The jury is in, resoundingly, Democrats are Happy, Kossacks Approve (see poll below), pundits are pleased, the media is excited (when has a Veep pick ever gotten 24 hour around the clock coverage?) and the GOP is "disappointed silence" while they hope to pimp prior Biden comments against Obama. Here is the round up of the reviews. First up, NBC's First Read
"On the Democratic side, it was a collective 'phew.' As the days got nearer for the pick, it was hard to find a Democrat -- even savvy Clintonites -- who weren't hoping it would be Biden. Only the most strident Hillary supporters appear to be upset this morning. On the GOP side, the sound you heard was disappointed silence. Of everyone on the short list, the candidate many Republicans least wanted to see Obama pick was Biden."
There is a reason why that's the case...
Sen Hillary Clinton
"In naming my colleague and friend Joe Biden to be the vice presidential nominee, Barack Obama has continued in the best traditions for the vice presidency by selecting an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant. Senator Biden will be a purposeful and dynamic vice president who will help Senator Obama both win the presidency and govern this great country."
Howard Wolfson
I have long been on record in support of Hillary Clinton for v.p., but it is clear that was never in the offing. Clinton aside, Joe Biden was the best possible pick for Senator Obama.
The Obama campaign clearly made the decision that they did not need their veep pick to reinforce their change message, and that was a smart move. Obama brings plenty of change and excitement on his own. What he needed--and what he got in Biden--is someone who shores up some of his weaknesses.
Marc Ambinder:
Obama-Biden will be a formidable ticket, and a risky ticket, and not a comfort zone choice for Obama. "It's a big ball pick, not a small ball pick," an adviser said.
I gather that what impressed Obama about Biden is that Biden gets things done. He's a man of action. He's not a bullshitter.
Craig Crawford
Obama-Biden works on several fronts, A longtime sentimental favorite among the Democratic faithful, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden provides a comfort zone for labor leaders, Catholics (he is one) and national-security voters. Although Biden's poor fundraising skills doomed his presidential campaigns, he performs extremely well in debates and demonstrated considerable skill at shifting from the arcane language of the Senate chamber to the street language of the campaign trail.
The McCain Response? In choosing Biden, a seasoned veteran and accomplished debater, Barack Obama ups the ante for John McCain to pick a Republican running mate who brings comparable stature to the stage. This would seem to diminish the chances for newbies like Minnesota Gov Tim Pawlenty and boost the odds for Mitt Romney, a former governor and private business leader who has been to the rodeo a few times.
David Brody
Time will tell if Barack Obama made the right choice in picking Joe Biden but if you look at it on paper, it makes a whole lot of sense.
I have interviewed Joe Biden before. He is engaging and very real. He’s a straight shooter. Sometimes he shoots a little too straight and can get into trouble. But overall, Obama seems to have passed his first big test. Tim Kaine would have made the ticket too inexperienced. Hillary Clinton could have made the ticket formidable but it would have been a potential White House powder keg. Evan Bayh wouldn’t have given the ticket any "oomph". Biden brings the Democratic ticket credibility, experience and working class humble roots. Obama needs all three.
Taegan Goddard
From a purely political perspective, no presidential campaign has ever handled the announcement of a running mate so deftly. The Obama campaign set a new standard that will be studied for years.
BLOGS>>>>
Jed Lawson
I think Biden is a good pick, politically speaking. You'll hear a lot about Biden being selected to appeal to "white working-class" voters but really Biden is more about appealing to older white voters (and he doesn't hurt with Catholics). Nate Silver has run all the numbers and they are convincing. Remember, Barack does very well with younger white voters already -- Biden will give him a boost with a demo that he hasn't done as well with.
The GOP attack machine will try two main areas of attack. First, they'll run video from 2007 of Biden saying that Obama wasn't ready to be president. The thing is that this actually gives Biden an opening to explain why and how he changed his mind, and in so doing, he'll speak directly to voters who already don't think Obama is qualified. What I'm saying is that the GOP line of attack won't discourage anyone from voting for Obama, but it given Biden an opening to speak directly to the voters he's supposed to win over. The other line of attack will be Biden's plagiarism, which they will try to tie to Hillary's xerox attack. Our response is easy: McCain stealing from Wikipedia.
desmoinesdem
Of all the presidential candidates, Biden got the best word of mouth from Iowans who attended his events last year. I don't think I ever talked to anyone who went to hear him and walked away unimpressed. I wrote about this last summer and again right before the Iowa caucuses.
Biden's speaking style is more aggressive than Obama's, which will help him be the attack dog Obama will need.
I also agree with Jonathan Singer's point that Biden's relative lack of wealth will reinforce the message that the Democratic candidates can relate to ordinary Americans on bread-and-butter economic issues.
Finally, Steve Clemons is absolutely right: Americans are going to love Jill Biden.
Biden wasn't my number one choice for Obama's vice president, but he is going to bring a lot to the table.
Jonathan Singer @ MyDD
The media, shockingly enough, is missing one of the biggest stories surrounding Barack Obama's decision to put Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket: How this a pick not only about foreign policy but also about the bread and butter economic issues that are shaping the election.
But the one thing we're not hearing a lot of is the fact that Biden does reinforce Obama's narrative of late vis a vis the economy, specifically John McCain being out of touch. While McCain is someone who is wealthy enough not to know how many houses he and his wife own, Biden is not a wealthy man. He's no elitist who believes that those earning under $5 million per year aren't rich. While he embodies a lot of things about Washington -- he's been there for a long time, of course -- he has commuted to and from his home in Deleware ever since being elected rather than maintaining primary residence inside the Beltway like so many others on Capitol Hill. Even the city he was born in -- Scranton, Pennsylvania -- kind of embodies this connection to working Americans.
