Biden Draws Even A Few GOP Salutes

In a bit of a bipartisan twist, several Republican senators joined the flood of Democrats congratulating Sen. Joe Biden today after Sen. Barack Obama tapped him as his vice presidential running mate.

As Politico colleague Jonathan Martin notes, Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska went way off message, calling the Delaware senator’s “good news for Obama and America.”

Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on Biden’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also issued a statement congratulating the chairman, as did Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

"No one on the Democratic side knows more about foreign policy than Sen. Biden," Specter crowed. "He's been an articulate spokesman on the subject. He also knows about domestic policy. He's been a leader on crime control."

In Arizona, the presumptive presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain himself called Biden early today to congratulate him, a conversation that one McCain aide described as “respectful and friendly.”

But the comity didn’t last long, with Biden took several jabs several hours later at McCain at a campaign rally with Obama in Springfield, Ill., criticizing him for supporting the policies of President Bush.