(CNN) - Joe Biden has a reputation of liking to talk, but it appears he can keep a secret.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton told CNN the Delaware Democrat was told Thursday he was the Democratic VP choice.
"He's a discreet man, we are proud to have him on the team," Burton said.
(CNN) - Sen. Barack Obama's choice of Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate raises the question of whether Obama can carry off his message of change with a seasoned Washington politician by his side.
Biden brings to the table his ability to speak knowledgeably about issues ranging from foreign policy to to the country's domestic agenda.
The Delaware senator has held two of the most important jobs in Washington - chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That could be reassuring to voters who worry about Obama's inexperience in national and world affairs.
Biden also has been an early and vociferous critic of President Bush's foreign policies - most notably regarding the war in Iraq.
He voted for the authorization to invade Iraq, but conceded afterward it was a mistake. Obama voted against authorization - and that gap might give Republicans something to highlight.Watch a former White House official weigh in on the Biden decision.
But Biden has personal ties to the war. His son Joseph "Beau" Biden - Delaware's attorney general - is a captain in the National Reserves and will soon return to Iraq.
Nonetheless, his political experience spans 36 years, and some say that will create a problem for Obama's key talking point of change.
(CNN) - Newly named Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden and his family have left their Delaware home en route to a local airport.
Biden will meet up with Obama later Saturday, and the two will hold a rally in Springfield, Illinois at 3 p.m. ET.
DENVER (CNN) – Joe Biden’s run for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination is well documented, but one intriguing story remained secret for 13 years: the office where he plotted campaign strategy was bugged.
Biden confirmed to me in a 2002 interview with Roll Call that a listening device was discovered in his Capitol Hill office in 1989 and it could have been placed during his presidential campaign.
"We couldn't understand how certain things and certain information and rumors and all this stuff about me, the plagiarizing and that stuff" made its way outside the room, Biden said. "We couldn't understand how the hell people knew some of this stuff."
At the time I was a reporter for the Capitol Hill newspaper, and learned about the bug from then-Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, who recalled finding it soon after he was elected to the Senate. Biden was moving out of the office and Lott was moving in. A security sweep discovered the listening device in a conference room.
Lott told me in the story, published on March 18, 2002, that upon learning about the bug he told Biden about it. It was unclear how long the listening device had been there, but it was no longer working, Lott said.
(CNN) - Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, both believed to be considered for the Democratic VP position, are praising Obama's choice of Joe Biden.
"I’m delighted Senator Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his running mate," Sebelius said in a statement. "His extensive experience dealing with foreign policy issues are an asset in these complicated times."
"Jackie and I congratulate our dear friend, Joe Biden, who will make an excellent running mate for Barack Obama, and more importantly a great Vice President," Dodd said in a statement. "I have known Joe for almost 30 years and I've had the privilege of sitting next to him on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and sharing the campaign trail both with him and Barack. I know this is a ticket that can win in November."
Earlier, Hillary Clinton also released a statement praising the Biden pick.
UPDATE: Sen. Evan Bayh has released a statement praising the Democratic ticket.
“Joe Biden is an outstanding public servant with deep experience and a fighting spirit," he said. "These qualities will make him a great asset in the White House and on the campaign trail this fall."
(Full Dodd, Sebelius, and Bayh statements after the jump)
A crowd has gathered outside Sen. Biden's home. Watch for yourself on CNN.com/live!
(CNN) – A large crowd has gathered outside Joe Biden's Delaware home awaiting a glimpse of the newly-named Democratic VP candidate.
A motorcade is expected to take Biden and his family to a nearby airport shortly. Biden and Obama will appear together in Springfield, Illinois at 3 p.m. ET.
Stakeout Joe Biden on CNN.com/live
(CNN) - John McCain's campaign is going to the tape.
Wasting little time attacking the newly-minted Democratic presidential ticket, the McCain campaign released a television ad Saturday morning featuring Barack Obama's running mate criticizing the Illinois senator in a primary debate last year.
The 30-second spot, set to air in key states, features an August 2007 primary debate during which Joe Biden was asked if he stood by his criticism Obama is not yet ready to be president.
"I think that I stand by the statement," Biden is shown saying.
The ad also features a 2005 interview of Biden during which he praised McCain, saying, "I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off."
(CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid praised the addition of Joe Biden to the Democratic presidential ticket in an issued statement Saturday:
“Joe Biden has been fighting his entire career for the change that Senator Obama champions," Reid said. "He is a dedicated family man who has been an effective Chairman of both the Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committees, has been a sage voice on many of the toughest foreign policy issues of our time, and has long been a strong advocate for protecting American families and making our communities safer."
Earlier: Reid: 'I can't stand McCain'
(Full statement after the jump)
(CNN) - House Minority Leader John Boehner criticized the newly-minted Democratic presidential ticket in an issued statement Saturday.
“Americans looking for a pair of candidates who are ready to fix a broken Washington aren’t going to find them on the Obama / Biden ticket," he said. "In Joe Biden, Barack Obama has not only found a running mate who doesn’t believe he’s ready to be president, he’s proven his opposition to an ‘All of the Above’ energy reform strategy to lower fuel costs for families and small businesses."
(Full statement after the jump)
DENVER, Colorado (CNN) - Joe Biden has served for nearly four decades as Senator from Delaware. But nowadays Delaware is a reliable Democratic state. So with Delaware already considered a safe state for Obama, what does Biden bring to the ticket in terms of the battle for electoral votes?
Two things right off the bat. Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and the thought is that he can help Obama keep this crucial battleground state in Democratic hands.
Watch: Biden speaks his mind
Biden is also Catholic.
"“White Catholics are classic swing voters. Obama had trouble courting them in the Democratic primaries, as Hillary Clinton won the majority of their votes,” says CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.
So the thought is that Biden could help Obama in the fight for working class and Catholic voters - voting blocs that could prove critical in several crucial battleground states this fall.
From CNN Politics
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