Romney to announce running mate on Saturday @9am ET in Norfolk, VA

[Politico]

Again, sorry to throw cold water on this, but I wouldn't read too much into Romney's comments about "strength of character, a vision for the country that adds something to the political discourse about the direction of the country".  He has to say stuff like that.  Do you expect him to say that he'll pick a running mate who doesn't add something to the political discourse?

Anyway, at one point I was thinking that there was a chance Romney would make the announcement in Tampa, if he was there for the Florida leg of his bus tour, simply for symbolic reasons, because it's the site of the RNC.  But it looks like he *won't* go to Tampa when he visits Florida on Monday:

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/08/romney-headed-to-miami-monday-to-launch-his-bus-trip.html

I still think there would be some logic to teasing the announcement at the beginning of the bus trip, and then making the announcement at the end, but I guess that would put us at perhaps Tuesday evening for the end of the bus trip now.  Or maybe it will be later in the week.

Absolutely, but here's the thing: Unless the candidate is with the running mate at the time of announcement, the candidate has to tell the Secret Service who the running mate is before announcing it publicly. The mainstream media is almost surely tagging all of the potential veeps right now just waiting for a sign of the Secret Service.

[Politico]

Again, sorry to throw cold water on this, but I wouldn't read too much into Romney's comments about "strength of character, a vision for the country that adds something to the political discourse about the direction of the country".  He has to say stuff like that.  Do you expect him to say that he'll pick a running mate who doesn't add something to the political discourse?

Anyway, at one point I was thinking that there was a chance Romney would make the announcement in Tampa, if he was there for the Florida leg of his bus tour, simply for symbolic reasons, because it's the site of the RNC.  But it looks like he *won't* go to Tampa when he visits Florida on Monday:

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/08/romney-headed-to-miami-monday-to-launch-his-bus-trip.html

I still think there would be some logic to teasing the announcement at the beginning of the bus trip, and then making the announcement at the end, but I guess that would put us at perhaps Tuesday evening for the end of the bus trip now.  Or maybe it will be later in the week.

Absolutely, but here's the thing: Unless the candidate is with the running mate at the time of announcement, the candidate has to tell the Secret Service who the running mate is before announcing it publicly. The mainstream media is almost surely tagging all of the potential veeps right now just waiting for a sign of the Secret Service.

adds something though isn't your generic "my vp will be american and a republican". Adding something to the discourse means adding to the ticket, which means not a clone of himself. Sure, maybe I'm looking way to much into those words, or he hinted without even knowing that this person is actually going to add something to the ticket and isn't going to be a Portman or Thune

Adds something to the discourse = Selecting a guy who grew up in a town of 488 people in South Dakota, proving that anybody can succeed in America. Romney desperately needs somebody with a humble background to defend him against the unfair portrayal being made by Team Obama.

Romney was successful in business and is not the best politician in the world, but he is a good, normal guy who is trying to become president while facing one of the best politicians and political teams in recent history. He is in touch with the problems facing ordinary Americans. His veep needs to effectively get this message across the Midwest. Only an authentic, humble Midwesterner can do it. If Thune can't do it, nobody can. Let's not forget that Thune is the guy who defeated Daschle. He is exceptional at retail politicking, which could make the difference across the Midwest.

Side benefit I forgot to mention: He shores up support among Evangelicals (quietly, of course).

When you think about it, Thune is all you could possibly want from a running mate in this election with this candidate.

I'd say there's a 75% probability of the choice being Thune, a 20% probability of it being Pawlenty, a 4% probability of it being Ryan, and a 1% probability of it being somebody else.

[Politico]

Adds something to the discourse = Selecting a guy who grew up in a town of 488 people in South Dakota, proving that anybody can succeed in America. Romney desperately needs somebody with a humble background to defend him against the unfair portrayal being made by Team Obama.

Romney was successful in business and is not the best politician in the world, but he is a good, normal guy who is trying to become president while facing one of the best politicians and political teams in recent history. He is in touch with the problems facing ordinary Americans. His veep needs to effectively get this message across the Midwest. Only an authentic, humble Midwesterner can do it. If Thune can't do it, nobody can. Let's not forget that Thune is the guy who defeated Daschle. He is exceptional at retail politicking, which could make the difference across the Midwest.

Side benefit I forgot to mention: He shores up support among Evangelicals (quietly, of course).

When you think about it, Thune is all you could possibly want from a running mate in this election with this candidate.

I'd say there's a 75% probability of the choice being Thune, a 20% probability of it being Pawlenty, a 4% probability of it being Ryan, and a 1% probability of it being somebody else.

Ryan is all those things except evangelical.  

The potential for Ryan to scare too many seniors is too high. Thune is from a town of about 500 people in South Dakota. Ryan is from a town of 60,000 people in Wisconsin. Furthermore, Ryan has never won statewide office (all of Thune's wins were statewide, even his Congressional races), has never won a competitive race like Thune v. Daschle, has no Senate experience let alone executive experience, and looks much younger than his age (and he's already a decade younger than Thune, who is youthful in appearance for his age but not TOO much).

I think Thune would be a great VP. I think Ryan would be even better considering his obvious mastering of policy. But Thune is the more politically savvy choice.