Obama and Biden team makes debut

By Caren Bohan Reuters - Saturday, August 23 10:48 pm

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and newly minted running mate Joseph Biden made their debut on Saturday, with Biden declaring "it's our time" and quickly going on the attack against Republican John McCain.

Outside the Old State Capitol in Illinois where Obama launched his historic bid for the White House in February 2007, Obama said Biden "won't just make a good vice president, he will make a great vice president."

"He is that rare mix -- for decades, he has brought change to Washington, but Washington hasn't changed him. He's an expert on foreign policy whose heart and values are rooted firmly in the middle class," Obama said.

Obama tapped the Delaware senator, a leading voice on international affairs, as his vice presidential running mate earlier on Saturday.

Biden, 65, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is one of the most knowledgeable Democrats on foreign policy -- an area where Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, has been criticized as inexperienced.

"This man is a clear-eyed pragmatist who will get the job done," Biden said of Obama.

He repeatedly linked McCain to President George W. Bush and said the Arizona senator would be more of the same in the White House. "The times require more than a good soldier, they require a wise leader," Biden said.

Obama ended days of speculation about his No. 2 with a middle-of-the-night announcement on his Web site, featuring a photo of the two, and his campaign sent a text message and e-mail to supporters.

Biden, a Roman Catholic originally from the battleground state of Pennsylvania, will bring not only foreign policy expertise to the ticket but strong working-class roots.

That could help Obama connect with the blue-collar voters he has failed to attract in the run-up to the November 4 election against McCain. Obama and McCain are neck and neck in opinion polls.

Biden's 2008 presidential bid fell flat but he was a forceful and aggressive debater, firing off some of the toughest criticisms of Bush.

The choice of Biden, who was first elected to the Senate in 1972, indicates Obama was more interested in filling gaps in his foreign policy experience than in finding someone who could reinforce his message of bringing change to Washington.

Biden's record includes outspoken opposition to U.S. government support for South Africa's apartheid system in the 1980's, agitation from the Senate for stronger U.S. intervention in the Balkans in the 1990s and close involvement with U.S. policy on Iraq, Iran and Pakistan.

Biden voted in 2002 for a resolution that authorized the invasion of Iraq after failing to secure support for another resolution to that would have allowed military action only after diplomatic efforts had been exhausted. Obama was not in the Senate then, but spoke out against the invasion.

Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, beaten by Obama in a bitter struggle for the Democratic nomination, welcomed the selection of Biden, who she described as "an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant."

"Senator Biden will be a purposeful and dynamic vice president who will help Senator Obama both win the presidency and govern this great country," she said.

HEADING FOR DENVER

The choice of a running mate can reflect on a candidate's judgment and offer hints of the qualities valued in a crucial adviser, although history has shown it is unlikely to have a major impact on the election between Obama and McCain.

McCain, 71, a Vietnam War veteran and long-time senator from Arizona, has yet to name a running mate.

The McCain campaigned quickly launched a television ad using a clip from a Democratic presidential candidates' debate earlier this year in which Biden said he did not believe Obama was ready to be president and praised McCain.

The Springfield rally is the only joint appearance for the two before they head to the Democratic Party convention that opens on Monday in Denver. Obama plans a tour of battleground states including Iowa and Montana before reaching Colorado.

On Thursday, Obama will formally accept his party's nomination as its presidential candidate, making history as the first black to do so.

While Republicans have tried to depict Obama as a celebrity, Biden has a more down-to-earth image. He repeatedly reminded the Illinois crowd of his humble roots in Pennsylvania.

The son of a car salesman, he is less wealthy than some of his Senate colleagues and commutes daily to Washington by train from his home 80 miles (130 km) away in Delaware.

A month after his election to the Senate in 1972, Biden's wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. He also suffered a brain aneurysm in 1988 but recovered fully.

Biden's son Beau, a captain in the Army National Guard, is scheduled to be deployed to Iraq in October.

(Writing by John Whitesides; additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Vicki Allen; Editing by Anthony Boadle)

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