State Dems say Biden's resume complements Obama

Colorado Democrats on Saturday lauded Barack Obama's choice to name U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) as his running mate, pointing to Biden's foreign policy and law-enforcement accomplishments.

At a press conference at Invesco Field Saturday morning, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Denver), Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said Biden would nicely complement Obama on the Democratic presidential ticket.

"Joe Biden brings a tremendous amount of energy to this ticket," Salazar said. "He is, by far, one of the best experts on foreign policy in the entire United States Senate and the entire country. We need to put the world back together again, and Joe Biden is that person to complement Barack Obama's experience - both of them serving on the foreign policy committee in the U.S. Senate."

Ritter, a former Denver District Attorney, noted Biden's work on legislation to fight crime, such as co-sponsoring the Violence Against Women Act of 2000.

"(The Violence Against Women Act) really was an important piece of legislation for us as prosecutors to use as tools to combat that," Ritter said.

"Biden just so complements Barack Obama," Ritter continued. "We live in challenging times in the 21st century, and to put someone with his foreign policy and his national security expertise onto the ticket really helps us ensure that we'll rise to those challenges in an important way."

Asked how Biden would affect Obama's chances in Colorado, Ritter said, "People think about this oftentimes in terms of geography. And, you know, I was running for governor, and they said, ‘Well, don't pick anyone from Denver, because Colorado's a big state.' I did. I picked a lieutenant governor from Denver because she shared my passion about children. And we never looked back."

"I think the important part is the relationship between the person that's the president and the vice-president together -what they bring in securing our nation's future and really promising the change that they've talked about now for a very long time," Ritter said.

Hickenlooper also had nothing but praise for Biden.

"From the point of view of a big-city mayor, I think Barack Obama couldn't have picked a better vice-president," Hickenlooper said. "Joe Biden has been at the forefront of a lot of urban policy issues - the governor was just talking about his domestic violence legislation. He has consistently shown that you don't throw money at problems, right? You come up with solutions, and they you measure your investment, you measure your outcomes.

"He will be very warmly received by the mayors of this country," Hickenlooper said.