Delaware State News

DOVER — Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden, D-Del., has ridden a wave of media attention surrounding his possible vice-presidential candidacy, but the Democrat’s senatorial opponent challenged him Thursday to pick a race and stick with it.

Republican strategist Christine O’Donnell called on Delaware’s senior senator to pledge to serve a full six-year term if he is re-elected in November.

If not, he should step aside.

"To be fair to the people of Delaware, Joe Biden needs to state his intentions," Ms. O’Donnell said during a Dover press conference Thursday morning.

"If he wants to be your U.S. senator, then, he needs to withdraw from the competition for secretary of state and VP and start debating me.

"If he wants to move on to greener pastures, then, let me debate my real competition for this job and let the people of Delaware cast a vote for the person who will fill this job if not me."

The Biden campaign did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.

Sen. Biden, 65, previously has said he is not auditioning for a job in the next administration and that he is focused on running for the Senate seat he has held since 1972.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told reporters while campaigning in Virginia Thursday that he’s made his decision for a running mate, but would not say who.

"I’ve made the selection. That’s all you’re gonna get," said Sen. Obama.

Sen. Biden is on a short list of three or four possible vice presidential candidates — including Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

For the past several days, a media gaggle has congregated outside Sen. Biden’s Greenville home, but the normally loquacious senator has remained fairly tight-lipped.

Sen. Biden had a family gathering at his home Thursday afternoon, with his wife, Jill, niece, Missy Owens, and son ,Beau, Delaware’s attorney general, coming and going past reporters staked outside. Sen. Biden ran errands, including a visit to the dentist, but didn’t speak to the media as he came and went.

State law would allow Sen. Biden to run for a seventh term in the U.S. Senate while appearing on the presidential ticket if Sen. Obama chooses him as his running mate.

But Ms. O’Donnell said that isn’t fair to Delaware voters because it would undermine the democratic process.

If Sen. Biden wins re-election and is either elected vice president or appointed to the next president’s administration, he would have to step down from his Senate seat and the governor would appoint a replacement for the next two years.

"(Gov.) Ruth Ann Minner and Joe Biden will engineer a behind-the-scenes scheme over who the next U.S. senator will be, instead of the people having a say," Ms. O’Donnell said.

If that happens, the person would serve until a special election in 2010 to finish the six-year term.

Media speculation surrounding Sen. Obama’s selection has ramped up in recent days, with much of the attention focused on Sen. Biden.

Pundits have cited the senator’s foreign-policy experience — he chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — as a balance to arguments about Sen. Obama’s inexperience.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, brings a military background and a leading role on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Sen. Obama only has served three years in Washington.

Polls suggest the race between Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain is tightening, and Sen. Obama is responding by stepping up his attacks in speeches and commercials targeted to key states.

Sen. Obama has never been entirely comfortable going negative, but Sen. Biden is always ready for a fight.

This week, Sen. Biden returned from a trip to the former Soviet state of Georgia that he made at the invitation of the embattled country’s president, a well-timed reminder of the value he could bring to Sen. Obama’s ticket.

Sen. Obama and his new running mate are expected to appear in Springfield, Ill., Saturday afternoon, which is the same day as the Sussex County Democratic jamboree at Cape Henlopen State Park.

The annual summer event has been a staple of Sen. Biden’s for years. After suffering two aneurysms in February 1988, he made his first public appearance at the jamboree before returning to the Senate.

Sen. Obama is planning to announce his choice in a text message to supporters sometime before Saturday’s scheduled appearance.

Asked by an Associated Press reporter when the text would be sent, Obama just grinned and said, "Wouldn’t you like to know?"

Obama VP watch heats up for Del.’s senior senator

Delaware State News

DOVER — Speculation swirled Tuesday that Delaware’s senior senator is a best bet to become Barack Obama’s running mate.

But Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., didn’t appear like a vice-presidential nominee as he drove a white pickup truck past reporters camped at his Wilmington home Tuesday night.

"I’m not the guy," he said.

ABC and MSNBC were the first to post Sen. Biden’s reaction on Web sites.

National media and political pundits have been posting theories on whom the Illinois senator will select as his vice-presidential candidate in the coming days.

With the Democratic National Convention starting Monday, those days are dwindling, and so are names of likely choices.

