Obama Picks Joe Biden as a Running Mate

I woke up at 4:00 a.m., couldn't sleep, so I made myself a light sandwich and turned on CNN. It's now official: Barack Obama has picked Joe Biden as his running mate.

I quote the following:

Ending days of speculation, Obama announced the decision on his Web site, featuring a photo of the two.

"Barack has chosen Joe Biden to be his running mate," the announcement said. "Joe Biden brings extensive foreign policy experience, an impressive record of collaborating across party lines, and a direct approach to getting the job done."

Obama's camp also sent a text message and e-mail to supporters.

Biden, a Roman Catholic originally from the battleground state of Pennsylvania, will bring not only foreign policy expertise to the ticket but strong working-class roots.

That could help Obama connect with the blue-collar voters he has failed to attract in the run-up to the Nov. 4 election against Republican John McCain. Obama and McCain are neck and neck in opinion polls.

My own thoughts are that Biden is an excellent choice. I like his feisty style and he has the experience that Obama desperately needs to navigate in what Stratfor's George Friedman calls the Real World Order:

One of the interesting concepts of the New World Order was that all serious countries would want to participate in it and that the only threat would come from rogue states and nonstate actors such as North Korea and al Qaeda. Serious analysts argued that conflict between nation-states would not be important in the 21st century. There will certainly be rogue states and nonstate actors, but the 21st century will be no different than any other century. On Aug. 8, the Russians invited us all to the Real World Order.

Get ready for a close and heated contest between McCain and Obama. These elections are crucial not only for the United States, but for the rest of the world. After eight years of Bush/Cheney, I hope real change is finally around the corner.