What the media dubbed the “Obama Drama” kept many Americans checking their text messages early Saturday morning, waiting for word about who the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate had chosen as his vice presidential running mate.

ABC News reported late Friday night the Secret Service had dispatched agents to Sen. Joe Biden’s home in Delaware, making Biden’s selection by Sen. Barack Obama all but official. And, by the time many Americans were having their breakfast Saturday, the deal had been sealed. The Obama/Biden ticket was reality.

Dozens of area residents were up bright and early Saturday, too, preparing for the first Southern Midlands African Americans Family Reunion on the Glover Street side of Edisto Memorial Gardens. The day-long event, billed as a celebration of African-American culture, was sponsored by Williams Chapel AME Church.

Folks were busy firing up their grills for the huge picnic, many of them apparently too preoccupied to pay attention to the breaking news anticipated by so many across the country.

Clemmie Hill of Orangeburg hadn’t heard Obama had chosen Biden, but she felt Biden was a good choice.

“He has shown that he’s a leader himself. I think his experience will help a lot. I think right now we need somebody who is going to go in and pave some ways ... we need so many things in this country done,” Hill said, citing the economy as her number one concern.

Mary Powell of Hartsville, who was at the reunion representing Unison Health Plan, which provides additional benefits for Medicaid recipients, said she had already made up her mind to vote for Obama, “but when I found out he had Biden, it really made me feel safe. ... That really made me feel like, ‘Okay, we’re going to make it.’”

Powell likes Biden’s depth of experience and the fact “he won’t bite his tongue.”

“I’m very pleased about that because he’s an older man who’s experienced. He’s very open. ... We need somebody that will speak up and say some things that other people might not say. A lot of these politicians will say a lot behind cover, but they won’t say it out front,” she said.

Powell said she saw photos of Biden driving a truck with a load of wood in the back, and thinks he’s “right down to earth and on target, and he doesn’t mind doing the same thing I do every day.”

Biden’s foreign policy experience is what’s important to the Rev. Eartha Guess of Holly Hill, a member of Greater Friendship AME Church in Santee.

“Biden has experience in foreign affairs which Obama may not have ... being as young as he is,” Guess said.

Deacon Wilbert Harrison of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Orangeburg called Biden “a good choice.”

“First of all, I believe he’s honest, and he will be a good help to Senator Obama because the wisdom Obama doesn’t have yet, I think the senator will help him,” Harrison said. “They’re good for each other.”

Bill Purvis of Orangeburg, steward pro tem of Williams Chapel AME and Korea and Vietnam veteran, said he supports Obama’s choice, saying he thought Biden would have made a good president.

“I have been knowing him (Biden) for a long time. I lived in Delaware for awhile. He’s honest. He didn’t hold back anything. He let you know where he stood,” Purvis said. “Everybody should be that way.”

Over at the Regional Medical Center’s Wellness Celebration at the Prince of Orange Mall, many people preferred not to comment on Biden’s selection. Many not had yet learned Biden was Obama’s choice.

“I have not given it a whole lot of thought,” said Tina Fogle, marketing director at Morningside Assisted Living. “I just don’t think anybody good is running. My vote was up in the air to begin with, and it’s still up in the air. I don’t know,” she said.

Harold Rickenbacker of Orangeburg wasn’t so sure Biden was the best vice presidential candidate for the Democratic Party ticket.

“Personally, I think he (Obama) should have picked Hillary Clinton because of all the votes he’s going to lose from not picking her,” Rickenbacker said. “If she was on his side, ... I know he would have won for president then. I don’t know now. I think it will be a close race.”

S.C. House Dist. 95 Rep. Jerry Govan of Orangeburg, a longtime Biden supporter, hadn’t planned to attend the Democratic Convention in Denver this week, but news that Obama tapped Biden for the ticket had Govan contemplating a trip to the “Mile High City.”

“I tell you what, with the selection of Senator Biden, it’s tempting,” Govan said. “I have been in touch with his sister, Valerie, and his chief of staff. Everybody has been upbeat, and everyone is excited. I think the Biden team is ready to go.”

Govan believes “Democrats across the board are elated with the choice of Sen. Biden.”

“Considering Senator Biden’s service to his country, his impressive resume, his life experiences ... I think when you add all those things up and his commitment and passion to do right by the American people, I think it’s an excellent choice. I think Senator Biden’s strengths compliment the strengths of Senator Obama and make them a formidable ticket to lead the country.”

Biden’s selection says a lot about Barack Obama, Govan said.

“Here we find a candidate for president, someone who is not afraid to look beyond themselves and select someone who, in their own right, has the credentials and has all of the attributes to serve as commander-in-chief. I think Barack said it himself when he said he was looking for a vice presidential running mate who could, if there was cause for it, step up to the plate and lead on day one. ... It just demonstrates that he (Obama) has thought this thing through ... looking at it from the standpoint of what’s in the best interest of the American people.”

Govan says the Obama/Biden ticket will not take a backseat to the Republicans “with regard to international security, because there is no one on the Republican side that has the credentials that Senator Biden has on the world stage.”

He added, “Obama, in his own right, is perceived well overseas. So now you have a strong foreign policy base to operate from.”

Biden is also “solid” on the domestic front and plays well in “the blue-collar circles,” Govan said.

“He connects well with people.”

T&D Region Editor Carol Barker can be reached by e-mail at cbarker@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5525. Discuss this and other stories online at The TandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.