***AP Washington bureau chief Ron Fournier, from Denver: 'Analysis: Biden pick shows lack of confidence: The candidate of change went with the status quo. In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness - inexperience in office and on foreign policy - rather than underscore his strength as a new- generation candidate defying political conventions.
'He picked a 35-year veteran of the Senate - the ultimate insider - rather than a candidate from outside Washington ... The picks say something profound about Obama: For all his self-confidence, the 47- year-old Illinois senator worried that he couldn't beat Republican John McCain without help from a seasoned politician willing to attack. The Biden selection is the next logistical step in an Obama campaign that has become more negative - a strategic decision that may be necessary but threatens to run counter to his image. Democratic strategists, fretting over polls that showed McCai n erasing Obama's lead this summer, welcomed the move. They, too, worried that Obama needed a more conventional - read: tougher - approach to McCain.'