Hey Joe

So, Barack Obama has named Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate - his Vice-Presidential nominee.

Biden has represented Delaware since 1972. For those of you who struggle with numbers, that is 36 years ago. As a running mate, the 65 year old might be a smart choice, for his foreign policy experience alone - he is the chairman of the influential Foreign Relations Committee in the US Senate.

However, something doesn't sit right with this announcement for me. Obama has constantly claimed that Washington - indeed, the USA - needs "change". But now, rather than picking a running mate who would underscore the freshness that he would undoubtedly bring to the White House, he's chosen someone who has been inside the beltway for the last 36 years...

I have nothing against Biden you understand. Indeed, the more I hear about him, his personal life in particular, the more I am impressed by his dedication to family life in the face of the tragic circumstances which took the life of his wife and newborn child in 1972. I'm just not convinced his selection as VP candidate was the right one for Obama. I know why he's gone for Biden - that bit more experience at the bottom of the ticket to convince voters that he would have a guiding hand as President, that he could be trusted with the job. But it smacks of something like hypocrisy to slam the establishment, to campaign on the change that he believes is needed then name a VP candidate who's been there and done it for almost as many years as Obama himself has been alive.

I still think John McCain is the right man for the job.