Politics / John McCain Biden Complicates McCain's Veep Calculus Dem's strengths expose key gaps in armor of Republican's rumored short-listers By Michael Foreman, Newser Staff Posted Aug 27, 2008 11:55 AM CDT Copied Barack Obama and his vice presidential running mate Sen. Joe Biden outside the Old State Capitol, Aug. 23, 2008, in Springfield, Ill. (AP Photo, file) Joe Biden presents a problem for John McCain, Jeanne Cummings notes on Politico. “McCain knows Biden well," says one Republican insider. "He knows how good he is as a knife fighter." Stacked up against Biden, all of the rumored GOP short-listers reveal potentially fatal flaws: Mitt Romney: Considering Biden's middle-class roots, the multimillionaire former governor could undermine McCain's claims of Obama elitism. Gov. Tim Pawlenty: Though happy to parrot McCain's talking points, the younger Minnesotan can't match Biden's experience in foreign affairs and partisan debate. Tom Ridge: The former Homeland Security chief, and Pennsylvania governor, supports abortion rights—a stance that could overshadow his national security cred with hardcore conservatives. Sen. Joseph Lieberman: The Connecticut independent and McCain are close, but Lieberman's Democratic past will alienate Republicans. (More John McCain stories.) Report an error