US candidate Barack Obama announces Joe Biden as his running mate via text message

August 23, 2008 Senator Barack Obama from Illinois, the of the Democratic Party, announced Joe Biden as his  running mate. The announcement came via text message early Saturday morning, to people who had signed up to receive the announcement on the official website. Friday afternoon, several campaign officials had informed the media that the text message announcement would be distributed Saturday morning. Reportedly, the announcement would come a few hours ahead of a scheduled rally at the in, Illinois, where Obama and whoever the VP candidate would be would appear together for the first time as the Democratic ticket.

On August 19th, Biden while leaving his house reportedly said to some reporters, "Hey guys, I'm not the guy."

Biden had been one of the top choices for being the VP candidate according to. Following his trip to Georgia, from August 17th through the 18th, he was surrounded by a lot of speculation that he would in fact be the candidate.

On Thursday, Barack Obama announced that he had already made his decision, but wasn't yet stating who the VP candidate would be. On August 20th the Obama campaign reportedly sent a email to one or more news agencies with the subject being "Vice presidential...". However, the contents of the email did not state who he had picked, but instead the first line of the email was "just kidding." Prior to the announcement of Biden being the VP candidate,, Hillary Clinton, , , , and had all been reported as being on the short list.

Obama has been reportedly calling the potential VP candidates and informing them that they had not been picked. Sources said that Governor Tim Kaine and Senator Evan Bayh had been told they were no longer considered. None of the other choices had stated whether or not they had been called, though Representative Edwards specifically stated that he had not been contacted.

The in, Colorado begins on August 25, 2008. Biden will reportedly speak on the third night of the convention.

Republican candidate John McCain of Arizona has not yet announced who his running mate will be. The begins September 1, 2008 in, Minnesota.

Biden, a Senator from Delaware, is currently the committee chair for the. Biden has served in the Senate since 1973, and was the head of the from 1987 through 1995.