Obama and Biden team makes debut

By Caren Bohan

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and newly minted running mate Joseph Biden made their debut on Saturday, with Biden declaring "it's our time" and quickly going on the attack against Republican John McCain.

Outside the Old State Capitol in Illinois where Obama launched his historic bid for the White House in February 2007, Obama said Biden "won't just make a good vice president, he will make a great vice president."

"He is that rare mix -- for decades, he has brought change to Washington, but Washington hasn't changed him. He's an expert on foreign policy whose heart and values are rooted firmly in the middle class," Obama said.

Obama tapped the Delaware senator, a leading voice on international affairs, as his vice presidential running mate earlier on Saturday.

Biden, 65, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is one of the most knowledgeable Democrats on foreign policy -- an area where Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, has been criticized as inexperienced.

"This man is a clear-eyed pragmatist who will get the job done," Biden said of Obama.

He repeatedly linked McCain to President George W. Bush and said the Arizona senator would be more of the same in the White House. "The times require more than a good soldier, they require a wise leader," Biden said.

Obama ended days of speculation about his No. 2 with a middle-of-the-night announcement on his Web site, featuring a photo of the two, and his campaign sent a text message and e-mail to supporters.