Barack Obama has signaled that he doesn't want a yes man in the second chair. We like that. Two independent minds are better than one, and by all accounts, Biden charts his own course. And because he has worked hard to develop his expertise in foreign affairs, he is a good complement to Obama. (On that score, we do find it ironic that the candidate who spent a few of his childhood years living in Indonesia and who has immediate family in Kenya, where he has made extended visits, is somehow the guy whose international credentials are suspect.)

Biden also brings to the Democratic ticket, as part of his 36 years in the Senate, his knowledge and practice as the former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and an even-handed one. Since this election is about future nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the rest of the federal bench, that's important.

Biden has negatives, of course. Anyone with so long a political career is bound to. The most troubling is his tie to a large credit card corporation, its generous contributions to his campaigns, its employment of his son and how that may have affected his support of a malign bankruptcy reform law in 2005.

Twenty years ago, Biden was brought up short for plagiarism in a campaign speech and some earlier writings. That's old news, but an ethical failure, nonetheless.

The worst thing you can say about Joe Biden is that he's not Hillary Clinton. If Biden's pedigree as the son of a working man and his long association with unions will help the ticket in swing states like California, Pennsylvania and Ohio, Clinton's success in the primaries in those very states might have done even more. If Joe's a scrapper, so is Hillary.

Biden's depth in foreign policy is at least equaled by Clinton's résumé in health care. Most important, had Obama selected Clinton, he would have united his party behind a historic ticket that literally embodied change not once, but twice.

Alas, that was not to be. Perhaps the two candidates could not get beyond the bitter battles they fought in the primaries, or perhaps no one could figure out a way to keep Bill on a leash. For whatever reason, this strikes us as an opportunity wasted.