Roll out the V.P. choices?

[Mo_Gearhead]

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama has all but settled on his choice for a vice presidential running mate and set an elaborate rollout plan for his decision, beginning with an early-morning alert to supporters, perhaps as soon as Wednesday, followed by a trip to swing states by the new Democratic ticket, aides said.

Obama's deliberations remain closely held. Aides said perhaps half a dozen advisers were involved in the final discussions. 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, Obama was said to be focused mainly on Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. Some Democrats said they still hoped that he would choose Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York or Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.

__________________

Place your bets gentlemen!

[Mo_Gearhead]

More:

ATLANTA — In the days and hours before the Democratic National Convention opens on Aug. 25, Jennifer Kitt will check her e-mail for a note from Barack Obama.

That's how the presumed presidential nominee is going to tell the Smyrna resident, and anyone else who signs up to hear, whom he's picked as his running mate. Rather than hold an old-fashioned news conference, the Obama campaign has promised that its supporters will be "the first to know" the news via e-mail or text message.

The buzzed-about strategy is seen as a way to simultaneously boost the candidate's database of supporters and build loyalty among them. But is it more stunt or innovation?

Neither, says Kitt, 23, president of Cobb County Young Democrats. E-mail and text messages are 24/7 realities for people like her; Obama's campaign is simply catching up.

"I see this as being current," says Kitt, a regular e-mailer, texter and Facebooker. "It's what you use every day."

Not that she isn't excited about seeing the VP message, she says. If leaks and spoilers are kept to a minimum, it should send a ripple of insider excitement through his supporters — with standard text-messaging rates, and maybe more messages to follow.

"People enjoy being the first to know, even if they're not," she says. "People want that feeling. I truly feel like part of the process."

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Orgasm to follow...??

[BeyGon]

Wouldn't Gov. Kathleen Sebelius be an IN YOUR FACE to Hillary!

Just way to much fun this year.

[Tobra]

He will choose who they tell him to pick, it will be a safe choice

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by BeyGon

Wouldn't Gov. Kathleen Sebelius be an IN YOUR FACE to Hillary!

Just way to much fun this year.

She looks only slightly less manly than the Hildabeast.

[tabs]

Timmy Kaine...

[lendaddy]

It will be Kathleen Sebelius.

[s_wilwerding]

Joe Biden

[lendaddy]

Biden has terrible foot in mouth disease issues, he's a huge gamble. His ego won't help either, he's not a back seat kind of guy.

Also, he voted for the war and that's going to kill one of Obama's main talking points.

[The Gaijin]

Biden is being talked up as the other two are too young and too lightweight. But Biden is a loser and smacks of Kerry and Gore.

Poor Richardson - I bet he wished he had not run on his "minority" status his whole life...

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

Biden has terrible foot in mouth disease issues, he's a huge gamble. His ego won't help either, he's not a back seat kind of guy.

Exactly right. It also doesn't help that Biden is a lifelong politician who's never had a real job. IIRC, he was elected to the Senate when he was 29 and had to wait until his 30th b-day to get sworn in. Yeah, he's really there to change Washington.

Why is Tim Kaine even being considered? The guy is such a novice. He's been governor for two years, hasn't done a single thing he said he'd do and he has a nervous twitch. He also gave a terrible rebuttal to a State of the Union a while back. I hope he gets picked, but not because I like him.

[The Gaijin]

I was really looking forward to a good campaign. You know- good debates, policy differences being aired.. McCain is walking away from this guy...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080820/ts_nm/usa_poll_politics_dc

[Mo_Gearhead]

Hummmm ...we (here) are eagerly anticipating word from the man of steel ...or one of the others. Like the breathless Ms. Kitt, certainly they too must have signed up to be notified?

Which of you will spill the beans first and confirm my suspicions?

[MRM]

The announcemeny will come late tonight, early enough to make it into Thursday's newspapers so that he can dominate the news Thursday with the initial announcement, Friday will be the in-depth followup, and he'll carry the news through the weekend.

I can't figure out who it will be. I kind of don't think it's anyone on that list. If it is, it's Kayne. He has to pick a middle American governor. Richardson is the best choice of the bunch, but I'm pretty sure he's a no-go. It can't be Hillary and it can't be another senator. It has to be someone with executive experience, and that means a governor. Preferably one who come from a swing state where they drink a lot of beer while eating ribs roasted on an open fire.

[Tobra]

Mrs Obama will never go for Mr Biden. Would be like having Mr McCain at the top of the ticket in 1980 and Mr Reagan as VP, never happen

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Mrs Obama will never go for Mr Biden. Would be like having Mr McCain at the top of the ticket in 1980 and Mr Reagan as VP, never happen

Good point, come to think of it we should be analyzing what his number one adviser (his racist grandma) is telling him. Is Robert "Sheets" Byrd still around?

[rouxroux]

Biden, Romney

[s_wilwerding]

Originally Posted by s_wilwerding

Joe Biden

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.

[MRM]

This choice has gotten curiouser and curiouser. Something went wrong with Obama's choice and timing. I would love to know what happened. His publicly announced plan was to milk the announcement for all the press he could get, and then announce his choice late at night, just before the newspaper deadline, and then get two days' coverage before the weekend, where he would be the main talking point for the heads on TV.

Instead we get Biden, who publicly denied that he was the pick less than a week ago, being annonced on a Friday night - which is the time usually reserved for dumping news that is bad but will inevitably get out.

At first blush Biden is a bad choice and the whole build up makes Obama seem too cute by half. Obama is supposed to be the fresh new face who's a different kind of politician. Obama needed to select someone who reinforced his brand but still gave comfort of diverse experience. Bill Clinton is a good example. In '92 and he purposely picked a young Al Gore to reinforce his youthfull insurgent candidacy, even though Gore brought no regional balance to the ticket and couldn't deliver his own state. Biden does just the oposite to Obama. He makes Obama look like an old-style, cynical beltway politician. McCain would pick Tom Ridge in a heartbeat if he could get away with it. He would be the perfect anti-Biden.

[genrex]

Is it too late for a do-over?

Bill Richardson, where are you..