What a difference three days makes.

Just this past Tuesday, 36-year Democratic US Senator Joe Biden of Delaware went from telling reporters who were camped outside his house that he was, in fact, NOT going to be the ticket mate of Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama, to being named as exactly that. Here is how NBC News published this week's exchange between Biden and the media:

"As Delaware Sen. Joe Biden left his home a few minutes ago, golf clubs in tow, he was asked where he was going to be on Saturday. 

Biden replied, "Here" and pointed down to his driveway.

As he pulled out of the driveway in the driver's seat of his car he then said to the press gathered near his gate, "You guys have better things to do.  I'm not the guy."

So, the question remains: Was Senator Joe Biden lying just three days before his appointment as the Democratic vice presidential candidate? Or was Biden telling the truth at the time, which would then mean Biden is a last-minute second or third choice? Why would Joe Biden make such an emphatic statement on his future  - a future that would eventually prove itself false?

Joe Biden has already failed in two bids for the White House. The first campaign ended in shame and embarrassment, as Biden withdrew after charges of plagiarism and academic dishonesty derailed his nascent White House campaign in 1987. His 2008 effort attracted scant support, and Joe Biden ended his quixotic bid in the aftermath of his dismal performance in the Iowa caucuses.

At 65, odds are against Delaware's senior senator from making a third stand for president, given how grassroots Democrats are frequently raising GOP presidential nominee John McCain's age as a supposed barrier to his effectiveness as the nation's chief executive. Joe Biden is just seven years younger than John McCain, whose age has been consistently lampooned by Democratic blogosphere activists). 

Still, with conflicting reports about his status as a VP candidate, Joe Biden's foray into the national consciousness as the running mate of a party standard-bearer nearly twenty years his junior has been incredibly auspicious.