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Obama set to make running-mate announcement … any day now

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Is there any real news to report on Barack Obama’s choice for running mate? Well, no, not really. The Democratic convention begins in Denver in just six days, so we know the announcement has to come fairly soon, and if news reports are any indication, we may know by this time tomorrow.

Senator Barack Obama has all but settled on his choice for a running mate and set an elaborate rollout plan for his decision, beginning with an early morning alert to supporters, perhaps as soon as Wednesday morning, aides said.

Mr. Obama’s deliberations remain remarkably closely held. Aides said perhaps a half-dozen advisers were involved in the final discussions in an effort to enforce a command that Mr. Obama issued to staff members: that his decision not leak out until supporters are notified.

Mr. Obama had not notified his choice — or any of those not selected — of his decision as of late Monday, advisers said. Going into the final days, Mr. Obama was said to be focused mainly on three candidates: Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana

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, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware.

Obama reportedly made up his mind while vacationing with family last week, but no one outside his most inner circle have been clued in to the senator’s thinking on the subject.

Plenty of observers are looking closely at the schedule, hoping to glean clues. For example, Obama is in Orlando this morning, North Carolina later today

, and will be in Virginia tomorrow. Does that mean Kaine will get the nod? Maybe, maybe not. For one thing, Obama has been, and will be, targeting Virginia regardless of his running mate. For another, “The Obama campaign has cautioned against reading anything into his schedule, saying it could be changed in an instant to accommodate the plan to introduce the running mate.”

The timing remains just as big a mystery as the selection. Drudge said the news could come this morning. The NYT reports that the announcement could come “as early as” tomorrow. The WaPo’s front-page story says there are “signs” that “Obama may wait to announce his choice until this weekend or just before.”

In other words

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, we don’t know much, but interest has become so intense, the political world can’t help but treat morsels of ambiguous tips as revealing developments.

As for the other party:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) plans to celebrate his 72nd birthday on Aug. 29 by naming his running mate at a huge rally in the battleground state of Ohio, Republican sources said.

That’s a week from Friday, and the day after his rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, accepts the Democratic nomination at a 70,000-person spectacular in a Denver stadium.

The campaign has begun building a crowd of 10,000 for Dayton, Ohio, according to an organizer. McCain is scheduled to appear with his running mate at a large-scale event in Pennsylvania shortly thereafter.

Senior Republicans are in the dark about who he’ll name , although they say former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are prime contenders after a trial balloon by McCain gave him very negative feedback about the idea of picking an abortion-rights running mate such as Tom Ridge

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, the former governor of Pennsylvania and the first secretary of homeland security.

The Politico’s report added that people close to McCain “emphasized that he talks about the decision with almost no one, and could even change the announcement plans and go sooner.”

In other words, we don’t know much about the Republican process, either.

As for Obama, about two weeks ago, all the buzz pointed to Tim Kaine as the very likely pick. Last week, all the scuttlebutt said Evan Bayh was at the top of the list. This week, Joe Biden looks to have the inside track. The running mate may be one of these three, or, just as likely, not. I’m not even going to guess, and every rumor I hear from various insiders is quickly contradicted by other rumors from other insiders.

Moral of the story? Patience is a virtue.

Comments

  • JS

    says:

    This comment is ‘off subject’ but is there a way that we can do something to correct the fact that hundreds of thousands of democratic voters have been purged off the rolls in Ohio, the ease the way for McCain to become president. We never have been on a level playing field, and unless someone somewhere can get this information out, they will get away with it. I believe Greg Palast has the details on his website, although I have not read it there.

  • TCG

    says:

    Didn’t Bush and McCain celebrate McCains birthday in Arizona three years ago as hurricane Katrina came ashore?

    I seem to remember they were yucking things up together as New Orleans drowned.

    Maybe McCain should invite Bush to this next birthday party so they can relive old times.

  • Taritac

    says:

    I’m rooting for Joe Biden. He’s kind of crazy, like McCain. He’s a good choice to play Darth Cheney. Tim Kaine is too young and too nice. Bayh too bland.

    I do wish they’d stop speculating, though.

  • Danp

    says:

    TCG (2): Didn’t Bush and McCain celebrate McCains birthday in Arizona three years ago as hurricane Katrina came ashore?

    Yes he did. And the next year he spent on the yacht of a Russian tycoon in exile. This celebration took place on the way home from Georgia – you know, the one McCain means when he says “Country first”.

  • Steve

    says:

    JS and msmolly—are there any actual facts to support Palast’s allegations? Other than buying his books, that is. Every article I read about this just offer another bunch of “gray area” and accusations without any facts to support those accusations—and every article leads back to one name, and one name only—Don QuixoteGreg Palast.

    If someone’s looking for a way to determine if people have actually been “scrubbed,” then it’s simple—get the damned lists of registered voters, and start going door to door.

    Oh, and by the way—you’ll have to do it for every precinct in every county of Ohio—88 counties in all. You’ll have to cross-match current addresses with actual residencies, too, and then delete everyone who moved from “Point A” to “Point B” and didn’t bother to change their registration before the primary’s cut-off date. You’re “name on the precinct rolls” doesn’t follow you all on its own—you’ve got to take care of that yourself.