Right at the top of the list is Sen. Biden, a 36-year Washington veteran and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Sen. Obama announced he would appear Saturday in Springfield, Ill., the city where he launched his campaign bid, fueling speculation that he would appear with a running mate.

MSNBC’s report said Sen. Biden was toting golf clubs as he left, and his response to reporters about where he’ll be on Saturday was "here" and he pointed down his driveway.

As he pulled out of the driveway in the driver’s seat of his car, he then said to the press gathered near his gate, "You guys have better things to do. I’m not the guy."

A Google News search for "Joe Biden, vice president" Tuesday afternoon yielded nearly 1,500 articles, and numerous Web sites and blogs were lighting up with commentary.

Political analysts seem to have narrowed the field down to a few frontrunners: Sen. Biden, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine, and then, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and dark horse Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Sen. Biden was in the hunt for the Democratic nomination for president, but dropped out in January after a disappointing fifth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. His name has surfaced several times as a possible secretary of state, but he rebuffed those talks.

Before his statement on Tuesday, Biden’s senatorial campaign spokesman, Alexander Snyder-Mackler, said that the senator would not comment.

Sen. Biden was far from the speculation Monday. He spent the weekend in Georgia, meeting with President Mikhail Saakashvili and discussing the country’s military clash with Russia.

In an address to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday morning, Sen. Obama praised Sen. Biden’s proposal of an additional $1 billion of reconstruction projects in Georgia after the Russian invasion.

MSNBC political analyst Howard Fineman wrote Tuesday that he has spoken with two of the finalists to be Sen. Obama’s running mate and two others who are close to the process.

"My bottom line is this: Barring a big surprise or last-minute change of heart, the choice is likely to be Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee," Mr. Fineman wrote.

"He is a lively and feisty if unpredictable campaigner with working-class roots and a street-level feel for the hot spots of the globe — which he can use to go toe-to-toe with (Republican presidential candidate) Sen. John McCain.

"With four decades in the Senate, he could be the perfect fit for Obama, the candidate who is often criticized for his relative lack of Washington experience."

Sen. Biden’s name was bandied about Tuesday on Web sites for CBS News, Time magazine and the New York Times.

Adding more fuel to the fire, Sen. Biden is scheduled to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Aug. 27, the same day the schedule lists the vice-presidential nominee as the headline speaker.

Dr. Larry J. Sabato, a national political expert at the University of Virginia, said Mr. Fineman’s analysis could be very reputable considering that he has good sources on the Obama campaign.

"I’m old-fashioned, and tickets are for balancing," Dr. Sabato said. "You want to bring someone on board who adds something you don’t have.

"Biden adds something Obama clearly lacks, national-security and foreign-policy expertise."

However, Dr. Sabato noted that Sen. Biden has a penchant for being "long-winded" and "doesn’t bring anything electorally" — Delaware has only three electoral votes and is leaning Democratic already.

Sen. Biden is up for re-election this year and is slated to face Republican strategist Christine O’Donnell.

According to state law, even if he is chosen as Sen. Obama’s running mate, Sen. Biden can appear on the presidential ticket and seek a seventh Senate term.

Sen. Obama has staffers in place to aid the No. 2 and his or her spouse, including more than a dozen seasoned operatives who have set up shop in a section of the campaign’s Chicago headquarters.

They are running through various logistical scenarios involved in taking over the relatively normal life of a person they do not know and thrusting him or her into the unrelenting glare of a presidential campaign.

Sen. Obama planned to ride a bus through North Carolina and Virginia today, where he was appearing with former Gov. Mark Warner, also mentioned as a possible contender for the No. 2 spot.

After that, Sen. Obama’s schedule is wide open, leaving the end of the week as a more likely time to make the announcement before the convention begins Monday in Denver.

Campaign manager David Plouffe e-mailed supporters last week telling them they would receive first word of Sen. Obama’s decision through a mass text message, but otherwise, the team has revealed little about what to expect. Historically, presidential tickets then tour battleground states to maximize media exposure, and Sen. Obama is expected to do the same.

Republicans are already envisioning their response to a Sen. Biden pick — Sen. Obama is so inexperienced that he had to pick someone with a 36-year record in Senate.

Sen. Biden has spent a longer time on Capitol Hill than Sen. McCain, they point out, which doesn’t exactly represent the kind of change Sen. Obama says is needed in Washington.