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Joe Biden's Senate seat will be filled by Edward "Ted" Kaufman, a longtime aide to the Vice President-elect.

Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner announced the appointment this afternoon.

Biden, who just won his seventh term in the Senate, must vacate his seat before being sworn in as Vice President on January 20th. Minner said Kaufman will be sworn in sometime in early or mid January.

Biden's son, Attorney General Beau Biden, had been seen as a possible replacement for his father. He announced last week that he wouldn't accept the appointment if offered, saying he planned to continue serving in the National Guard.

The [Wilmington] News Journal's Jeff Montgomery writes that "[t]he selection of the former Biden chief of staff was widely seen as a move by Vice president-elect Biden to protect his seat for" his son Beau, who is presently deploying to Iraq.

There will be an election in 2010 for Delaware voters to decide who will fill the final four years of Biden's term. Montgomery writes that the choice reflects a snubbing of Lt. Gov. John Carney; one Delaware professor suggests in the News Journal story that it will be viewed by some as "a backroom deal."

The new administration about to sweep into Washington, DC, is destined to do more than just change the face of the executive branch, it’s going to have a potentially profound impact on the Senate as well.

Already, President-elect Barack Obama has resigned his seat, leaving it up to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to select a replacement. A slew of potential cabinet choices could mean more changes should New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry or even Republican Dick Lugar from Indiana make the jump.

One other certain new face will come from Delaware, where Vice Presidential-elect Joe Biden has yet to formally resign his seat. There has been speculation that he would like to see his son, state Attorney General Beau Biden fill his seat (to which he was just re-elected this year). But the younger Biden has taken himself out of the running, according to a statement yesterday evening. On his way to Iraq as part of the state’s National Guard, Beau Biden had this to say: “I have not sought and will not accept an appointment to the United States Senate. … I look forward to returning to my work as attorney general of the state of Delaware.”

Vice President Dick Cheney and Mrs. Cheney will meet with Vice President-elect Joe Biden and Mrs. Biden at the Naval Observatory (the Vice Presidential residence) tomorrow evening, CBS News’ Mark Knoller reports. Like the event last week at the White House, the Cheneys and the Bidens will have a private meeting and then tour the residence.

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the Obama campaign has told station WFTV-Channel 9 not to expect any more interviews until after the election.

According to a blog on the paper's Web site, this stems from a satellite interview the Orlando station's Barbara West conducted with Joe Biden on Thursday.

West asked the Democratic vice presidential nominee to defend whether the ticket's policies were "Marxist" and whether Biden's comments about Obama being "tested" early in his presidency were saying "America's days as the world's leading power are over."

During the interview, Biden reacted with surprise to the questions.

"Are you joking?" he asked at one point. "No," the anchor responded. Later, Biden said: "I don't know who's writing your questions."

The paper reports that the campaign then cancelled a planned interview the station had scheduled with Jill Biden.

"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, central Florida communications director for the campaign, according to the paper.

Read more from the newspaper here.
Watch the interview with Biden.

John McCain’s campaign is out with a new ad this morning, one that uses Joe Biden’s comments at a recent fundraiser about international tests that Barack Obama may face if elected. The ad begins with an announcer saying, “Listen to Joe Biden, talking about what electing Barack Obama will mean.”

The ad the uses part of the audio of Biden’s remarks at a recent fundraiser in Washington state over footage of world leaders like Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Biden: “Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama. The world is looking. We're going to have an international crisis ... to test the mettle of this guy. I guarantee you it's gonna happen.” Announcer: “It doesn't have to happen. Vote McCain.” Watch it:



Meanwhile, the Obama campaign is out with a new ad of its own, this one on taxes. The ad touts the tax calculator on Obama’s Web site: “Not sure who to believe on taxes,” the ad begins. “Try this. Enter your income, marital status, number of kids. Then click. A nurse earning sixty grand? You get a thousand bucks under Obama. Under McCain…just one-fifty. The independent Tax Policy Center says Obama offers middle class tax cuts three times as big as McCain’s. Even leading conservatives say Obama’s plan is better for the middle class. One point five million have tried it. You should too.” Watch it:

Everyone thought Sarah Palin would have been the vice presidential candidate to say something that knocked their campaign off-stride but it’s Joe Biden who’s giving the political world something juicy to chew on.

Discouraged over depressing poll numbers, unsettling economic news and even dissension within party ranks, Republicans were delighted to have Biden’s recent remarks about Barack Obama fall into their laps.

“We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year old senator president of the United States of America,” Biden told Democratic fundraisers in Washington state on Sunday according to reports. “Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. … As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it’s gonna happen. I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate. And he’s gonna need help."

John McCain and Republicans gleefully jumped on the remark, contending that it showed even Obama’s own running mate views him as untested and inexperienced. “We don't want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars," McCain said in Missouri yesterday.

