The Candidates
It is confirmed: Obama will appear in Springfield, IL, the place he launched his presidential campaign, with his new Vice Presidential candidate on Saturday. When that VP candidate will be first introduced to the country is still anyone’s guess. (I’m still going with today or tomorrow - it makes no sense for a first-time unveiling on a weekend opposite the Olympic finals.)
Apparently, Obama is sticking around Richmond until tomorrow for a campaign event there… interesting…
Here are the latest Intrade numbers:
UPDATE: According to MSNBC’s First Read, it is now confirmed that Obama will be appearing with Warner today in Virginia and do a campaign event in Richmond with Kaine tomorrow. The plot thickens…
August 20th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Go Kaine!
August 20th, 2008 at 8:56 am
I agree, like you, I rather face Mr. Kaine than Mr. Bayh. Mr. Bayh is the only person who can shake things up enough to give Mr. Obama a realistic chance.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Think it’s Kaine. Hope so, too….
August 20th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Scared me for a second with that Warner update.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:12 am
On the Republican side of things:
It seems that the Republican nominee might be celebrating his 72nd (wow) birthday by sharing a stage at Ohio’s Ervin J. Nutter Center the prettiest Mormon of them all.
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.
Politico isn’t the only outlet giving us hope that Romney will share a ticket with McCain. Minnesota Public Radio (via PolitickerMA) reports that Time magazine’s Mark Halperin said that Romney is “the lead option” during an appearance in Virginia yesterday, citing his experience on the national stage
August 20th, 2008 at 9:15 am
AP is reporting that Lieberman will speak at the GOP convention. I just don’t see him being the VP pick.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:16 am
And more from Halperin:
Time’s Halperin: “I think Tom Ridge is not only not under consideration. I don’t believe he’s ever been, based on the Republicans I have talked to. … Here’s what I think they’re trying to do. And, again, it’s just a theory, but it’s not a crazy one. … I think that Tom Ridge and Joe Lieberman are people John McCain would love to serve with in the White House. But I think he’s headed toward picking Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney is pro-life now, but he’s been pro-choice. And I think what these consultations are meant to do is to give conservatives a little bit of a scare, so, when he picks Mitt Romney, people say, he was recently pro-choice. He’s flip-flopped to this position. He’s not as solid as we would like to be. Compared to Lieberman and Ridge, he’s going to look very solid on that key issue”
August 20th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Y’know, I never considered that pro-choice trial baloomn being about Romney. It makes a little bit of sense though. That chatter started soon after Huckabee’s allies started making noise.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Sorry about off topic, but did you happen to see this story about Obama’s brother?
There’s got to be some fertile ground in there somewhere for an attack ad.
Isn’t Obama the same guy who said at Saddleback that America’s greatest moral failure was not heeding the words, “as you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me”?
August 20th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I think that the theory of trying to put fear in the hearts of so-cons are a little off, but who knows, I like many others would have voted for a Romney ticket anyways even though we would have prefered that Mr. Pawlenty would be on it. If there are Republicans, Conservative Democrats and Independent that have various other issues with Mr. Romney, threatening to put Mr. Ridge on the ticket is not going to change their concerns about Mr. Romney, no matter what they might think about Mr. Ridge. I for one (like many So-Cons) believed that Mr. Ridge was never a leading candidate. I think that this theory could have been dreamt up by a few members of the Romney camp to justify their own irrational fear of Mr. Ridge. I further wonder what the fear of Mrs. Clinton is all about. Bring her on. The only person to fear is Mr. Bayh.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:36 am
What’s to attack? He’s a civilian, leave him out of it.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:54 am
NRO
“TINY VEEP CLUES: We are down to reading tiny little tea leaves in the Democratic veepstakes. ABC News reported this morning that U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh’s wife Susan “just had her hair done” and added that she had told neighbors to “expect a media pack.”
August 20th, 2008 at 9:58 am
11 Thomas
You’re attacking Barack, not his brother. According to the article, Barack’s met his brother multiple times and never saw fit to help him out?
August 20th, 2008 at 10:00 am
11.
Re-reading the article, they’ve met once as adults. Don’t want to overstate my case
August 20th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Attack ad saying what exactly? I tend to agree with Thomas, not to mention risk vs. reward here is small.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Thanks for the tip Kristofer, I guess we have been warned.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I think he’s doing every bit of this on purpose. It’s not Kaine. If he picks Kaine, he and everyone on his staff is now qualified as “idiot.” Bayh is to Obama what Pawlenty is to McCain- low risk, low reward. And Biden’s got too big of a mouth. It can’t be any of these people. He’s got somebody up his sleeve who the media has either forgotten about or has dismissed. Powell? Zinni? Bloomberg?…I fear these.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Well, if Obama don’t care about his family how can he care about the rest?. Is his brother who live in a dengerous zone and in extreme poverty.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:27 am
If its Biden then its Rudy.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
18
Exactly. Even if an ad isn’t the best showcase, the contrast between John McCain (adopting destitute kids who weren’t his own blood) and Obama (ignoring the destitution of his own brother) is pretty stark.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
i say its gore or bayh with my leaning towards baye. i mean just think about it as a repubilcan. who do you fear him picking the most? i think bayh ist he best pick. republicans of an independent anture like him. he is cordial, somewhat bipartisan and comes off extremely likable and relatable. he helps with white workign class types as well which is where obama’s support is weaker.
i say its bayh.
that theory about romney makes sense, but i think mccain probably has a few in mind depending no who obama pickis. if obama picks kaine, i think he goes with someon like romney. if he picks bayh he may be more inclide to go with someone like t-paw. if someone crazy like gore, then maybe palin or leibermann becomes more likely???? i am jsut babbling.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
it won’t be rudy no matter who obama picks.