Post his Obama gaffe he was actually not that bad.

How would we know? Post his Obama gaffe, no one covered him because that gaffe ended his campaign. I think the historical trend would be more accurate than that particular sample. I just remember that Biden had a rep for doing this even before the latest primary season.

This is why I think it is a really bad decision, I don't know why they think it is a good idea but picking a guy who is going to make gaffes ala Dan Qualye is not a way to win close elections

Obama chooses Biden. Well, Obama has moved decisively here to nail down um..three electoral votes he was going to win anyway. Goodbye Indiana, goodbye Virginia. Geez what a mess.

i don't know if he was a gaffe machine but he was hilarious throughout the debates.

There were only two choices that would help a lot in Florida - HRC or Biden...so Biden is a solid pick on that alone.

Biden helps nail down PA too, he's from there if my memory serves me correctly

This isn't really true. Not to say Biden doesn't make gaffes but the Obama gaffe didn't "end" his campaign. He never really had one to begin with.
No one covered him because he was never a serious candidate to win the Democratic presidency. In fact both Dodd and Biden were covered only when the story was about "those candidates who run for presidency when they don't have a chance in hell of even finishing 2nd" and why they still do it etc.

Biden will probably put his foot in his mouth sometime during the campaign...but it typically isn't a "I was for the war before I was against" , "I can't remember how many houses I own" type thing. Its often a gaffe due to Biden talking to long. He was just as likely as Clark to make gaffes...Biden because he is direct and talks to long...Clark cuz he's inexperienced as a politician.

-The NYT Brooks article really covers well why he is a solid VP pick. And Nate delved into the fact they he is good with the old fogey crowd which Obama seems to have problems with.

A couple of things:

1) I remember hearing this in 2004 regarding John Edwards/North Carolina. At least when he was first nominated. I think by September 1st or so, most Democrats had realized Edwards wasn't going to help Kerry at all in North Carolina or in the South in general. But at first there was a whole lot of "oh boy that gives us North Carolina plus we'll be competitive all over the South!" type of naive enthusiasm. That isn't to say "Biden will lock up PA" is = naive enthusiasm, just that accurately estimating the geographic benefits of VPs is a guessing game at best.
2) Obama was probably 80% to win PA anyway, and lets say half of the time he doesn't win PA, it's because he gets smoked all over the country, PA doesn't matter, and Biden is irrelevant.

Needless to say I don't quite see the wisdom in this. Although that's taking it too far. I shouldn't say that I don't see the wisdom; it's defensible in some respects. But the Obama campaign has been really good so far, going back to last year. So I won't spend much time questioning their decision here. Especially because VP nominees are generally irrelevant. And the potential high upside picks (namely HRC) had just as much risk as she did upside.

I echo adanthar and note that "he'll do" is probably the best way to describe this. He's going to be a good attack dog because he loves cameras and talking and being on camera and talking into it, so the role is absolutely perfect for him. The flipside is that, as everyone else has mentioned, he's got foot-in-mouth disease, which goes hand in hand with his love of cameras and ceaselessly talking, and if he says 5 stupid things or less and manages to take the Obama campaign off message and give McCain a news cycle win 5 or less times, then as I said, he's done better than expected and probably will help Obama more than he hurts him. He probably helps a little with white guys, old people, Jewish voters in Florida, and fence-sitting Catholics. I don't think he does a single thing to bridge the gap with PUMAs and I'd make sure to re-emphasize that Biden probably helps *a little*, if at all, with the above demos.

Its a safe pick, basically picking Joe Biden guarantees Pennsylvania and hence a close election. What Obama fails to realize is that you can still lose a close election.

Yeah but the choices suck...so u have to look at it from the O camps perspective.

We need Penns...and we are polling close in FL,Ohio,Mich,Minn,Vir which will be big states.

We don't want to deal/can't function with HRC if we won...so she is out regardless if it hurts us.

We def. need a older white male VP since we aren't going with a woman.
So its basically EB, JB, WC, and maybe SN or BS. TK is too inexperienced.

SN is really old and only helps in one state that we probably won't win but solid foreign policy etc.

BS is an unknown with only 2 days till convention.

EB is younger, seems a little to soft spoken, but helps in the midwest and Ind/Ohio but the test role out got a very neg reaction. Plus he kind of looks like a yuppie.

WC is solid on foreign policy and helps in midwest but is still very newbish as a politician and doesn't have much cred with domestic issues. Doesn't really help majorly in any big battleground state

JB - solid on foreign policy, seasoned vet and being in a campaign, good attack dog, blunt and direct which makes him come off as very authentic, old people seem to like him, blue collar, helps in Penn and FL.

