5 Things Revealed by Biden Pick

Presidential running mates rarely decide an election, but a candidate's VP choice can reveal his plans, Politico reports. Here's what Joe Biden shows about Barack Obama:

1. Obama is ready for battle: “Biden is a brawler—and the Obama camp is eager to unleash him.”
2. Surprise! Obama is more traditional than his image: “Two male career politicians from the Senate is hardly transformational.”

3. Obama needs Biden’s foreign-policy experience.
4. Obama worries about blue collar votes more than Southern states: Polls indicate that working class whites still distrust him, so he’s playing up Biden’s salt-of-the-earth roots.
5. Obama would rather win than hold a grudge: During the primaries, Biden was an outspoken critic of Obama’s inexperience.

(More Barack Obama stories.)