http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/36d07254-6c82-11dd-96dc-0000779fd18c.html Guessing grows over US running mates By Edward Luce and Andrew Ward in Washington Published: August 17 2008 18:51 | Last updated: August 17 2008 18:51 Barack Obama and John McCain enter their final week before the start of the US presidential nominating conventions amid intense speculation about who they plan to choose as their respective running mates – with Mr Obama almost certain to make his choice in the next few days. Mr Obama, whose four-day Democratic convention starts next Monday in Denver, will this week attend election rallies and “town hall” meetings in the swing states of New Mexico, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia – any of which could provide a potential venue to announce his pick. Obama aides deny any knowledge of the possible timing or venue of what is traditionally the most closely guarded secret in a presidential campaign. But veteran Democratic operatives say the choice is likely by Thursday. The Republican convention in Minneapolis starts in two weeks. “Obama cannot announce during the Denver convention and it makes no sense in terms of the news cycle to announce during a weekend,” said one Democrat with no ties to the Obama campaign. “So I would be very surprised if he left it later than Thursday.” Attention has narrowed to three or four names, including Joe Biden, the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee and former presidential candidate, who travelled on Sunday to the embattled country of Georgia to meet its president, Mikheil Saakashvili. Mr Obama, who goes into next week’s critical convention with a strong financial advantage over Mr McCain, is also thought to be looking closely at Evan Bayh, the centrist senator for Indiana, Tim Kaine, the governor of Virginia, and Kathleen Sebelius, the governor of Kansas. Other possible names include Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico and former presidential candidate whom Mr Obama will meet on Monday, Sam Nunn, the hawkish former senator for Georgia, which the most optimistic Obama operatives believe could be a swing state, and even John Kerry, the former presidential candidate and one of Mr Obama’s most vocal backers. Mr Obama, who maintains what Democrats believe is an uncomfortably narrow two to four-point lead over Mr McCain, goes into the convention with a very large financial lead over his rival, with $68m (£36.4m, €46.3m) in cash on hand against $21m for Mr McCain. In spite of spending more than a week in foreign countries in July, Mr Obama raised almost double Mr McCain’s tally last month with the help of 65,000 new donors – many of them giving online. That advantage could widen next month when Mr McCain switches to the public financing system that gives him a total of $84m but restricts him from raising any more private funds. Mr Obama, who has now raised more than $400m since the start of the campaigns, has opted out of the system. On Saturday night, the two candidates squared off for their first joint event in consecutive one-hour interviews at the progressive Saddleback church in Southern California. Neither candidate slipped up – although Mr Obama, who has made an aggressive pitch for traditionally Republican white evangelical voters, elicited murmurs from the audience when he responded to a question about abortion by quipping that it was “above my pay grade”. Mr McCain, who is considering Tom Ridge, the former governor of Pennsylvania and secretary for homeland security, as his potential running mate in spite of Mr Ridge’s pro-abortion stance, got strong applause when he said life began at conception.
Obama Bill Richardson would be a solid combo. He's got executive experience, energy credientals, and attracts Latino voters, not to mention might swing New Mexico to Obama (though I never considered New Mexico in play for McCain, even though many think it is.) I think it's (unfortunately) becoming increasingly clear that McCain is going to have to pick a pro-life candidate. The reaction I hear and read from talk radio and other conservaive forums is that they wouldn't like Ridge or Lieberman because of their abortion positions. It's really ironic that several of these same people that don't like Ridge or Lieberman because their pro-choice want Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson because they are "true conservatives" unlike McCain and Ridge. That just makes me laugh since both Romney and Thompson used to be pro-choice, and flip-floped to pander to these people. The bottom line is, we've got bigger problems in the next four years to tackle, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Oil, Energy, Global Warming, Economy, budget defecits, trade deficits, etc. and to exclude a VP choice simply because of the fact he might be pro-choice is egregious IMO.