So the safest and smartest pick is Biden of that group.

The HR pick would have been Warner if it was possible but its not.
And HRC is like winning while at the same time losing.

On one hand it sucks to realize that Obama is a conventional politician, but on the other its nice to see some pragmatism. I guess I'll take the leap of faith that once elected he will make good decisions.

Use names not initials!

most of the VP contenders aren't famous enough to be referred to with just initials.

have the text messages gone out yet?

Pragmatism is a good word; that's what this pick strikes me as.

Well Biden is certainly > Clark, but I think my prediction of disappointment stands

Not to take away from the Biden fun but Nate had a good post in light of today's Selzer poll (Selzer being the highest rated pollster in Nate's database) that has Obama +7 in Michigan: namely, if Michigan is off the table, Obama just needs to win one of Colorado, Ohio, or Virginia to win the election. If you think Obama is 100% to win Michigan (he's not but let's pretend he is) and Colorado, Ohio and Virginia are 50/50 tossups or thereabouts, then Obama's 85%+ to win.

In other words: go long on Romney on Intrade and hedge with Spencer Abraham (lolz), because McCain really needs Michigan in play. The Abraham thing is a joke, just put your money on Romney.

Secret Service has apparently just gotten to Biden's house. What a badass way to enter the election season. "Hello, Senator Biden? We're here to take any bullets for you."

ya i agree but the only way to not be disappointed given the hype...it would have to be Hillary or a shocker...like Warner, Webb, etc

Also getting back to this:

Obama's campaign said they were temporarily pulling their ads there. After looking around at the blogs and stuff, and in light of the Biden pick, it sounds like the Obama campaign will probably be targeting these states with Obama/Biden ads specifically post-convention -- ostensibly because the Obama campaign thinks Biden has special appeal in those places or something. If that's the case, why not PA too?

Either that or the Obama campaign is really just bull****ting with everyone when they say the pull is temporary; in which case it's just a bizarre move.

Oh and PS I ****ing love Biden

This is the ticket I would have picked from maybe the second debate. But I would have voted for Obama anyway, so I don't know how much he helps. Listening to all the talking heads, I agree that Biden takes a little of the "risk" out of Obama for the fence-sitters. I'm excited about November, though.

In the primaries Obama said he great judgment because he opposed the war in Iraq. Now he picks a running mate who voted for that war because of his vast foreign policy experience (that's what the dumbasses on the TV say)

Joe Biden is the best choice.

I doubt any Dem or Republican comes close to Biden with Foreign Policy experience. Who did they send when Georgia/Russia erupted? Biden, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rice.

Biden will definitely reassure the "old fogey" crowd with his 35 years in the Senate. Damn, that reassures me. Biden must have learned just a little bit about how Washington works.

Biden will pull the Irish Catholic vote against an Episcopalian/Baptist (LOL) and a Mormon.

Biden will also win more than a few female votes. I hate to say it, but when Biden's tragic loss of his wife and infant daughter makes it way into the Sunday newspaper, female voters' strings are likely to be pulled. Biden is also a handsome guy for his 66 years (I hated to say that too because no Jah, Taso and the rest of you chudd thumpers I'm not a devotchka. I was told he was handsome by devotchka friends of mine so sthu). Seriously, I think Biden will pull the female vote. There is a large group of older old school females who still don't believe that a woman is ready to be POTUS. I've heard it from my Gram's friends. I was sorta shocked but what you gonna do? They will love Biden. My Republican sister (she was adopted from a zoo) did want to see Hilary nominated though. She met her once or twice. She was leaning towards an Obama/Clinton ticket but I don't know now.

Indiana's red AFAIK. Virginia's a toss-up. But I think Biden will help in many other places whereas Kaine only would help in VA. Kaine also doesn't have any FP experience. Same with Kathleen and Bayh.

I never thought Biden's comments were out of line or a gaffe. The media wanted a bombshell story. Obama's does speak well. Really well. He is clean. Squeaky clean. After 35 years in Washington, Biden was making a frank assessment of Obama's ethics, honesty, and morals. Did anybody really think that Biden was trying to say that BHO didn't have BO? I never did. Obama and Biden have been buddies in the Senate since Obama crossed the Potomac.

The other thing about Biden is that he is squeaky clean too. No reports of anything resembling ethics violations in 35 years? Almost unheard of for a Washington insider. Married for 30 years. Irish Catholic. They don't get any cleaner than him either. Probably why the two hit it off. Biden might even smell good. Ask Taso or Jah.

Edit: CBS Special Report: It's Biden! No text message

John King just said CNN confirms Biden is the pick.