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ELECTIONS
Obama introduces Biden as running mate
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., left, talks with Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., prior to the start of the first Democratic presidential primary debate of the 2008 election hosted by the South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, SC., in this April 26, 2007, file photo. Barack Obama selected Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware late Friday night Aug. 22, 2008, to be his vice presidential running mate, according to a Democratic official, balancing his ticket with an older congressional veteran well-versed in foreign and defense issues.
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Barack Obama introduced Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as his running mate, hailing him as a “leader who is ready to step in and be president.”
Before a crowd of thousands gathered in front of the Old State Capitol, Obama said Biden was “what many others pretend to be — a statesman with sound judgment who doesn’t have to hide behind bluster to keep America strong.”
Democrats coalesced quickly around Obama’s selection of the 65-year-old veteran of three decades in the Senate — a choice meant to provide foreign policy heft to the party’s ticket for the fall campaign against Sen. John McCain and the Republicans.
Obama made a symbolic choice for the ticket’s first joint appearance. It was a brutally cold winter day more than a year ago when he stood outside the historic structure in the Illinois capital to launch his quest for the White House.
He returned in sunshine, the party’s improbable nominee-in-waiting, a young black man who outdistanced a crowded field of rivals.
Thousands of newly printed signs bearing the words Obama/Biden sprouted in the crowd, waiting in anticipation in 90-degree temperatures.
