Joe Biden Amtrak Education

Wapo: "Joe came in here with a motorcade," says Daniel Thorpe, 44, a cab driver at the Amtrak station. A motorcade? For ol' Joe? Everybody here is used to seeing Joe Biden by himself, on his way to and from the train -- used to being able to go up and shake Joe's hand, talk about the grandkids.

Anyway, on Monday there he was. Big photo-op and a huge crush of press and Secret Service all around. Joe won't be taking the 7:35 a.m. Acela to Washington for a good long while, so he wanted to drop in and say goodbye.

He talked to the shoeshine man. "Sorta like a farewell," says Robert L. Jones, 63. "He told me, he said, don't stop speaking when he comes into the station." By which Joe meant, I'm still Joe. Which is pretty much how Jill Biden put it to the cashier at the newsstand when she ducked in to buy a copy of Newsweek with the newly announced Democratic ticket on the cover: Barack Obama beaming, Joe with that squinty grin.

"I'm going to miss seeing your husband," the cashier, Joanne Johnson, 44, says she told her. "And she said, 'You know he's the same ol' Joe.' "

I'm Just Selling Buttons

Who Is Joe Biden?

"Joey, Get up, get up," his father would tell him. Must see video.

NPR:

Biden was born in Scranton, Pa., to a working-class family — his father was a car salesman — and was raised in the suburbs of Wilmington, Del. He attended Syracuse Law School.

In 1972, at age 29, he became one of the youngest people elected to the Senate. A month later, he faced personal tragedy when his wife and daughter were killed in an automobile accident with a drunk driver, leaving Biden a single father of two young sons. Biden remarried five years later.

Biden is unarguably a Washington insider, yet he's never actually moved to the city, instead commuting home to Delaware by train every night. He is Roman Catholic, yet favors abortion rights.

Biden has twice run for president himself, first in 1988, when he dropped out after being accused of plagiarizing British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock. Soon after he suffered an aneurysm, but he fully recovered. more

Republicans Hagel, Lugar, Specter Praise Biden Choice

Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel: U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel issued the following statement today following Senator Barack Obama's selection of Senator Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic Vice Presidential nominee: "Joe Biden is the right partner for Barack Obama. His many years of distinguished service to America, his seasoned judgment and his vast experience in foreign policy and national security will match up well with the unique challenges of the 21st Century. An Obama-Biden ticket is a very impressive and strong team. Biden's selection is good news for Obama and America," Hagel said.

Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar: U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar made the following statement today en route to Tbilisi. "I congratulate Senator Barack Obama on his selection of my friend, Senator Joe Biden, to be his vice-presidential running mate. I have enjoyed for many years the opportunity to work with Joe Biden to bring strong bipartisan support to United States foreign policy…"

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter: Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, a Republican who serves on the Judiciary Committee with Biden and often rides Amtrak with him to Washington, also offered praise. "No one on the Democratic side knows more about foreign policy than Sen. Biden," Specter said. "He's been an articulate spokesman on the subject. He also knows about domestic policy. He's been a leader on crime control."

Biden's Strengths

Milwaukee office opens

First, nice job Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder.
The selection of Joe Biden was pragmatic and smart. As far as change, it's right on the money.

Contrary to the rattling of some (but few) pundits who say Biden doesn't represent change, he's perfect change. Biden is a contrast, yet a complement to Obama.

The choice of Biden says Obama puts governing first and foremost is serious about getting stuff done.

NYT: Chief among Mr. Biden’s strengths is his familiarity with foreign policy and national security issues, highlighted just this past weekend with the invitation he received from the embattled president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, to visit Georgia in the midst of its tense faceoff with Russia. From the moment he dropped out of the presidential race, he had been mentioned as a potential Secretary of State should either Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton win the election.

He is also something of a fixture in Washington, and would bring to the campaign — and the White House — a familiarity with the way the city and Congress works that Mr. Obama cannot match after his relatively short stint in Washington.

At 65, Mr. Biden adds a few years and gray hair to a ticket that otherwise might seem a bit young (Mr. Obama is 47). He is, as Mr. Obama’s advisers were quick to argue, someone who appears by every measure prepared to take over as president, setting a standard that appears intended to at least somewhat hamstring Mr. McCain should he be tempted to go for a more adventurous choice for No. 2.

TIME: But in the end, Obama picked him for the simplest of reasons: The six-term Senator from Delaware is strongest in areas where the freshman from Illinois is weakest. Biden's tenure in the Senate, his foreign policy expertise, his religion, and his suburban middle-class background, all fill gaps in Obama's own presidential profile.
Most of all, where Obama is reserved and cautious in a political knife-fight, Biden comes out swinging. Tapping Biden is a signal that the Obama campaign is ready for a battle — and to take the risks that come with it.
Biden's experience is his biggest asset. His 36 years in the Senate have earned him chairmanships of the Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees, positions he has used to establish himself as a familiar and respected, if partisan, spokesman for the Democrats on everything from Supreme Court appointments to complex national security issues during and after the Cold War. Obama's lack of comparable experience has him trailing John McCain by as much as 15 points on some foreign policy issues; if a vice-presidential pick can offset voters' concerns on those issues, Biden's resume should help.

NY Post: His ability to steal center stage during any hearing has made him unrivaled for grating on fellow lawmakers' nerves.
He makes his point - often two or three times - quite bluntly, but always colorfully and memorably. And it's usually Biden who makes the evening news and the next day's papers.
His refreshingly unguarded bluntness also has been the source of some of the worst headaches in his latest failed attempt at the Democratic nomination.
In just the last primary alone, Biden's wild mouth managed to run him afoul of Indians, 7-Eleven clerks and African-Americans.
"You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking," he said with a C-SPAN camera just inches from his unbridled mouth.
Just a few months after apologizing his way out of that one, he "complimented" Obama and at the same time revealed a comically cliched and antiquated take on race in America.
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," he enthused. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."
Obama's response to Biden's slur wasn't typical. It showed the class that has made him a transformational candidate capable of breaking through previously unbreakable barriers.
"He called me," Obama told reporters. "I told him it wasn't necessary. We have got more important things to worry about. We have got Iraq. We have got health care. We have got energy. This is low on the list."

MSNBC's Chuck Todd: As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has plenty of foreign policy experience -- something viewed as a weakness for Obama. Also, Biden’s most recent presidential bid raised his national profile, making him a politico whom most Americans know, which could help reassure some voters who have doubts about Obama. In addition, whether it has been in recent speeches or on Meet the Press, Biden has showed that he’s up to this veep responsibility: whacking the opposition. What’s more, during his presidential bid in ’07-’08, Biden demonstrated that he’s a very good debater, a quality the Democrats might want to showcase during the vice presidential debate scheduled for October 2. And electorally, Biden could help lock down Pennsylvania, as well as connect better than Obama has in blue-collar Michigan and the "U" of Ohio (Toledo to Youngstown). A few more thoughts… Biden is someone that will play well with older white voters, a demographic group Obama's struggled with, and he’s very popular with labor and trial lawyers, which while helpful financially for Obama and in the Rust Belt, could fire up the business community even more for McCain.

WaPo's just-the-facts of Biden