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The World from Berlin

Biden Choice Is 'a Good Thing for Europe'

Barack Obama seems to have shored up his foreign policy credentials by choosing Senate veteran Joe Biden as his running mate. German commentators see the logic -- but aren't sure it will do the trick.

It was last Thursday when Delaware Senator Joe Biden got the call. He was at the dentist with his wife, who was getting a root canal in the next room, when his cell phone started ringing. It was Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Two days later, the signs had been printed and the Obama-Biden ticket made their first joint campaign appearance in Springfield, Illinois. On Sunday, Obama praised Biden before a crowd in Wisconsin as "what many others pretend to be -- a statesman with sound judgment who doesn't have to hide behind bluster to keep America strong."

By choosing Biden, Obama sought to make up for three weaknesses that have helped John McCain gain ground against him since the close of primary season. Obama has been hammered for a perceived lack of foreign policy experience, a shortcoming that seemed glaring during the recent war between Russia and Georgia. Biden, the current chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, brings years of experience to the table.

Secondly, many have questioned whether Obama has enough experience to create the kind of legislative alliances he will need in Washington should he be elected. Biden, for his part, has been a Senator for 35 years. And finally, Biden appeals to white, working-class voters of the kind who favored Senator Hillary Clinton during the primaries in battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Still, the choice of Biden is certainly not a silver bullet for Obama in his battle against McCain, who is expected to announce his own running mate on Friday. According to a poll conducted jointly for ABC News and the Washington Post just prior to Obama's announcement that he had opted for Biden, two out of three Americans see McCain as having a better knowledge of world affairs. Nevertheless, the poll found that 49 percent backed Obama with 45 percent throwing their support behind McCain. Three-fourths of the voters surveyed said having Biden on the ticket wouldn't change their vote, and the last one-fourth was evenly split between those who were more and less likely now to vote for Obama.

On the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, German commentators seem to be equally split over whether Biden is a good or bad choice for the Democratic ticket.

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"By naming his Senate colleague Joe Biden (as his running mate), Obama has sent out the signal that he needs help. … Compared with his Republican opponent, Obama is lacking in foreign policy experience. Joe Biden should make up for this defect…"

"The 65-year-old Biden has unassailable familiarity with the political process to offer, which should calm the nerves of many who have doubts about Obama. From the opening bell, Biden would be able to fulfil the demands of the presidential office. And, despite all his years (in Washington), Biden has never lost contact with the party base, white voters in small-town America. Although Obama really needs these voters to win the election, he still hasn't succeeded in wooing them. In this sense, naming Biden is a clever move -- and the best thing that Obama could have done."

The right-leaning Die Welt writes:

"(Choosing Joe Biden as his running mate) is not without its problems. Obama is a candidate with some roots in Kenya, who's grown up in Indonesia and far-off Hawaii, and an African-American, who for years felt at ease among radicals with a bent toward African identity (politics). Now he has decided to pull to his side someone from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a panel which has gained the reputation on the far side of the Appalachian Mountains of constantly tripping up the president on national security issues. In the minds of the voters, Joe Biden is just as much as a blank slate as Obama is. In America, that's what you call 'double trouble.' Naming Biden doesn't mitigate people's stranger anxiety with Obama. It actually accentuates it."

The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"By deciding on Biden as his running mate, Obama … has made it clear that he considers his lack of foreign policy experience to be dangerous and that, given the current global situation, it might even be decisive in the election. Otherwise, it's very unlikely that he would have chosen Biden, as he represents a tiny state and neither he nor Obama enjoys general popularity with the common citizen. Biden's own runs for the presidency have usually ended fairly early, with extremely poor results. Will Biden be able to bring the (white) middle-class voters -- who will decide the election -- over to Obama in sufficient numbers? With Biden, Obama is trying to cover up an exposed flank."

The financial daily Handelsblatt writes:

"Obama will have to deal with the fact that critics will now say that Joe Biden, the Washington insider, is no symbol of change. But, in the long run, Joe Biden might just be exactly the right guy. There is hardly anyone more familiar with Washington politics than Biden. Having served as a senator for over three decades, Biden knows how the game is played in the capital … and Obama needs seasoned players on his team."

"If Biden makes it to the White House, it would be a good thing for Europe, too. Biden is a frequent guest in European capitals, and he's seen the problem spots with his own eyes. … With Biden, Obama is putting a specialist on his team in a time of foreign-policy crisis. That can only help the occasionally troubled trans-Atlantic relations."

-- Josh Ward, 12:00 p.m. CET