    Now, to grab the thread by the throat and drag it, kicking and screaming, back onto topic: Biden next to Obama—old guy next to young guy—reminds me too much of Gore Lieberman. Evan Bayh is too easy to confuse with eBay; his record “crunches out” like an online auction in places. So I’ll go with Kaine for $1,000 in Double Jeopardy, Alex….

  • woody, tokin librul

    says:

    Bayh is too Republican; if it’s him, buh-Bayh, Barack…
    Kaine’s too “Catholic”, anti-choice…says his position is ‘similar to’ the BOOOOSH!

    Biden? Well, mebbe…but I ain’t enthused…

  • Brian

    says:

    What about the campaign plane(s)? Didn’t we have a better idea of who was getting the nod, or at least narrow it down to five people, from people who wee painting the campaign plane(s) of John Kerry in 2004?

  • The Caped Composer

    says:

    I’m betting all three are head-fakes. I’m waiting for a complete, utter, and total out-of-left-field surprise, such as, say, Gen. Anthony Zinni or someone of that ilk. Far be it from Barack Obama’s campaign to be predictable!

  • Prup (aka Jim Benton)

    says:

    If it is one of “the 3” it has to be Biden. Bayh is impossible, and Kaine surrenders the pro-choice vote the way Ridge would have sacrificed the anti-abortin vote for McCain.

    I’m fine with Biden, or, if Caped Composer is right — my guess, he is — am still hoping for Sebelius or Wes Clark — whose comments about Pakistan jumped him up over Biden. I LIKE someone who tells the truth rather than goes for the ‘accepted’ (and safe) wisdom, and I thought Obama does too. (i still do, but ‘twitch’ more than before.)

  • The Caped Composer

    says:

    Prup, @ #13– I agree with your overall sentiment . . . but I must correct you on one count: this composer is a female composer!

    I doubt that Wes Clark will be chosen, as the Schieffer interview knocked him off the radar back in June. The GOP would have all too easy a time of shouting, “See! Clark attacked John McCain’s patriotism! How dare he! John McCain is a P.O.W.!!!” (Never mind the fact that Clark is a four-star general; the media loves McCain, and will carry water for him every time).

    My personal hope is that Obama picks someone who is relatively old this time around . . . that way, in four years, that person can retire from the Vice Presidency, clearing the way for a certain Western governor whose name begins with “Sch” and ends with “weizter.” So, of the commonly-named three, I hope for Biden, while I still hope for (and expect) an outside-the-box choice.

  • Mathew

    says:

    Personally I think either Biden and Bayh are mistake choices for Obama. Though I think Biden would be strong in a debate and would be a good campaigner, I don’t think he’s make a good VP.

    I’d rather see Kaine, Richardson, Clark, or Sebelius as running mates.

  • tess

    says:

    I’ve liked the Biden choice for awhile, even though I’ve spent years referring to him as (D-MBNA). On foreign policy, he’s strong. He really knows Washington and how to work the Legislative branch and that was always one of those shortcomings for Clark (who I love, is the first candidate I ever donated money to), and if you’ve watched him in hearings, he’s prepared and goes after weaselly testimony. (I love John Conyers, but he stays on such an even keel that it isn’t good television. For a campaign, good television is a factor.)

    I know Biden has a tendency, because he is smart and has a sarcastic sense of humor, to say the wrong thing. But that’s only now and then, and frankly, the media love him. The media is a factor, like it or not. And an attack dog that the media like, have socialized with for years, consider a buddy will get to say more than one who has to prove he isn’t being “disrespectful” of McCain.

    The line about Giuliani, “a noun, a verb, and 9/11” is Biden’s. The media loved it, and even Howard Fineman started to refer to it when Giuliani’s name would come up during the primaries. Biden might the only one the media will allow to say something similarly dismissive of McCain (“really? He’s a POW? I hadn’t heard that! He must not like to talk about it.”) to diffuse his aura of humble American hero. I think Biden’s an excellent choice. And it’ll keep him from voting for the credit card companies again when we have to overhaul the nation’s financial industries; if it’s a close vote, he’ll be expected to vote for *Obama,* not his corporate constituency.

  • Dale

    says:

    But we have to know first. We have to know now. That’s why I’ve opted to receive a text message from Obama about his pick and I set my cell phone on vibrate and keep it in my shorts.

  • Tom Cleaver

    says:

    Prup said: if Caped Composer is right — my guess, he is

    Ooops. Prup just busts his perfect record of perfection. 🙂

    Our Composer wears her cape….

    Gotta pay attention around here.

  • doubtful

    says:

    I’m praying all three are head-fakes. -Maria

    From your keyboard to the eyes of the FSM.

    And Chopin, I think the TB has made you mad. It won’t be Hillary.

  • doubtful

    says:

    Of course, comment 25 would be more valuable were I to scroll through all comments before commenting…. -Tom Cleaver

    More valuable, maybe, but far less ironic…

    Gotta pay attention around here. -Tom Cleaver

    🙂

  • phoebes in santa fe

    says:

    You know, I “get” how Obama hasn’t told the press about the pick, but, gee, you’d THINK he’d have told the “pick” already if he’s announcing tomorrow or Thursday!

  • Quicksand

    says:

    BREAKING NEWS

    Obama will soon be announcing his running mate.

    Experts say it could happen as soon as now. Or now. Or . . . now.

    Or even NOW.