Extreme Mortman wonders if any nominee for vice president has had more time in Congress than Joe Biden. I've run the numbers, and the answer is "no". Biden has spent 36 years in Congress. There is a tie for next nearest: Alben Barkley and Charles Curtis each served 34. John Nance Garner served 31.
The table below tells the story in detail. It lists every major Democratic and Republican nominee for vice president since the current party configuration was established in 1856. Years in congress data was gathered from Wikipedia, and includes time served in the house or senate until the time of nomination. Numbers may be off a year in either direction because of rounding. When in doubt, I tried to round up.
* Assuming "most time in congress" = "biggest Washington insider"
| Year | Democratic VP Nominee | Years in Congress | Republican VP Nominee | Years in Congress |
| 2008 | Joe Biden | 36 | ||
| 2004 | John Edwards | 6 | Dick Cheney | 10 |
| 2000 | Joe Lieberman | 12 | Dick Cheney | 10 |
| 1996 | Al Gore | 8 | Jack Kemp | 18 |
| 1992 | Al Gore | 8 | Dan Quayle | 12 |
| 1988 | Lloyd Bentsen | 18 | Dan Quayle | 12 |
| 1984 | Geraldine Ferraro | 6 | George Bush | 4 |
| 1980 | Walter Mondale | 12 | George Bush | 4 |
| 1976 | Walter Mondale | 12 | Bob Dole | 16 |
| 1972 | Sargent Shriver | 0 | Spiro Agnew | 0 |
| 1968 | Edmund Muskie | 10 | Spiro Agnew | 0 |
| 1964 | Hubert Humphrey | 15 | William Miller | 14 |
| 1960 | Lyndon Johnson | 24 | Henry Cabot Lodge | 13 |
| 1956 | Estes Kefaufer | 18 | Richard Nixon | 6 |
| 1952 | John Sparkman | 15 | Richard Nixon | 6 |
| 1948 | Alben Barkley | 34 | Earl Warren | 0 |
| 1944 | Harry Truman | 10 | John Bricker | 12 |
| 1940 | Henry Wallace | 0 | Charles McNary | 23 |
| 1936 | John Nance Garner | 31 | Frank Knox | 0 |
| 1932 | John Nance Garner | 31 | Charles Curtis | 34 |
| 1928 | Joseph Robinson | 26 | Charles Curtis | 34 |
| 1924 | Charles Bryan | 0 | Charles Dawes | 0 |
| 1920 | Franklin Roosevelt | 0 | Calvin Coolidge | 0 |
| 1916 | Thomas Marshall | 0 | Charles Fairbanks | 10 |
| 1912 | Thomas Marshall | 0 | Nicholas Butler | 0 |
| 1908 | John Kern | 0 | James Sherman | 0 |
| 1904 | Henry Davis | 12 | Charles Fairbanks | 8 |
| 1900 | Adlai Stevenson I | 4 | Theodore Roosevelt | 0 |
| 1896 | Arthur Sewell | 0 | Garret Hobart | 0 |
| 1892 | Adlai Stevenson I | 4 | Whitelaw Reid | 0 |
| 1888 | Allen Thurman | 14 | Levi Morton | 2 |
| 1884 | Thomas Hendricks | 10 | John Logan | 11 |
| 1880 | William English | 8 | Chester Arthur | 0 |
| 1876 | Thomas Hendricks | 10 | William Wheeler | 8 |
| 1872 | Benjamin Brown | 3 | Henry Wilson | 18 |
| 1868 | Francis Blair | 4 | Schyler Colfax | 5 |
| 1864 | George Pendelton | 8 | Andrew Johnson | 15 |
| 1860 | Herschel Johnson | 1 | Hannibal Hamlin | 18 |
| 1856 | John Breckinridge | 4 | William Dayton | 9 |