Democratic and Republican student groups alike are buzzing after presidential hopeful Barack Obama announced "Pennsylvania's third senator" Joe Biden as his running mate early Saturday morning.

"He knows the concerns of Pennsylvanians, and being from Scranton, he knows the needs of a lot of blue-collar, working-class people," said Sean Meloy, president of Penn State's College Democrats, adding Biden would be an advocate for those people as vice president.

Biden, a Delaware senator, was born in Scranton and lived there until he was 10, according to an e-mail sent to Obama supporters from Sean Smith, Pennsylvania communications director for Sen.

Obama, D-Ill. Obama announced his choice early Saturday morning after months of media speculation over who his eventual No. 2 would be.

Meloy, who is in Denver for the Democratic National Convention, said Biden will work to improve the economy, a concern particularly relevant to graduating students looking for jobs.

Zachary Zabel, president of Penn State Students for Barack Obama, said Biden is primarily a fighter and is already campaigning against McCain.

Zabel and Meloy both added Biden is also a good vice presidential candidate because of his foreign policy experience and his concern for economic issues.

Zabel said economic issues will affect all students, even freshmen, who will be looking for jobs during the term of the next president.

"When John McCain said Bush has made great advances economically, students should be really concerned about that," Zabel said.

Alex Smith, president of the College Republicans, said this is not necessarily true.

"When Bush inherited the presidency, the economy was already headed down the tubes," Smith said.

Obama's announcement of Biden for vice president was an interesting choice because of past remarks about Obama's inexperience and favorable opinions of McCain, Alex Smith said.

A new McCain campaign advertisement cites Biden as saying the presidency is not a position "on-the-job training" and that he would be honored to run with McCain as well as against him.

"He does have some better foreign policy experience than Obama, so maybe that will help to balance the ticket," Alex Smith added.

In a video sent by e-mail to Obama supporters yesterday, Biden said he is aware he's known for speaking his mind.

Obama has "breathed new life into our political process," Biden said in the video, adding the Obama campaign has shown "ordinary Americans coming together."

Obama and Biden held their first rally together in Springfield, Ill., on Saturday.

Biden, 65, has been in the Senate for 36 years and is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.