McCain Starts Punching at Biden

It didn't take long for the McCain campaign to begin hitting Joe Biden's nomination for VP:

SEDONA, Arizona -- Sen. John McCain immediately began
using Joe Biden's own words against him early Saturday morning,
drawing on the Democratic vice presidential nominee's criticism of
Sen. Barack Obama during the Democratic primary.

"There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama's lack of
experience than Joe Biden," said McCain spokesman Ben Porritt. "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."

Running against Obama for the presidency, Biden said nominating
someone without national security credentials would be a "tragic
mistake" and said that the presidency "is not something that lends
itself to on-the-job-training."

The first volley from McCain's staff arrived at 1:50 a.m. ET, reflecting the new pace of presidential politics in the Internet
era. And it foreshadowed what is certain to be a principal line of attack

Obama's selection of Biden, which began leaking out Friday
evening, set in motion a new Republican effort aimed at undermining
the Democratic ticket even as the pair prepare to make their first public
appearance as running mates in Springfield, Ill.

McCain aides are also likely to go after Biden by arguing that he
does not represent the fundamental change that Obama has been
promising since beginning his presidential run.

Biden, a 36-year veteran of the U.S. Senate, is a creature of
Capitol Hill, someone who is steeped in the nuances of the legislature
and is part of an institution that regularly gets terrible approval
ratings by Americans.

Obama has been running against Washington, saying that the people
there like McCain are the problem that needs to be fixed. McCain can
argue that by choosing Biden, Obama abandons that case.

As I understand it the now infamous Obama text message went out at 3am EDT (midnight here on the Holy Coast). I wonder how many people who have been watching their cellphones and Blackberries all week were happy to be awakened by news that had leaked out several hours earlier?

I'll have more reaction to all this tonight. Most of today will be spent driving to Northern California taking my daughter back to college. If any of you decided to watch the official announcement from Springfield, IL today, feel free to post your reaction as a comment and I may bump it up to the front page.