Barack Obama has made his pick for vice presidential running mate – choosing Delaware Sen. Joe Biden (see video above). The decision to choose Joe Biden as a running made was made early Saturday morning, with an update to Barack Obama’s web site and the text message announcement sent sometime after a media leak. The text message was sent just after 3 a.m. on the East coast.

But who is Joe Biden and what does he bring to the table?

Barack Obama’s web site said included this statement about who Joe Biden is and his strengths, saying he “brings extensive foreign policy experience, an impressive record of collaborating across party lines, and a direct approach to getting the job done.”

Barack Obama is said to have chosen Joe Biden as his VP running mate to round out the ticket with Biden’s strengths in foreign policy and global security.

John McCain’s spokesman commented on Barack Obama’s choice of Joe Biden as running mate, saying, “There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama’s lack of experience than Joe Biden. 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.”

Joe Biden is 65 years old, is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and has served in the Senate since being elected at the age of 29 in 1972.

Joe Biden has run twice for the Democratic presidential nomination – in 1988 and again this year.