One speculation about the Vice Presidential candidates is over with Barack Obama’s choice of Joe Biden. And, to no ones surprise, the opinions are mixed. But it is early yet and his impact, if any will not happen overnight. It will add a bit of spice to the campaign.

Of course, the Republicans think it is a big mistake and the McCain campaign jumped on the fact that Biden stated many times that he did not think Obama was ready to be President. And the fact that he said so many negative things during the primary campaign. However, this could very well backfire if McCain were to pick Mitt Romney, long considered to be the front runner. The same things could be said about him. It could also be an indication that McCain is planing on picking someone less known on the national scene for his running mate, someone who he did not go head to head with in the primaries.

The pollsters wasted no time in trying to get the public’s opinion as well. Rasmussen Reports took a nationwide telephone survey and 39% said that Biden was the right choice, 25% said he was not and 33% were not sure. That 33% is a significant number. A full one third of the voters are willing to listen and give him time to make an impression, one way or the other. Other facts from the poll indicate that they have a long way to go to get the Hillary Clinton supporters behind them. Women, who were her big supporters, onnly had 33% who said he made the right choice and 27% who said he did not, but again there is a large percentage who are still undecided. The figures will change drastically one way or the other after the convention.

Biden can be a big help with the older voters and this is reflected in the poll also with 60% of the senior citizens having a positive opinion of him. But the independent voters are not impressed with 25% saying the choice of Biden would make them more likely to vote for Obama and 33% saying just the opposite.

The polls to watch will be the individual state polls, especially the swing states, to see if Biden can make them fall into Obama’s column, or at least give them a push in that direction.

Biden does give balance to the ticket. And some are wondering how you can say you are for change if you running mate is one of the longest serving US Senators. Biden can overcome that by showing that he has not supported the policies of the Bush administration and that even a veteran politician can know when things need to flipped around 360 degrees. It is up to him to show it and convince the voters that he has what it takes to support Obama, give him the right advice and at the same time let Obama be the one to lead and make the final decision. We will be taking a look at Joe Biden and his history in the Senate and see just how much change there would be in our future.

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