release Biden sent out during the primary:

Sen. Biden has been talking about this for over 6 months. Dating back to January 5th, Sen. Biden said America Should Surge Troops in Afghanistan. He told the Washington Post, "If we're surging troops anywhere, it should be in Afghanistan," Biden said. Adding troops there would give the United States "the moral high ground" in its quest for more forces from NATO allies. [Washington Post, 1/5/07]

"We find it a little disingenuous that Sen. Obama is hailing this as a new bold initiative when he has neglected to join his colleagues in the Senate when the opportunities have been there to redirect our forces into Afghanistan" said Biden for President Campaign Manager Luis Navarro. "It's good to see Sen. Obama has finally arrived at the right position, but this can hardly be considered bold leadership."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0 807/Biden_Obama_stole_my_ideas.html

And then there's Biden's plagiarism problems:

Then in September 1987, the campaign ran into serious trouble when he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party.[27] Though Biden had correctly credited the original author in all speeches but one, the one where he failed to make mention of the originator was caught on video.[28] Within days, it was also discovered that, while a first year law student at Syracuse Law School, Biden had plagiarized a law review article in a class paper he wrote. Though the then-dean of the law school, as well as Biden's former professor, played down the incident of plagiarism, they did find that Biden drew "chunks of heavy legal prose directly from" the article in question. Biden said the act was inadvertent due to his not knowing the proper rules of citation, and Biden was permitted to retake the course after receiving a grade of F, which was subsequently dropped from his record. Biden also released at the same time the record of his grades as an undergraduate which were C's and D's with the exception of two A's in physical education, one B in a course on English writers and an F in ROTC during his first three semesters.[29] His grades improved later in his undergraduate career but were not exceptional.[29] Further, when questioned by a New Hampshire resident about his grades in law school Biden had claimed falsely to have graduated in the "top half" of his class, (when he actually graduated 76th in a class of 85) that he had attended on a full scholarship, and had received three degrees.[30] In fact he had received two majors, History and Political Science, and a single B.A., as well as a half scholarship based on financial need.[30]

Faced with these revelations, Biden withdrew from the nomination race on September 23, 1987, saying his candidacy had been overrun by "the exaggerated shadow" of his mistakes.[31]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biden

You can be sure the right wingers will attack Biden for flunking ROTC.  I am sorry I do not share the heady enthusiasm of others, but Biden is a secondary figure in the Senate.  Jim Webb (who didn't want the VP slot) and Wesley Clark would have been better picks.  And so too would have been Jack Reed from RI, who taught at West Point.  Biden's state has only 3 EVS and Kerry carried it easily anyway.

Check out this amazing footage of Biden on Bush's prosecution of the war: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1op8vwF5 UA

His stooges already have a web video out on politico about Biden praising McCain and that "readiness" line about Obama.

I think Obama should try to emphasize how the pick was non-political.  It'll stand in good contrast to McCain if he picks Romney, a pure political calculation based on geography and money.  That Biden doesn't help with geography or money may actually work in favor of Obama's narrative about the veep.  

We may have stumbled onto a narrative about McCain's veep if it is someone who doesn't support abortion rights; by going so publicly with his pro-choice trial balloon with Lieberman and Ridge and having been beaten back quickly on talk radio by the likes of Hannity and Limbaugh, I think we can make the case that McCain "caved" to the wingnut-part of his party if the choice is eventually pro-life.

Biden v Mitt debate matchup just has me salivating.

Biden has more 'joe six-cred' while also being a better debater and an order of magnitude more informed about federal priorities/possibilities.

I wonder if this embarrassing prospect might cause McCain to go back to Tom Ridge as VP.  Ridge isn't as sharp a campaigner as Biden, but at least he'd counter Biden's strength in Pennsylvania and wouldn't come across as Thurston Moneybags III.

As President, Obama will need someone to get the Senate and House to get things done. This is where
Biden will be needed and respected.

Am off to the streets of Denver for some planned action.

tap yer toes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPOAKXBi9 Pw

of this election...the Biden thing started in earnest when Russia invaded Georgia, and McCain appointed himself co-Secretary of State. So in an effort to shore up Barack's perceived lack of foreign policy credentials, we suddenly get the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as his running mate...this is a very reactive choice.

In the meantime, I hope someone in either party wakes up and remembers that we have the worst economy since the Great Depression, and a financial sector in meltdown. Against that backdrop, I would have loved to see something else today, something dramatic: declaration of a Marshall Plan to re-build the economy, with the introduction of a Bob Rubin, or someone from the private sector as the Vice Presidential nominee.

It would be nice to fight the battle on our turf--the economy--instead of yet another election in which we debate who is stronger on national defense, more patriotic,etc. This feels very much like the John--reporting for duty--Kerry convention of four years ago.

Bottom line--Repubs love to have these national elections based on fear of terror and national security, and we let them do it every cycle. We don't have to follow their lead; we can set our own priorities. We should set a different emphasis--perhaps, "it's the economy, stupid!" would be a good starting point. It will be harder to do with an Obama-Biden ticket.

Biden's campaigning ability is a reason to pick him for VP? If Biden is such a great campaigner, they why was his support an asterisk in this Presidential campaign? I am not sure that Biden will add a single vote for Obama.

And I really do not see Biden innoculating Obama with foreign policy expertise. How is Biden really identifiable to the general public as a foreign policy expert like perhaps a Wesley Clark? And in reality he is not, for example what insight has he brought to Iraq policy based on all his experience and expertise?

Biden represents the "we are not taking any shit from you" ticket.  I really cant wait.  Will it be successfull?  Who really knows.  

I'll second the "take no shit" ticket.  Bout time.

Biden will make a great attack dog.  Sure, he sticks his foot in his mouth on occasion, but he knows how to go right for the throat.   You need a good attack dog in the #2 spot.   I really want to see Biden versus Mittens now.