Obama And Biden: Change And Experience - What An Excellent Combination!

 Senator Barack Obama has chosen Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate, a pick I believe that is designed to strengthen Obama’s foreign policy credentials before the November election.

Earlier on Friday Biden himself said that he wasn’t sure if he would be teaching his Constitution Law class at Widener University School of Law on Saturday since it had been announced that Obama will be campaigning with his VP candidate on Saturday.  By Friday evening it was reported that Senator Evan Bayh and Governor Tim Kaine had received personal calls from Obama advising them that they would not be VP.

Senators Obama and Biden have quite a few things in common: They are both dedicated family men, they are both strong supporters of women’s rights including health and defense.  They are both attorneys and they are both professors of Constitution Law. 

 Biden grew up in New Castle County, Delaware. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965 and from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. Prior to his election to the Senate, Biden practiced law in Wilmington, Delaware and served on the New Castle County Council from 1970 to 1972. Since 1991, Biden has been an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law, where he teaches a seminar on constitutional law. He is a proud graduate of Archmere Academy, a Catholica High School, class of 1961. 

Nationally, Senator Biden has earned a reputation for working on a bipartisan basis with Republican colleagues and bringing real results that matter to Americans. Senator Biden’s legislative initiatives often have an immediate impact in Delaware. For example, Delaware was one of the first states to take advantage of the federal resources made available by Senator Biden’s Adam Walsh Act, which helps protect children against predators. And fourteen years after Senator Biden first wrote and passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA); its programs are still caring for, training, and providing for victims in Delaware.

Agriculture remains Delaware’s biggest industry and Senator Biden is committed to preserving Delaware’s farming tradition. He believes that the term “family farm” should never become a Delaware legend.

 As the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator Biden’s top foreign policy priority is bringing home American troops without leaving chaos behind in Iraq. Senator Biden and Les Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, have offered a five-point plan that offers a political solution to ending the war - a plan overwhelming endorsed by his Senate colleagues by a 75-23 vote.

Senator Biden lives in Wilmington, Delaware and commutes daily to Washington, DC when the Senate is in session. He is married to Dr. Jill Biden, the former Jill Jacobs, an educator in Delaware’s schools for over twenty years. She currently is a professor teaching at Delaware Technical Community College. Senator Biden is the father of three children: Beau, Hunter and Ashley. Beau serves as Delaware’s Attorney General, Ashley is a social worker and Hunter is a lawyer. The Bidens also have five grandchildren.

Biden had been considered the frontrunner for the job in recent weeks — a position substantiated by a last-minute, unscheduled trip last weekend to meet with the President of Georgia.

Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 at the age of 29 – the youngest person to be elected to that position. A month after his election, his wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. Biden has not been seriously challenged since that first election — a reflection of both the Democratic roots of the state and Biden’s skillfulness as a politician.

Biden launched his first presidential bid in 1987 and was gaining traction until a video was leaked to the press that showed striking similarities between a speech by Biden and an address by British Labour Party politician Neil Kinnock. Biden sought to beat back the controversy but subsequent allegations about plagiarism and resume inflation in law school forced him from the contest.

Biden was subsequently stricken in early 1988 by a brain aneurysm from which he recovered fully. Once his health improved, Biden threw himself back into the day to day working of the Senate where he chaired the high profile Judiciary Committee from 1987 until 1995. In that role, he chaired the controversial Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. Biden has also served several stints as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a perch from which he has emerged as one of the leading voices in the Democratic Party on foreign policy matters.

Two decades after his first bid for president, Biden launched a second candidacy in 2007. He was never considered to be more than a long shot due to the presence of both Obama and Hillary Clinton. 

By Obama selecting Biden as his VP this seems to be a sign that he and his campaign believe that foreign policy matters will be front and center in the fall election. Biden brings an immediate seriousness and focus on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Georgia to the Democratic ticket.

Biden has great national campaigning experience, will be a good attack dog and a great defender of Obama. I believe that Obama and Biden will make a great combination of intellect, integrity, values and commitment to the American people.

An excellent slogan would be, “Change We Can Believe In. Experience You Can Count On.”