This morning presidential hopeful Barack Obama announced his decision to pick Delaware Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate. As a 6-term senator and chairman of the foreign relations committee, Biden helps Obama with the experience question and is a more moderate figure of the Democratic party. He does not help with the accusations or sexism, nor does he score any points for the electoral college game (Delaware is a north eastern state that votes overwhelmingly Democrat).

Overall, as VP nominations go, Senator Biden is a fairly conventional choice. He doesn’t really help Obama much, but given his long career and relatively clean record he won’t be a distraction to the campaign like some of the other choices. Picking Biden was a safe choice. One of Machiavelli’s most pressing pieces of advice: Above all, avoid being hated.

Senator Obama, your choice is unremarkable. Well played.