U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., has been named Barack Obama's vice-presidential running mate. Biden, a former candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, was chosen from a field of numerous possible choices, including Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana. While the Obama campaign planned to send out a text message and e-mail to inform its volunteers and donors of the selection--the note went out Saturday morning shortly after 3 a.m.--numerous news agencies, including CNN, were reporting Biden's selection Friday night. In the message, Obama noted he and Biden would hit the campaign trail immediately. "Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois--the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago," Obama wrote. "I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change." Biden is the chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee. Political pundits say this notion should help Obama refute Republican claims that Obama is weak on foreign policy. Of course, during the primary season, Biden himself was extremely critical of Obama's lack of foreign-policy experience--and the McCain camp noted that this morning in a statement as covered by CNN. "There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama's lack of experience than Joe Biden," said McCain spokesperson Ben Porritt in a written statement. "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." Meanwhile, Biden's old campaign web site, www.joebiden.com, now redirects visitors to Obama's site.