I'll preface this by saying that I'm very pleased that Barack Obama chose Joe Biden as his running mate, and that Biden had been one of my top preferences until he became my utterly top preference a couple of weeks ago. So I don't regret that he was picked.
However, Biden's up for reëlection this year, so it seems that might pose a problem. Winning another term was never going to be difficult for him, but now that he's the vice presidential nominee, does he stay in the race? Is it too late for him to drop out? Or, if he does drop out, is there another Democrat who can pick up the campaign and win the seat?
It seems to me that he might do it the way Joe Lieberman did in 2000: run for the seat and let the governor appoint his successor. That doesn't worry me much. I seem to remember reading that although Governor Minner is term-limited out, the race currently looks like it heavily favors the Democratic candidate, whoever it is. So if Biden has to resign his seat on January 20, we'll likely get another Democrat from Delaware. But if it comes to that, would the replacement get to finish Biden's term? Or would there be a special election in 2010, like they do in Missouri, for example? And does Delaware law permit someone to run for two seats simultaneously?
When it comes to what will happen to Biden's seat, I'm more curious than fretful. And I have no doubt the Obama campaign has researched this, and that there are enough experts on Delaware politics to shake out the details.
If anyone has any idea what the rules are, let me know. I've been searching, but the coffee isn't ready yet, so it's slow going for now.