Democrats were quick to do damage control, contending that all presidents are tested and making sure to point out that Biden finished his remarks by saying that anyone who tests Obama will discover that he has “steel in his spine.” But it’s not a comfortable moment for Biden to be raising the issue in any case.

While Obama has gotten high marks for his debate performances and in most surveys is now seen as having cleared the bar of being able to handle a crisis, McCain retains an edge when it comes to the candidate seen as more prepared to be president and on the Commander-in-Chief question. Biden’s remarks play right into the hands of Republicans who’ve been looking for a way to revive the issue ever since the economic crisis came to dominate the campaign.

If the McCain campaign can continue to find ways to ratchet this theme up in the minds of voters, it could become a potent one for them. But time is growing short and the economy remains the number one issue by far, something that’s helped Obama and hurt McCain throughout this fall. They’ll likely need at least one or two more things to happen in order to really elevate it but if they do, we might look back on Joe Biden’s comments as the start of it all.

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John McCain is preparing to take advantage of comments made by Joe Biden over the weekend when he warned donors at a Washington state fundraiser that the world won’t wait long to “test” Barack Obama.

“The world is looking,” Biden said, according to reports. “We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. … As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it’s gonna happen. I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate. And he’s gonna need help."

In prepared remarks released by the McCain campaign, the Republican nominee will use those comments in his rally this afternoon in Belton, Missouri. “The next President won’t have time to get used to the office,” McCain will say according to the prepared remarks. “We face many challenges here at home, and many enemies abroad in this dangerous world. Just last night, Senator Biden guaranteed that if Senator Obama is elected, we will have an international crisis to test America’s new President. We don’t want a President who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars. What is more troubling is that Senator Biden told their campaign donors that when that crisis hits, they would have to stand with them because it wouldn't be apparent Senator Obama would have the right response. Forget apparent. Senator Obama won’t have the right response, and we know that because we’ve seen the wrong response from him over and over during this campaign.”

Here's some raw video of Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden – with one eye, perhaps, on the baseball playoffs – suggesting today that the presidential race would be over "if this was a best of five series":

Barack Obama’s campaign is out with a new ad, to run on national cable outlets, highlighting Joe Biden’s criticism of John McCain’s health care plan in the vice presidential debate last night. The ad starts with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin explaining about the plan, “He's proposing a five thousand dollar tax credit for families so that they can get out there and they can purchase their own health care coverage.” The ad then cuts in part of Biden’s response: “Do you know how John McCain pays for his five thousand dollar tax credit? He taxes as income every one of you out there, every one of you listening who has a health care plan through your employer. Taxing your health care benefit. I call that the ‘Ultimate Bridge to Nowhere.’” Watch it:



The McCain campaign has a new Web ad up as well, you can watch that here.

UPDATED CBS News and Knowledge Networks have conducted a nationally representative poll of 473 uncommitted voters to get their immediate reaction to tonight's vice presidential debate.

After the first presidential debate, a similar survey showed that more uncommitted voters identified Barack Obama as the winner

Final numbers from tonight's poll have yet to come in, but we do have some early results. (These numbers may change as more respondents complete the survey.) They suggest that once again more voters have responded favorably to the Democratic candidate.

Forty-six percent of the uncommitted voters surveyed say Democrat Joe Biden won the debate, compared to 21 percent for Republican Sarah Palin. Thirty-three percent said it was a tie.

Eighteen percent of previously uncommitted percent say they are now committed to the Obama-Biden ticket. Ten percent say they are now committed to McCain-Palin. Seventy-one percent are still uncommitted.

Both candidates improved their overall image tonight. Fifty-three percent of those surveyed say they now have a better impression of Biden. Five percent say they have a worse opinion of the Delaware senator, while 42 percent say they debate did not change their opinion.

Fifty-five percent say they now have a better opinion of Palin. Fourteen percent say they have a worse opinion, while 30 percent say their opinion hasn't changed.

After the debate, 66 percent see Palin as knowledgeable about important issues – up from 43 percent before the debate. But Biden still has the advantage on this – 98 percent saw him as knowledgeable after the debate. That figure was 79 percent before the debate.

Uncommitted voters’ views of Palin’s preparedness for the job of vice president also improved as a result of her debate performance - but they are still nowhere near the percentage that thinks Biden is prepared.

Fifty-five percent say Palin is prepared for the job, up from 39 percent before the debate. Ninty-seven percent say Biden is prepared, up from 81 percent pre-debate.

Although Palin made some gains on the question of whether she could serve as president if needed, she rose just 9 points on that measure. Now 44 percent say the Alaska governor could be an effective president. Ninety-one percent said Biden could be effective as president, up from 66 percent before the debate.

We will have a full report on the poll later on. Uncommitted voters are those who don't yet know who they will vote for, or who have chosen a candidate but may still change their minds.

Update: Click here for the complete poll data and analysis.