G. Terry Madonna and Sen. Joe Biden share a few things in common — a love of politics, a school adviser and an alma mater.

Madonna was a first-year graduate student at the University of Delaware in the mid-1960s, majoring in political history, when Biden was a senior history and political science major. They shared the same adviser in the history department.

Wednesday night the two shared the same room in the Pepsi Center — Madonna as the preeminent political guru of Pennsylvania and Biden as his party's nominee for vice president — at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Madonna, director of Franklin & Marshall College's Center of Politics and Public Affairs, spoke about Biden's addition to the Democratic ticket with presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, his past and the potential problems his words might cause.

"On balance, (Biden) brings a lot more strengths to the ticket and shores up Obama's weaknesses probably better than any other candidate he could have picked," Madonna said.

Biden, who was born in Scranton and has represented Delaware in the Senate for 36 years, was selected as the nominee for vice president for several reasons, Madonna said.

The first and most important reason is Biden's foreign-policy and national-security credentials serving as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Madonna said.

Madonna said Obama's pick of Biden was clearly an effort to deal with the the perceived strength on foreign-policy issues of presumptive Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

The second reason Biden was picked, Madonna said, is because he is considered to be an effective campaigner who does well with "regular voters."

Madonna said while Biden is by no means a "blue-collar" citizen, he is effective at talking with working-class people and will be able to relate to voters in industrial states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.

And the third strength Madonna pointed out is that Biden won't hesitate to attack McCain.

"Everybody expects that (Biden) will go on the offensive and play the typical role of the vice president, and he has done that in the past," Madonna said. "He's got a quick tongue and a sharp tongue, and I think the Republicans can expect to hear that."

Madonna said Biden's downside is that he can lack discipline and has a history of getting himself into trouble with his words and having to backtrack on statements.

But Biden presents a problem for McCain, Madonna said, because now he must find a candidate who will be able to take Biden on in a debate. Madonna said Biden has extensive experience in debates in his two presidential campaigns.

Biden has made at least two appearances in Lancaster County in the past, coming to speak at the request of Madonna at Millersville University in the 1980s. Biden spoke in 1987 about the role of the Senate in the confirmation process of Supreme Court judges.

The senator spoke again in 1988 on foreign-policy issues, after he had dropped out of the presidential race after allegations of plagiarism arose.

Madonna categorized Biden as very congenial and likable with an ability to relate to most people.

Another county resident has had her own experiences working with Biden.

Teresa Ruhl of Manheim Township was the regional political education director for the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, retiring in 2002. She lobbied for the labor group in Washington, D.C., and spoke with Biden on a regular basis.

Ruhl said she was a Biden supporter when he first ran for president in 1988. When she went down the potential list of candidates for vice president, Ruhl said she thought the only person other than Hillary Clinton who could help Obama win the presidency was Biden.

"Yeah, sometimes (Biden) has a loose tongue, but I think maybe we all do that at different times," Ruhl said. "But with his background in foreign affairs and serving on the Judiciary Committee, I think he's going to be an asset to Obama for the presidency."

E-mail: myoder@lnpnews.com