Jon Cohn
Conservatives will blast [Biden's] record, just as surely as liberals will (or should) celebrate it. But one of the virtues of having Biden as the vice presidential nominee is that he won't take those kinds of attacks lightly. He'll fight back. He'll remind people, rightly, that being a liberal Democrat means raising the minimum wage, making sure everybody has affordable health care, providing strong public schools, and protecting human rights. Then, he'll ask why conservative Republicans don't want the same things. That's exactly the kind of political debate this country needs. By picking Biden as a running mate, Obama has signaled that he welcomes this argument--and intends, finally, to win it.
Andrew Sullivan
The clip above explains the rationale, I'd say. The biggest emerging problem with the Obama campaign is Obama's reluctance, lack of talent and lack of will to get into lively, feisty, pissing matches with his opponent. This was brought home in the Saddleback forum. What he needs is a plucky, fun, free-wheeling attack machine, with the necessary gravitas to express adequate contempt for the Bush administration's fatally misguided foreign policy without in any way seeming defensive.
I have to say his inability to shut up drives me up the wall. But there's also an appealing lack of guile to the man; he wears his flaws like his hair-plugs - out and proud.
And, yes, his foreign policy assuredness cannot hurt. He's a Senator who doesn't just call foreign leaders; they call him. Obama is wise not to under-estimate the understandable worries about his foreign policy inexperience at a time of this much danger for the world.
How the chemistry works, I don't know. Whether Biden can help rally white working class Democrats, as David Brooks suggested, I do not know.
Delaware is not exactly Pennsylvania or Ohio. But this was a pick that also demonstrates Obama's ability to bring genuinely independent voices into his inner circle and harness experience greater than his.
Not an inspired choice, in my book. But smart and solid - and adult.
Al Giordano
I think the two of them are going to get along splendidly, and have a lot of infectious fun using John McCain as a punching bag. Apollo Creed has now signed on as coach and sparring partner with Rocky Balboa. Multi-racial class warfare - there's a place for us, somewhere a place for us - now becomes the wedge against the millionaire McCain.
Yes, I would have preferred the "three point shot" - that Obama pick a running mate from outside of Washington - but as DC insiders go, it's interesting that Biden chose all these years to refuse to live inside it, or meet with its lobbyists.
Obama stopped at the three point line, passed the ball to the new muscle man with the sharp elbows, and put two points on the board instead. I can live with that. And my working class soul is actually looking forward to the populist campaign that will come out of the unlikely alliance of two guys from humble beginnings against the owners of this coal mine called America.
The 2008 election now has its very own "Comeback Kid," and his name ain't Clinton. Oh, yes, I can live with that.
Raising Kaine
*This is a very strong choice, Biden provides tremendous experience including on foreign policy, where he is one of the nation's leading experts (he's chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee)
*Biden supports federal funding for embryonic stem cell research - one of my most important issues
*Biden is excellent on energy and environmental issues, believing we must take action on global warming, opposing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and strongly supporting renewable power and energy efficiency. Biden has said, "If I could wave a wand, and the Lord said I could solve one problem, I would solve the energy crisis."
Atrios
If nothing else, the man rides the train.
And GOP Senators >>>>>>>>>>
Sen Chuck Hagel:
"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"
Sen. Richard Lugar:
"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..."
Sen. Arlen Specter:
"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."
You gotta say the reception has been overall positive with the exception of McCain's hack Ron Fournier of the AP.
Contact the Associated Press... info@ap.org or (202) 641-9000.
Though David Brooks must be happy...
Here are some of my other favorite Biden videos.
"Joe Is Right" (This needs to go Viral)
Speechifying
Debating in Iowa
Biden circa 1984
UPDATE:
Nate Silver at 538.com weighs in with some ultra valuable analysis on pure appeal... if you were holding out before, get a load of this
However, Joe Biden might do nearly as good a job as Clinton of uniting the party, while perhaps paying less of a price among independents.
Democrats
Candidate Fav-Unfav
Clinton 77-22 (+55)
Biden 65-17 (+48)
Bayh 45-25 (+20)
Sebelius 35-19 (+16)
Kaine 35-29 (+6)
Clinton has the highest favorables and highest net score among Democrats; Biden has the fewest unfavorables. Generally speaking, Clinton and Biden blow the other three candidates out of the water.
Indepedents
Candidate Fav-Unfav
Biden 42-29 (+13)
Bayh 31-21 (+10)
Kaine 24-23 (+1)
Sebelius 18-21 (-3)
Clinton 39-57 (-18)
Where Biden might do some good is among independents, among whom he has the highest favorables and highest net rating, although a couple other candidates had lower unfavorables. But Biden certainly performs better amongst this critical group than Hillary Clinton.
What's noteworthy is not so much that Biden will turn a lot of McCain voters on -- Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton would have done a better job of that -- but that he'll turn very few Obama voters off. As a result, this method projects a net swing of 2 points toward Obama, which is better than he'd do with any of the other candidates. Biden also performed quite well in these ratings among undecided (43-22 favorable) and third-party (45-36 favorable) voters, though the sample sizes are probably too small to be worth worrying about.
All in all, meshes quite well with the extreme poll result below. If you haven't voted yet, please do.