Breaking news: it's Biden

The Los Angeles Times broke the story that Joe Biden, the Democratic senator from Delaware, will be Barack Obama's vice presidential pick: "Barack Obama has tapped Joseph R. Biden, Jr. as his running mate, bringing to the Democratic ticket a veteran senator with deep expertise in international relations... The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden could help offset Obama's relative inexperience in foreign policy. Obama, a 47-year-old first-term senator, has been ridiculed by his Republican rival, John McCain, as too naive to be president... Biden, 65, had emerged earlier this week as a top choice. The Times reported Wednesday that the Delaware senator had met repeatedly with campaign officials and that the Secret Service was preparing to protect him. Late Friday, two high-level Democratic operatives who are working on the campaign confirmed Biden's selection to The Times. One of the Democrats said the Secret Service had been dispatched and a plane readied to take Biden to Springfield, Ill., where Obama plans to roll out his vice presidential pick at noon Pacific time today at a rally at the Old State Capitol, where he announced his candidacy. A Roman Catholic born to a working-class family in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden might also help Obama draw blue-collar Catholic voters who formed a core constituency for Hillary Rodham Clinton in her primary battle with Obama... Biden has long harbored aspirations to be president himself. He ran this year, but dropped out of the Democratic presidential race in January after he finished fifth with less than a percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses. "I'm not a superstar," he said while stumping in Iowa. "People say they like me, people tell me they think I'd be a good president but that they just don't think I can win." Along with his Senate Foreign Relations post, which recently took him on a trip to Georgia after the Russian invasion, Biden has been chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and has had a hand in legislation on crime, terrorism and drug policy... While Biden is a skilled orator, he is often mocked for being verbose. His words have also come back to haunt him... In recent days, Obama was said to be focusing on Biden, Bayh, and Kaine, though other names continued to surface, including Chet Edwards. In looking for a vice presidential candidate, Obama sought a partner who could remedy his vulnerabilities. As a senator for just four years, his legislative record is thin, and he has little experience in foreign policy or military affairs."

Rico says an interesting, but not compelling, choice...