Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. (pronounced /'dʒoʊsɛf rɒbɪ'nɛt 'bаɪdɛn/; born November 20, 1942) is the senior United States Senator from Delaware. He is both the Democratic vice presidential nominee for the November 2008 election and a candidate for re-election in the U.S. Senate.
Born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania for ten years prior to moving to Delaware, Biden trained as a lawyer and became a senator in 1973 at the Constitutional minimum age of 30, making him the fifth-youngest senator in U.S. history. He is a long-time member and current chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and has worked on resolutions concerning the Yugoslav wars and Iraq War. He has served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dealing with issues related to drug policy, crime prevention, and civil liberties, and led creation of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and Violence Against Women Act.
Biden unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2008. In his sixth consecutive term in the Senate, Biden has served for the sixth-longest period among current senators.
On August 23, 2008, Barack Obama's presidential campaign announced that Biden would be Obama's running mate for the 2008 US Presidential election. Biden officially accepted the nomination on August 27, 2008 at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
In a June 22, 2008, interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Biden confirmed that, although he was not actively seeking a spot on the ticket, he would accept the vice presidential nomination if offered. On August 22, 2008, Barack Obama announced that Biden would be his running mate. The New York Times reported that the strategy behind the choice reflected a desire to fill out the ticket with someone who has foreign policy and national security experience—and not to help the ticket win a swing state or to emphasize Obama's "change" message. Other observers pointed out Biden's appeal to middle-class and blue-collar voters, as well as his willingness to aggressively challenge McCain in a way that Obama seemed uncomfortable doing at times.
Polling in the days leading up to the announcement indicated Biden's presence on the ticket was unlikely to affect whether voters would support Obama.
After his selection as a Vice Presidential candidate, he was criticized by his own diocesan Bishop over his stance on abortion, which goes against pro-life Church teaching. In 2008 September The New York Times reported that Biden "departed from party doctrine on abortion rights, declaring that as a Catholic, he believes life begins at conception."