August 18, 2008 Obama VP buzz squarely on Biden Posted: 09:49 AM ET From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney Speculation is building Biden will be named Obama's running mate. (CNN) – When Joe Biden returns to Capitol Hill Monday from his two-day trip to embattled Georgia, vice presidential speculation will rest squarely on him. The longtime Delaware senator and former presidential candidate has long been considered to be on the shortlist for Barack Obama's running mate, but his quickly-planned strip to Georgia Saturday night at the behest of that country's president left Washington buzzing he is the most likely choice. After all, the Georgia crisis appears to have put national security issues again at the forefront of the presidential campaign, and it's an issue where John McCain has long held the advantage over Obama. The Illinois senator, so the Beltway chatter goes, needs a running-mate with foreign policy experience now more than ever. If Biden does aspire to be on the Democratic presidential ticket, the trip couldn't have come at a better time — reinforcing his lengthy resume on matters of foreign policy and reminding voters, and Obama, he is well respected by foreign leaders half a world away. The trip also comes days before Obama is expected to reveal his VP choice — with only days remaining until the Democratic convention, the choice is expected to come this week. CNN Political Market: Biden's stock on the rise But of course Biden suggested before he left Saturday he isn't making the trip for political reasons. "I am going to Georgia this weekend to get the facts first-hand and to show my support for Georgia’s people and its democratically-elected government," he said in a statement. "I look forward to reporting to my colleagues in the Senate and on the Foreign Relations Committee, as well as the Administration, about what I learn." He may have one or two conversations with his colleague from Illinois too. Link
Exclusive: McCain to name VP on Aug. 29 By MIKE ALLEN | 8/18/08 7:31 PM EST Text Size: 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. Sources close to McCain say he has wrestled with the choice, torn between a high-stakes, high-reward pick like Ridge or Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman — the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004 — or a safer and more conventional selection such as Romney or Pawlenty. But McCain friends emphasized that he talks about the decision with almost no one, and could even change the announcement plans and go sooner. “McCain views this as the one decision that he has total, utter, nonnegotiable control over,” one campaign official said. See Also Obama likely to announce VP this week Vacation over, Obama in fighting form Debate prelude: 6 moments that mattered The announcement strategy — provided McCain doesn’t change it — calls for naming the pick early Friday morning to try to suppress Obama’s bounce coming out of his convention. “You’re going to own the weekend,” a McCain official said. The Republican convention begins the following Monday in St. Paul, Minn. McCain advisers say they don’t think it would make sense to name the vice presidential designee earlier because the impact would get diluted by Obama’s selection. And because the GOP convention is second, they have the advantage of knowing the opposition ticket before showing their own cards. “You can fire the bullet once,” said one key Republican. “You want the most meaningful target.” Alex M. Triantafilou, chairman of the Hamilton County (Ohio) Republican Party, said in an exuberant post on his blog this weekend: “Sen. McCain is expected to host a rally on August 29 in Dayton and is looking for a BIG venue and for a BIG crowd. He'll get it. This is not yet public. I guess I just made it so.” PolitickerOH.com reported Monday morning that the event will be at the 10,000-seat Ervin J. Nutter Center, a sports and entertainment complex at Wright State University. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12619.html
I'm surprised Chuck Hagel hasn't been mentioned more. How about this matchup: Obama/Hagel vs. McCain/Lieberman.
Take this with a grain of salt. This was supposedly lifted off the CNN website. (I personally think it's fake but some actually think it's real.) It says that the VP nominee is Evan Bayh.
August 19, 2008 Biden: 'I'm Not The Guy' Delaware Sen. Joe Biden told reporters staking out his Wilmington, Del., house that he would not be Obama's running mate choice. "You guys have got better things to do, I'm not the guy," Biden said, according to ABC News. Biden's profile skyrocketed following his requested trip to Georgia to consult with government officials. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his greatest strength appeared to be a fitting complement to Obama's greatest perceived weakness. Posted by Kyle Trygstad at 04:45 PM Source: RCP
