Barack Obama plagiarized Deval Patrick speech… Biden plagiarized Neil Kinnock speech…

Talk Straight has the Biden Breakdown…

UPDATE: Ron Fournier: Biden pick shows lack of confidence

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: Listening to Obama – at least he got the number of States right, for once. ROFL…did he really just say, “for decades he’s brought change to Washington”? For decades!!!! Oh, man…this could become a lot of fun…oh, brother…did he say “white gentleman”?…anyways, hey, Obama, if Biden has been bringing change to Washington for decades, then what the F do we need you for?

UPDATE: Gaffes, gaffes, gaffes…

(ED NOTE: As this will be the talk of the day, we’ll keep this thread on top of the blog at least through noon on Saturday)

Drudge Report says a Kansas company that specializes in political literature has been printing Obama-Bayh material…

Keep your eyes and ears open.

Fox News is reporting that Biden is Obama’s VP selection.

UPDATE: the Fox News story.

UPDATE: Secret Service on the way to Biden’s house.

UPDATE: For all of you out there saying “Biden who?”, his bio.

UPDATE: Quick commentary by Mark Noonan:

If this is other than the world’s biggest head fake, then I can’t imagine any thing positive Biden brings to the Obama ticket – Biden is more experienced that Obama, but will be on the bottom of the ticket; Biden is Senator from a small, very blue State Obama will win handily; Biden is the archetype of the career politician, having been in the Senate since Nixon was President; Biden is up for re-election to the Senate, thus opening up the possibility of a GOP pick up in the Senate; Biden has said things which make Obama look bad…all in all, I’d say its a hoax, but its being reported by Fox and the Associated Press.

UPDATE: Peter Robinson over at NRO’s The Corner weighs in:

Before winning election to the Senate three-and-a-half decades ago—Biden ranks fourth in seniority among Democrats, sixth overall; how’s that for a fresh face?—Biden practiced law for three years. That’s it. Three years of fresh-out-of-law school practice represents the sum and total of Biden’s profession experience before joining the Senate.

Obama-Biden? A candidate with an astonishingly thin professional background—Community organizer? Desultory lecturer in law school?—has just named as his running mate a man whose principal professional achievement is to have perfected his skills as a gasbag.

Mark Noonan sez: the more I think about it, the more I figure its got to be a bogus story…its like Obama wants to lose. Or perhaps he just still thinks he’s got it in the bag?

UPDATE: Biden on the issues, by Mark Noonan:

A practising Catholic, Biden adheres to Church teaching on when life begins, opposes federal funding for abortion and favors the ban on late term abortions. On the other hand, Biden supports the Roe decision and makes no move towards ending the practice of abortion. All in all, Biden has trimmed himself to the pro-choice side of the aisle as far as he can without risking a breach with the Church. God bless him, he’s one of my brothers – and I’ll pray for him to come back entirely to the pro-life side of the aisle.

Biden is an old-fashioned tax and spend liberal as far as budget matters go – and is still a believer in axing the Defense budget in order to free up funds for social programs. In spite of the clear failure during his life time, Biden still believes that the heavy club of government spending is a magic wand to bring prosperity and happiness to the people.

Biden is pretty convention on the litany of liberal issues – while he technically opposes same-sex marriage, he’s not out there fighting against it; meanwhile, he is in favor of affirmative action, racial set asides, attacks corporations (though this may just be a Catholic thing, as I attack them, too – though probably not for the exact same reasons), supports hate crime laws and has co-sponsored a re-submission of the Equal Rights Amendment for ratification.

Biden raises conservative hackles for a lot of reasons, but conservatives going forward will probably start to concentrate on Biden’s disgraceful behaviour during the Thomas hearings.

UPDATE: Maybe this is why Obama picked Biden?

Obama’s lead in New York has dropped 10 points since June…

The RNC has launched a new website “Obama-Rezko Shady Deal” which posts videos and all the latest news “pertaining to Barack Obama’s lack of judgment and questionable dealings with campaign fundraiser and convicted felon Tony Rezko.”

Check it out.

UPDATE: Thoughts from Viewpoint Journal:

Today the Obama Campaign released a new ad chiding Senator McCain for owning seven homes. Is this a sign of desperation or what?

It is true that when asked by Politico how many homes he owned, McCain did not know off the top of his head. That is because many of those homes belong to his wife, who was wealthy long before McCain married her 28 years ago.

I’m not sure if, in 2004, this line of attack was ever used by conservatives against Senator Kerry regarding his wife, Teresa Heinz-Kerry (another wealthy heiress with many homes), but this whole thing smacks of desperation. How so?

In the first place, Senator Obama’s Chicago home was bought in partnership with Tony Rezko who is, basically, the Jack Abramoff of Illinois. The whole purchase, and a subsequent sale of additional land adjacent to the Obama’s property for a price lower than market value, is still under a cloud. Tony Rezko himself was convicted of multiple crimes of corruption with perhaps more charges to come.

