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

[Mr. Morden]

Time to look for veep clues in Mitt Romney's grocery list:

http://www.mercurynews.com/presidentelect/ci_21252766/cart-maybe-hint-about-romneys-pick

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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

[Mr. Morden]

The fact that Romney bought Wild Cherry Pepsi means that he's going to make a wild pick.  And the fact that he bought Greek yogurt means that he's going to impose austerity on his running mate.

[Mr. Morden]

Veep search leader Beth Myers is the one who asked Nikki Haley to speak at the convention.  Christian Heinze wonders if this is how all of the convention speakers are approached:

http://gop12.thehill.com/2012/08/beth-myers-asked-haley-to-speak-at.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Martinez reiterates that she was never contacted by the Romney campaign about vetting:

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/19205113/nm-gov-tapped-to-speak-at-gop-convention

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[Mr. Morden]

Actually next Saturday upon rereading the article. So a few days prior to convention... just like Biden and Palin.

By "next Saturday", do you mean the 18th?  Because that's not just a few days prior to the convention.  The convention doesn't start until the 27th.

[Mr. Morden]

Yep. But less than 10 days out. Ryan went on vacation in CO when he considered whether to run for POTUS around this time last year, so fits his pattern. Say Romney calls him Monday, he flies to Wolfeboro Tuesday for the final briefing, Thu/Fri rollout.

I don't believe they'd be able to keep a veep offer a secret for more than 24 hours, nor do I think there's much point in trying.  Romney could call any of the shortlisters in for an interview, and they *might* be able to keep that a secret.  It's possible that Romney is asking shortlisters to really clear their schedule so that if they go missing for a day, it won't be noticed.  But once an offer is actually made, I think we'll inevitably find out about it in no time.

Btw, Petraeus's spokesman says that he would turn down a VP offer:

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/08/david-petraeus-douses-vp-talk-131368.html?hp=l5

And Romney says that we shouldn't read anything into the convention schedule as it relates to the veepstakes (but of course he kind of has to say that):

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/242587-romney-convention-speakers-not-excluded-from-vp-search

[Mr. Morden]

Karl Rove says he thinks Romney is "close to a decision", and:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57488787-503544/rove-romney-close-to-a-decision-on-vp/

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From the way that's phrased though, it sounds like Rove is just sounding off with his opinion from reading the tea leaves, as opposed to basing these comments on firsthand info from the campaign.  But it's not 100% clear.

[Mr. Morden]

A lot of activity in the last few pages, so I'm not sure if this has already been posted.  Rafalca didn't advance to the finals of dressage or whatever it is, so it's possible that Ann flies back to the US early:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/sports/olympics/jan-ebeling-and-rafalca-ride-in-olympic-dressage-finals.html

The Weekly Standard thinks the VP announcement will come as early as this week Thursday or Friday:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/stars-aligned-thursday-vp-announcement_649430.html

though my own feeling is that if it was really coming up as early as Thursday, we'd already know.

[Mr. Morden]

It's obviously not a secret that the announcement will be soon, but what does "in just a few days" mean?

He's referring to the weekly contest to win a chance to meet Romney and the soon-to-be-named running mate.  A couple of weeks ago, the campaign started running a weekly contest, which would have a new winner every week until the announcement is made win the chance to meet with Romney and his running mate, once the running mate is named.  Details listed here:

https://www.mittromney.com/donate/vp

RP: Not next week. Palin was announced 3 days out, Biden 5.

What?  Biden was announced on Saturday before the convention, just two days before it started (though the news leaked out late on Friday night).

[Mr. Morden]

Wikipedia has restricted the editing of Wikipedia articles for Pawlenty, Portman, Ryan, Rubio, Jindal, Christie, and Petraeus, following a Colbert Report segment in which Colbert urged viewers to edit the articles for their favorite veep contender:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/08/wikipedia-locks-possible-vps-pages-131458.html?hp=l6

Only established users will be able to edit the articles in question until Wikipedia removes the restrictions.

On the schedules of some of the veep contenders for the next few days....while Ryan goes on vacation, we have:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gop-vice-presidential-contenders-keep-busy-on-the-trail-as-convention-nears/2012/08/08/c5e20abe-e179-11e1-ae7f-d2a13e249eb2_story.html

Jindal in CO on Thursday
Pawlenty in NH on both Friday & Saturday
Portman was in CO on Wednesday, but not sure about the rest of the week

I still don't know where Romney himself is going to be on Friday.

[Mr. Morden]

Portman also said yesterday he's likely staying in the Senate, so I think we can scratch him off even more than we have already.

Come on, that's just typical veepstakes humility / not wanting to look too desperate for the job.  Doesn't come close to being a real denial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiAzFETBW6Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGMBAUFG7Cc

[Mr. Morden]

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.

[Mr. Morden]

Romney schedule:

http://race42012.com/2012/08/10/romneys-bus-tour-incomplete-schedule/

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

Friday, Aug 10
No events made public
Saturday, Aug 11
8:45 a.m. — Norfolk, VA
12:30 p.m. — Ashland, VA
3:45 p.m. — Manassas, VA
Sunday, Aug 12
9:30 a.m. — Mooresville, NC
12:30 p.m. — High Point, NC
4:00 p.m. — Morrisville, NC
Monday, Aug 13
8:00 a.m. — St. Augustine, FL
midday? — Orlando, FL
5:00 p.m. — Miami, FL
Tuesday, Aug 14
3:30 p.m. — Zanesville, OH
7:00 p.m. — Chillicothe, OH

[Mr. Morden]

Here's more:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/08/10/158606908/mitt-romney-to-announce-running-mate-saturday

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Just after touring the USS Wisconsin?  A hint at a Ryan selection?

[Mr. Morden]

Drudge: "SOURCES: Final names Ryan, Rubio, Pawlenty, Christie, Portman and one unnamed wild card... Developing…"

http://www.drudgereport.com/

[Mr. Morden]

Drudge now says Romney was making calls late tonight to those shortlisters who weren't chosen.

Also:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/313677/boston-janesville-robert-costa

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Ryan as veep has shot up to 87.5 on Intrade.

[Mr. Morden]

Do these people even understand the Olympics are still going on? LOL

Is Ann's horse still in the Olympics?  If not, then the Olympics are over, plain and simple.

No, Ann's horse was out of contention as of a couple of days ago, and Ann is now back in the US.

[Mr. Morden]

Did anyone see this?

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/313677/boston-janesville-robert-costa

Yes, I already posted that:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=154106.msg3380658#msg3380658

Keep up with the thread.  

[Mr. Morden]

it is rather odd for them to release it this early, if ryan is indeed the pick.

It's not odd at all.  Obama's choice of Biden leaked around midnight on the night before he was officially announced.  Then at like 5am or so, Obama finally announced it by text message to his supporters, and then a few hours later, introduced his choice in person.

[Mr. Morden]

cnn just confirmed paul ryan

Yeah, multiple confirmations now.  Time to lock this thread, and turn discussions over to the Romney/Ryan thread.