Source: blogywoodbabes.blogspot.com
Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama still isn't saying who he's picked as his vice presidential running mate until 10:00 AM EST but speculation surrounding Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., has increased as the official Democratic ticket's unveiling in Springfield on Saturday nears. But it seem someone close to his campaign has leaked the name Sen. Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. late Friday night. Somewhere there is a very angry Hillary Clinton and a very scared Bill Clinton hiding from his wife. Joe Biden is seen as a safe choice for Obama but does have some baggage of his own, they do call him Slow Joe Biden for a reason. But its a very good pick by Sen. Obama because you just can't have your veep out shining you.
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden emerged as Barack Obama's likely choice for vice presidential running mate on the Democratic ticket Friday night as other contenders slowly fell away in a suspenseful day and night. The normally loquacious Biden maintained a low profile as associates said they believed — but did not know — that he would be tapped. They added they had been asked to stand by in case their help was needed.
You can expect Joe Biden to keep things interesting by saying some stupid things. As has been widely reported, Biden was quoted in an interview with the New York Observer as saying the following about fellow U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who identify himself as a black man: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man."
Biden apparently called Sen. Obama to apologize, whereupon Obama told him not to worry about it. But there was outrage from the African-American political leadership. Obama later told reporters that there are much more important public policy issues to be discussing. But he was clear to point out in a written statement that even if Biden’s remarks did not personally offend him, they are historically inaccurate: “African-American presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns, and no one would call them inarticulate.”
Biden, who has twice run for president, remained out of public view. Obama's campaign said it would have no announcement until a text message planned for early Saturday, but did nothing to squelch the growing speculation.
The 65-year-old senator became the focus as Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine spread word he had been ruled out and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana was told he was not Obama's choice.
Several aides to former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton — who was Obama's closest rival for the presidential nomination — said they believed she was out of contention. They added the Obama campaign had never requested financial or other records from her, the typical first step toward a nomination.
Obama arranged a Saturday debut with his ticket mate outside the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill. Among those who had made the short list, Biden brought the most experience in defense or foreign policy — areas in which Obama is rated relatively poorly in the polls compared with Republican Sen. John McCain. Biden, 65, was elected to the Senate at the age of 29 in 1973.
Biden spent the day at his home in Delaware with friends and family. The normally loquacious lawmaker maintained a low profile as associates said they believed — but did not know — he would be tapped. They added they had been asked to stand by in case their help was needed.
Additionally, several associates of Obama — including some at his campaign headquarters in Chicago — said they believed Biden was the choice, though they cautioned they had not been told directly.
Biden dropped out of the 2008 race after a poor finish in the Iowa caucuses, but not before he talked dismissively of joining someone else's ticket.
"I am not running for vice president," he said in a Fox interview. "I would not accept it if anyone offered it to me. The fact of the matter is I'd rather stay as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee than be vice president."
Also during the day, conservative Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas emerged — however briefly — as a contender.
On a day and night of political suspense, Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia told associates on Friday he had been ruled out as Barack Obama's running mate and Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden emerged as a leading contender to join the Democratic ticket. A Democratic official close to Bill Richardson said the New Mexico governor was told he had been passed over.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius rounded out the roster of likely contenders — a list that did not take into account any surprises that Obama might harbor.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, nooooo," she told reporters who asked for her latest thoughts on the months-long search.
Three days before Democrats open their convention in Denver, officials said the Obama campaign had taken the trouble to print material bearing the names of several potential ticket mates. The result was to minimizing the significance of a report that one company was churning out signs bearing Bayh's name.
Obama told reporters on Thursday he had made his choice, and aides used the prospect of a text-message announcement to try and attract additional supporters by soliciting their cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
Hundreds of miles to the west, carpenters, electricians, sound stage gurus and others transformed the Pepsi Center in Denver into a made-for-television convention venue.
Tucked away in one corner were thousands of lightweight rolled cardboard tubes, ready-made handles for signs bearing the names of the Democratic ticket — once the identity of Obama's running mate was known.
Edwards, whom House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had touted for running mate, told The Associated Press in Waco, Texas, "I have had interactions with the Obama campaign over the last several months but I will not get into details."
Kaine, a moderate governor from a swing state, boarded a private plane at a small airport for a flight to Denver — not Springfield, Ill., and the Democratic ticket.
Bayh, a second-term senator, attended tennis camp with one of his sons.
"My answer to any question about the subject that I think you're referring to is that all inquiries should be directed at Senator Obama's campaign," said Clinton, the former first lady who came close to capturing the nomination in the primaries of last winter and spring.
Despite the advice, neither Obama nor his aides were saying.
