Sources: Obama picks Joe Biden as VP candidate

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(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama has picked Delaware Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, two Democratic sources tell CNN.


Delaware Sen. Joe Biden is Sen. Barack Obama's choice to be his vice-presidential running mate.

News of Biden's selection came after word that three Democrats who had been considered contenders, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, had been ruled out. The two Democratic sources who told CNN that Obama had chosen Biden spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Obama campaign says it plans to announce his vice presidential running mate in a text message Saturday morning. Obama was then expected to appear with his vice-presidential choice at an afternoon rally in Springfield, Illinois.

Biden was long considered a likely choice for vice president, but the buzz surrounding him intensified after he returned earlier this week from a two-day trip to the Republic of Georgia after Russian troops invaded.

Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, brings years of experience that could help counter GOP arguments that an Obama administration would be inexperienced on foreign policy.

Sen. John McCain's campaign quickly reacted to word that Biden would be Obama's running mate with a dig at Obama's foreign policy credentials.

"There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama's lack of experience than Joe Biden," McCain campaign spokesman Ben Porritt said in a written statement.

"Biden has denounced Barack Obama's poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing -- that Barack Obama is not ready to be president."

Biden abandoned his own White House run after a poor showing in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses. He also ran for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination but dropped out after charges of plagiarism in a stump speech.

The 65-year-old was first elected to the Senate in 1972. Shortly afterwards, his first wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. He considered resigning, but decided to continue with his political career.

Biden is currently serving out his sixth term, making him Delaware's longest-serving senator.

Biden is married and has three children. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and got a law degree from Syracuse.

In 1988, Biden suffered an aneurysm and nearly died but has recovered fully.

One of Biden's grandfathers was a Pennsylvania state senator, according to the Almanac of American Politics.

Biden will make his first big speech as the vice-presidential candidate on Wednesday, August 27 -- the third night of the Democratic convention.