We still don’t know who Barack Obama will choose as a running mate, and with the senator on vacation with family this week, it’s probably safe to assume we’re not going to hear any announcements until next week.<\/p>\n
But because of the considerable interest in the looming news — the convention begins in two weeks, so we know the announcement has to come sometime<\/i> soon — any kind of hint about a pending statement causes a stir.<\/p>\n
And late yesterday, the Obama campaign sent this email, from campaign manager David Plouffe, to its list of supporters: <\/p>\n
Barack Obama is about to make one of the most important decisions of this campaign — choosing a running mate.<\/p>\n
You have helped build this movement from the bottom up, and Barack wants you to be the first to know his choice.<\/p>\n
Sign up today to be the first to know: http:\/\/my.barackobama.com\/vp<\/a><\/p>\n
You will receive an email the moment Barack makes his decision, or you can text VP<\/b> to 62262<\/b> to receive a text message on your mobile phone.<\/p>\n
Once you’ve signed up, please forward this email to your friends, family, and coworkers to let them know about this special opportunity.<\/p>\n
No other campaign has done this before. You can be part of this important moment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Presumably, when a nominee makes the announcement, he\/she does so in some kind of high-profile speech. And since Obama is in Hawaii, there probably won’t be any such speech this week.<\/p>\n
But, given Plouffe’s choice of words — “about to make” — and the realization that the campaign could very well make an announcement without a speech, some news outlets are speculating about whether word is “imminent<\/a>” and “very near<\/a>.”
\n
\nTo be sure, this may very well be a stunt to get email addresses. If so, it’s a pretty clever stunt — the campaign recognizes the anticipation surrounding the naming of the running mate, and is capitalizing.<\/p>\n