Aug 24 2008
Barack Obama picked Joe Biden for Vice President
US-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama picked up Sen Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate on Saturday. Biden, an influential Congressman supporting landmark Indo-US nuclear deal, has not only served as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee across the last 30 years but also as head of the Judiciary Committee, with its jurisdiction over anti-crime legislation, Supreme Court nominees and Constitutional issues.
Obama, the first black candidate to lead a major US political party’s presidential ticket disclosed his choice after a long political suspense as other contenders gradually fell away, media reports said.
Biden, 65, who had suggested that helping India to meet its growing energy needs will be in the interest of the US is currently serving out his sixth term. He also ran for the 1988 and this year’s Democratic presidential nomination but dropped out. He was first elected to the Senate in 1972 at the age of 29.
But he has tolerated severe criticism from his Republican rival John McCain, a veteran Arizona senator, combat pilot and former Vietnam prisoner of war, over what Republicans contends is his lack of national security experience and his calls for a 16-month withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraq. His choice of running mate clearly is intended to counter some of that criticism.
Biden will make his first big speech as the vice presidential candidate on Wednesday, the third night of the Democratic convention.
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Aldous…
If you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm. As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others….