From the Washington Post:
Sen. Barack Obama introduced Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. as his vice presidential running mate here on Saturday, embracing him as a "statesman with sound judgment" who had never forgotten his humble roots or lost his fundamental decency. "Joe Biden is that rare mix. For decades, he has brought change to Washington, but Washington hasn't changed him," Obama (Ill.) said. The announcement -- made official only hours earlier -- capped weeks of speculation and brought an infusion of experience and aggressiveness to the Democratic ticket two days before the start of the convention in Denver. Biden, 65, a sharp-witted and energetic foreign policy expert who has held two of the most critical Senate chairmanships, bounded out onto the stage just after 2 p.m. Central time. The senator from Delaware hugged Obama and then, taking the podium as the vice presidential candidate for the first time.... Biden is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and also served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He commands a loyal, if small, clutch of followers in the battleground state of Iowa, having twice campaigned for president there. His home state of Delaware has just three electoral votes, but he is originally from Pennsylvania, a critical swing state with 21. ...Obama and Biden made their joint debut in front of a crowd of tens of thousands at the old Illinois statehouse, where the presumptive Democratic nominee launched his campaign a year and a half ago. The first blue "Obama-Biden" signs were on display -- quickly produced under the cloak of secrecy as the campaign tried to keep the announcement from leaking. In his introductory remarks, Obama described Biden's life story: as a boy raised on Catholic values in working-class Pennsylvania; as a young senator who lost his first wife and daughter in a car accident; as a senator who had fought against tyranny and injustice...."He is still that scrappy kid from Scranton who beat the odds -- the dedicated family man and committed Catholic who knows every conductor on that Amtrak train to Wilmington. That's the kind of fighter who I want by my side in the months and years to come," Obama said. He described Biden as being "at home in a bar in Cedar Rapids" as well as on the world stage -- two settings in which Obama has struggled over the course of the race. ..."There's something about this guy, there's something about Barack Obama, that allows him to bring people together," Biden said. "It's been amazing to watch him, but then again, that's been the story of his whole life." He said Obama has the "vision and courage" to improve the country, calling him a "clear-eyed pragmatist who will get the job done."
From the Chicago Tribune:
Still fired up by Barack Obama's first announcement on a bitterly cold day in February 2007, Chris Trudeau returned Saturday, buoyed by the throngs of people Obama has drawn across the country and throughout the world."I figured if it was good enough for 200,000 Europeans, it'll certainly do for me," Trudeau said.They came to see an encore performance by Obama, the man who launched his presidential campaign last year at the foot of the same Old State Capitol where Abraham Lincoln once walked.The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee energized thousands of cheering supporters who saw his first joint appearance with newly unveiled running mate Joe Biden, a fellow U.S. senator whose credentials played well with longtime Obama admirers and the newcomers.Standing for hours in the heat, the crowd stayed calm, swigging bottled water before exploding into deafening roars, first for Obama and then for Biden.Trudeau, a 25-year-old graphic designer from Springfield, viewed the moment as tantamount to ending slavery or giving women the right to vote."Eventually we come around and do the right thing, and Obama's a big step in coming around and doing the right thing," he said.In a day of harmony, it also didn't hurt his relationship with his girlfriend, Becky VanDyke, when she said Biden was her favorite choice for vice president....Glen Ellyn resident Kevin Johnson, a medical student at Southern Illinois University, got up at 4 a.m. and hit the road to Springfield to see his first "political role model.""More than anything else, it feels like he speaks and says things and feels the way about things that are common sense," Johnson said.The 25-year-old African-American endorsed Biden, partly because "he doesn't really take a lot of slack from Republicans."
Still fired up by Barack Obama's first announcement on a bitterly cold day in February 2007, Chris Trudeau returned Saturday, buoyed by the throngs of people Obama has drawn across the country and throughout the world."I figured if it was good enough for 200,000 Europeans, it'll certainly do for me," Trudeau said.They came to see an encore performance by Obama, the man who launched his presidential campaign last year at the foot of the same Old State Capitol where Abraham Lincoln once walked.The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee energized thousands of cheering supporters who saw his first joint appearance with newly unveiled running mate Joe Biden, a fellow U.S. senator whose credentials played well with longtime Obama admirers and the newcomers.Standing for hours in the heat, the crowd stayed calm, swigging bottled water before exploding into deafening roars, first for Obama and then for Biden.Trudeau, a 25-year-old graphic designer from Springfield, viewed the moment as tantamount to ending slavery or giving women the right to vote."Eventually we come around and do the right thing, and Obama's a big step in coming around and doing the right thing," he said.In a day of harmony, it also didn't hurt his relationship with his girlfriend, Becky VanDyke, when she said Biden was her favorite choice for vice president.
...Glen Ellyn resident Kevin Johnson, a medical student at Southern Illinois University, got up at 4 a.m. and hit the road to Springfield to see his first "political role model.""More than anything else, it feels like he speaks and says things and feels the way about things that are common sense," Johnson said.The 25-year-old African-American endorsed Biden, partly because "he doesn't really take a lot of slack from Republicans."
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