Choice meant to counter John McCain

Obama’s selection ended a two-month search that was conducted almost entirely in secret. It reflected a critical strategic choice by Obama — to go with a running mate who could reassure voters about gaps in his resume, rather than pick someone who could deliver a state or reinforce Obama’s message of change.

Biden is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and is familiar with foreign leaders and diplomats around the world. Although he initially voted to authorise the war in Iraq, Biden became a persistent critic of Bush’s policies in Iraq.

The brief text message from the Obama campaign came about 3.00 am. “Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our V-P nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm on www.Barack Obama. com. Spread the word!”

The selection was disclosed as Obama moves into a critical part of his campaign, preparing for the party’s four-day convention in Denver starting on Monday. Obama’s aides viewed the introduction of his vice-presidential choice as the beginning of a week-long stretch in which Obama hopes to dominate the stage and position himself for the fall campaign.

Biden is Roman Catholic, giving him appeal to that important voting bloc, though he favours abortion rights. He was born in a working class family in Pennsylvania, a swing state where he remains well-known. Biden is up for re-election to the Senate this year and he would presumably run simultaneously for both seats.

The McCain campaign jumped on that early Saturday, as it responded to the selection: “There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama’s lack of experience than Joe Biden. Biden has denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realising — that Barack Obama is not ready to be President,” said Ben Porritt, a spokesman for McCain.

Biden first ran for the Senate when he was just 29 years old. He has run twice for the presidency himself, once in 1988 and again in 2008, dropping out early in both cases. He was also the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during two of the most contentious Supreme Court nomination battles of the past 50 years.

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