Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama made a very safe choice on Saturday by tapping Delaware U.S. Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. According to one pollster, the choice was not very popular with voters. He characterized the reaction as “ho-hum.”

Biden is not exactly an exciting choice that will electrify the voters. Obama has been running on a message of change, yet Biden has been in the U.S. Senate since 1972, not exactly a change agent. Biden has already run twice for president and lost miserably. He made a horrible decision back in 1988 by plagiarizing a speech of a British Labour Party leader. Last year, Biden tried to compliment Obama by calling him a “clean” African-American candidate, in comparison to Reverends Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. So, his mouth has got him into trouble in the past and will no doubt cause problems for the ticket in this campaign.  

Usually, a presidential nominee picks a running mate who can deliver electoral votes and help the ticket reach the magic total of 270. Yet, Biden will not provide any electoral votes, since he comes from the second smallest state in the nation that is already predictably liberal in each election. The only thing that Biden does for the ticket is help counter Obama’s lack of experience. Polls show that Obama’s inexperience is his biggest weakness. In contrast, Biden has been a U.S. Senator for over three decades.

In response, McCain has been doing a very effective job in producing attack commercials. Right after Biden was selected, McCain was ready with an attack spot lifting comments from Biden that were critical of Obama, but supportive of McCain. So, Biden’s own words are coming back to haunt him.

Biden garnered about 5,000 votes in his unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign. Yet, the woman who received 18 million votes was overlooked. This selection will do nothing to quell discontent from Hillary Clinton supporters who rightly feel their candidate was mistreated by Obama. In fact, Obama did not even vet Clinton or seriously consider her.

In his first major decision, Barack Obama has failed. His vice presidential selection will not help him win the election. The only thing it will do is cause more problems with Clinton supporters and give more fodder to his aggressive GOP opponent.