Once nominated by the Democratic Party to be their vice-presidential candidate, Joe Lieberman will be speaking at the Republican National Convention in September.

Lieberman’s speaking at the Republican Convention demonstrates just how out of the mainstream the Democratic Party has become.

The themes of the convention will be service, reform, prosperity and peace.

Camp Obama can’t be happy about this.

In a sharp turnaround, Republican John McCain has opened a 5-point lead on Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential race and is seen as a stronger manager of the economy, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

McCain leads Obama among likely U.S. voters by 46 percent to 41 percent, wiping out Obama’s solid 7-point advantage in July and taking his first lead in the monthly Reuters/Zogby poll.

The reversal follows a month of attacks by McCain, who has questioned Obama’s experience, criticized his opposition to most new offshore oil drilling and mocked his overseas trip.

Bottom line: the more people learn about Obama, the less they like.

Another part of the poll that should concern Obama:

McCain now has a 9-point edge, 49 percent to 40 percent, over Obama on the critical question of who would be the best manager of the economy — an issue nearly half of voters said was their top concern in the November 4 presidential election.

Will this bring about another rightward shift for Obama? Will Hillary have a surprise showing in the roll call vote at the convention? It appears Obama’s best day is already behind him.

After a not-so-great week from his fumbled respond to the Russia-Georgia conflict, Little Boy Barry is trying to sound like Mr. Confident now…

A combative Barack Obama said Tuesday that Republican John McCain “doesn’t know what he’s up against” in this election and challenged his rival to stop questioning his character and patriotism.

Obama, campaigning in a state where he hopes to become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win in more than three decades, implored his supporters to fight for the presidency.

“Our job in this election is not just ‘win,’ although I’m a big believer in winning,” Obama said during the rally. “I don’t intend to lose this election. John McCain doesn’t know what he’s up against.”

Obama, you will lose. There’s a real world out there, with real problems. McCain’s genuine leadership beats your teleprompter prowess.

Could it be that Obamessiah is ready to share some of the spotlight?

Senator Barack Obama has all but settled on his choice for a running mate and set an elaborate rollout plan for his decision, beginning with an early morning alert to supporters, perhaps as soon as Wednesday morning, aides said.

Obama’s deliberations remain remarkably closely held. Aides said perhaps a half-dozen advisers were involved in the final discussions in an effort to enforce a command that Obama issued to staff members: that his decision not leak out until supporters are notified.

Obama had not notified his choice — or any of those not selected — of his decision as of late Monday, advisers said. Going into the final days, Obama was said to be focused mainly on three candidates: Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Joseph Biden Jr. of Delaware.

If I had to guess which of the three he’d pick, I’d put my money on Kaine.

Barack Obama, after a disastrous appearance on Rick Warren’s forum, decided to step up criticisms of John McCain, saying the U.S. economy is a disaster thanks to “John McCain’s president, George W. Bush.”

First, let’s correct señor Obama, on the economy. The economy was enjoying record growth until the Democrats took over Congress. Since Barack Obama’s party took over, gas prices have skyrocketed, and that has had the most significant impact on the economy. The Democrats promised to lower gas prices. They didn’t deliver. The Democrats fought for an increase in the minimum wage. Those of us who understand economics said it would cost jobs. Guess what? We were right. The economy has started losing jobs thanks to the Democrats minimum wage hike.

Sorry Obama, the poor state of the current economy belongs to you and your party.

Second, President George W. Bush is our president, not just John McCain’s. He’s our president and commander-in-chief. I am a proud supporter of President Bush. I donated to his reelection campaign. I started a pro-Bush blog in 2003 that became one of the most successful political blogs of the 2004 campaign season. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. He’s my president, and yours, and he’s the president of every single American citizen who reads these words I’m writing.

I don’t agree with everything President Bush has done, but he’s been a greater President than Barack Obama could ever dream to be. Obama is nothing without a teleprompter and a speechwriter.

When it came to the issue of abortion during the forum with Rick Warren yesterday, Barack Obama, unwilling to stray far from the pro-abortion platform of the Democratic Party, gave a pathetic non-answer a question about abortion:

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama side-stepped a pointed query about abortion on Saturday by “mega-pastor” Rick Warren during a televised forum.

Asked at what point a baby gets “human rights,” Obama, who strongly supports abortion rights, said: “… whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity … is above my pay grade.”

He went on to reiterate his view that it was important to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.

Let’s face it. Barack Obama is pro-abortion. He can’t pretend he’s not. Democrats try to soften their pro-abortion views by say thing they want to reduce the number of abortion or unwanted pregnancies, but that doesn’t change the fact that at the end of the day, they support abortion, even partial-birth abortions, and actively seek out money and support from radical pro-abortion groups. Barack Obama is no different, and values voters won’t be fooled.