SEDONA, Ariz. -- A longtime senator with a harrowing personal narrative who boasts a lengthy foreign policy resume and is known for speaking his mind.

That description could fit Sen. John McCain -- or it could just as easily apply to Sen. Joseph Biden.

Sen. Barack Obama picked Sen. Biden of Delaware as his running mate Saturday and, in doing so, got a partner with striking similarities to his Republican opponent.

In their roughly 57 combined years in the U.S. Senate, Sen. McCain and Sen. Biden have forged much the same path. The pair has each earned a reputation for a quick tongue and become outspoken on foreign policy, everything from the war in Iraq to Eastern European affairs. Together, they forged the unsuccessful McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution and worked on behalf of Kyrgyzstan and Moldova.

What's more, Sen. Biden and Sen. McCain have each acknowledged the other as a friend. On Saturday, they continued to speak fondly of each other in between attacks.

"I've known John for 35 years, he served our country with extraordinary courage," Sen. Biden said during his introduction rally in Springfield, Ill. "I know he wants to do right by America."

Sen. McCain called Sen. Biden Saturday morning to welcome him to the race. McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said the senators "are very friendly."

To be sure, the two men are very different senators with vastly different records. Sen. Biden received a 100% score in 2007 from the AFL-CIO union organization for his votes on "working family issues." Sen. McCain received a score of zero.

And Sen. Biden doesn't share his competitor's hatred of discretionary spending. Sen. McCain received 100% on the 2007 Club for Growth "RePork Card," tallying the number of times senators voted in favor of pork-abolishing measures. Sen. Biden scored just 17%.

Personal Connections

The similarities between the white-haired politicians begin with their biographies, each marked by extreme pain. Sen. Biden lost his wife and daughter shortly after winning his first senate election in 1972. He was sworn into office from the bedside of his injured sons. At that same moment in time but half a world away, Sen. McCain was a prisoner of war in Vietnam who had lived through more than five years of torture by his enemy captors.

Fast forward three years and their paths have intersected again with a son from each senator in the military. Sen. McCain's son, Jimmy, returned from Iraq earlier this year. Sen. Biden's son, Beau, is in the reserves and scheduled to deploy this fall.

Interest Overseas

Each is a foreign policy heavyweight in the Senate and shown a special interest in Eastern European affairs. In 2005, according to McCain's senate office, the pair worked together on behalf of the government in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to help establish a democratic election in that country. Before that, they both introduced successful legislation together to push transparency in the government of Moldova.

In 1999, during the war in Kosovo, Sen. McCain and Sen. Biden co-authored a resolution that would have authorized the president to use "all necessary force" to resolve the conflict. Sen. Biden's senate biography trumpets his accomplishments in the region but never mentions the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution.

More recently, Sen. Biden and Sen. McCain had harsh reactions to the conflict between Russia and Georgia. Sen. McCain's was much more dramatic, however, calling for the inclusion of Georgia into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Sen. Biden visited Georgia earlier this month and, upon return, issued a statement with rivaled intensity. He called for $1 billion in aid from Congress. "The war that began in Georgia is no longer about that country alone," Sen. Biden wrote. "The outcome there will determine whether we realize the grand ambition of a Europe that is whole, free, and at peace."

Both senators voted to begin the war in Iraq, one area where Sen. Biden differs from his running mate. (Sen. Obama has adamantly opposed the war from the start.) In recent years, they have shared a devotion to the topic, albeit it for different reasons and, at times, held severely different positions.

Sen. McCain and Sen. Biden both criticized former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld's strategy early on and, in 2005, both called for an increase in the level of troops. "I've been calling for more troops for over two years, along with John McCain and others subsequent to my saying that," Sen. Biden said on NBC's Meet the Press on Nov. 27, 2005.

Since then, Sen. Biden and Sen. McCain have strayed on the proper way to end the war. Sen. Biden worked with Les Gelb, the president emeritus of the Council of Foreign Relations, on a plan that proposes political solutions, such as creating regions based on Iraq law, in addition to troop withdrawal. Sen. McCain has troops must come home based on the conditions on the ground, emphasizing the need for "victory."

Ivo Banac, a history professor at Yale University and a specialist on southeastern Europe, says "I see them as people who are ideologically not worlds apart."

Tell It Like It Is

Another commonality between the men is the penchant for speaking his mind. Sen. McCain built a reputation for "straight talk" in his 2000 primary campaign and continued his tell-it-like-it-is attitude through this year's campaign. Sen. McCain also has a reputation for having a temper, with a handful of examples of his eruptions well known among the ranks of the Senate.

Sen. Biden is also prone to outbursts, it seems. In May of this year, Sen. Biden heard that President Bush suggested Democrats' sought to appease terrorists. "This is b------t, this is malarkey, this is outrageous," he cursed right after coming out of an elevator in the senate building. Later, during a cable interview, Sen. Biden backtracked. "I shouldn't have used that word, he said apologetically, "but the essence of what I was saying is absolutely accurate."

Admiral Bobby Inman, the former director of the National Security Agency, hosted both senators in Austin with his students at the University of Texas. Each visited at a time when his campaign was in trouble, spurring a sort of humility. Mr. Inman remarked on their penchant for back-and-forth in discussions in the small crowd and their thoughtful answers. "They are similar in a lot of ways," Mr. Inman said.

Friendly Fodder

What Democrats will have to deal with in the coming weeks is the amount of fodder floating around showing Sen. Biden praises Sen. McCain.

"John McCain is a personal friend, a great friend," Sen. Biden says in a clip from The Daily Show in 2005 now in a television advertisement by the McCain campaign. "And I would be honored to run with or against John McCain."

In April 2008, during an appearance on CNN, Sen. Biden said, "I've known John. He's my friend. I love him. I know we say that lightly, but you know he's my personal friend."

But friendship has little place in the battleground of the stump. Sen. Biden found his inner attack dog Saturday. After acknowledging the close relationship between the two, Sen. Biden pivoted quickly to throw a swift punch at Sen. McCain. "You can't change America when you know your first four years as president will look exactly like the last eight years of George Bush's presidency," Sen. Biden said, following the Democratic drumbeat.

Sen. Obama, seated on a stool behind him, nodded his approval.

By ELIZABETH HOLMES, The Wall Street Journal, August 23, 2008