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
, 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
, 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
, 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.