"Obviously, the most important question is: Is this person ready to be president?" Obama told "The Early Show" on CBS. Second, he said, was: "Can this person help me govern? Are they going to be an effective partner in creating the kind of economic opportunity here at home and guiding us through some dangerous waters internationally?"
And, he added: "I want somebody who is going to be able to challenge my thinking and not simply be a yes person when it comes to policymaking.
Clinton's credentials were forged in the primaries and caucuses where she ran a close second to Obama in the battle for the nomination. She maintains a loyal following among Democrats, many of whom have yet to swing behind the man who defeated her.
There was no shortage of other speculation, ranging from GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who traveled with Obama to Iraq and Afghanistan, to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, to Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut.
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Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. (born November 20, 1942 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. U.S.A.) is the senior United States Senator from Delaware. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and is currently serving his sixth term. Biden has served for the sixth-longest period among current Senators (fourth among Democrats) and is Delaware's longest-serving Senator. He is the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in the 110th Congress. Biden has served in that position in the past, and he has served as Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. He was a candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2008 presidential election, but dropped out after the caucuses in Iowa on January 3, 2008.
Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of Joseph R. Biden, Sr. and Catherine Eugenia "Jean" Finnegan. He was the first of four siblings and is of Irish Catholic heritage. He has two brothers, James Brian Biden and Francis W. Biden, and a sister, Valerie (Biden) Owens. The Biden family moved to Claymont, Delaware when Biden was 10 years old, and he grew up in suburban New Castle County, Delaware, where his father was a car salesman. He also loved to play the flute in band, which earned him the nickname, "fleet flutin joe". In 1961, Biden graduated from Archmere Academy in Claymont, Delaware and, in 1965, from the University of Delaware in Newark, where he double majored in history and political science. He then attended Syracuse University College of Law, graduated in 1968, and was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1969.
In 1966, while in law school, Biden married Neilia Hunter. They had three children, Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, Robert Hunter, and Naomi. His wife and infant daughter died in a car accident shortly after he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972. His two young sons, Beau and Hunter, were seriously injured in the accident, but both eventually made full recoveries. Biden was sworn into office from their bedside. Persuaded not to resign in order to care for them, Biden began the practice of commuting an hour and a half each day on the train from his home in the Wilmington suburbs to Washington, DC, which he continues to do.
In 1977, Biden married Jill Tracy Jacobs. They have one daughter, Ashley, and are members of the Roman Catholic Church. In February 1988, Biden was hospitalized for two brain aneurysms which kept him from the Senate for seven months.
Biden's elder son, Beau, was a partner in the Wilmington law firm of Bifferato, Gentilotti, Biden & Balick, LLC and was elected Attorney General of Delaware in 2006. He is a captain in the Delaware Army National Guard, where he serves in the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps. He is set to be deployed to Iraq in October. Biden's younger son, Hunter, works as a lawyer in Washington, DC, serves on the board of directors of Amtrak, and previously worked in the Commerce Department.
Since 1991, Biden has also served as an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law, where he teaches a seminar on constitutional law.In 1987, Joe Biden ran as a Democratic presidential candidate, formally declaring his candidacy at the Wilmington train station on June 9, 1987. In Biden's speech, he challenged Americans to step beyond the materialism of the Reagan years. When the campaign began, Biden was considered a potentially strong candidate because of his moderate image, his supposed appeal to Baby Boomers, his fundraising appeal (Biden's $1.7 million raised in the first quarter of 1987 was more than any other candidate, including the then front-runner, Gary Hart), his high profile position as chair of the Senate Judiciary committee during the Robert Bork confirmation hearings, and, perhaps above all, his soaring oratory. Biden often seemed to try to inspire the same hope and idealism assoicated with 1960s liberals such as Robert Kennedy, especially as related to civil rights. He received considerable attention in the summer of 1986 when he excoriated Secretary of State George Shultz at a Senate Hearing because of the Reagan administration's support of South Africa, which continued to support a system of Apartheid. By August 1987, however, Biden's campaign had already begun to lag behind those of Michael Dukakis and Richard Gephardt.
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. 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. Within days, it was also discovered that, while at Syracuse Law School, Biden had plagiarized a law review article in a class paper he wrote. 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 in the course. 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. His grades improved later in his undergraduate career but were not exceptional. 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. In fact he had received a single B.A. in history and political science and had not received a full scholarship.
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. After Biden withdrew from the race it was learned that the Dukakis campaign had secretly made a video showcasing the Biden/Kinnock comparison and distributed it to news outlets. Dukakis fired John Sasso, his campaign manager and long-time Chief of Staff.
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