OFFICIAL Vice President leaks, tips, and speculation thread

[True Democrat]

http://www.236.com/news/2008/08/20/if_they_imd_obamas_vp_prospect_1_8389.php

Funniest sh**t ever

I LOLed.

[ShadowRocket]

Obama's comment about wanting somebody who will be to help on the economy makes me think more of Bayh than it does Biden.

[Eraserhead]

William Kristol thinks it could be Jack Reed, not that that really means anything.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/08/kristol_a_vice_presidential_cl_1.asp

[Lunar]

Yeah I think Nader's prediction has more legitimacy.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

http://www.236.com/news/2008/08/20/if_they_imd_obamas_vp_prospect_1_8389.php

Funniest sh**t ever

LOL.  Freaking awesome

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Indeed.  Also, they could release the text message late tonight (not TOO late, obviously, but let's say 10 pm EST) and have no statement out from the Obama campaign about it until the next morning.

I'm not sure that would work.  The second the text message goes out, the journalists embedded with the Obama campaign will ask the campaign for comment.  What are they supposed to say then?  "We have no comment on this.  Ask us about something else"?  If they're too evasive, people will question whether the text was just a hoax or something, and the whole thing could backfire.  I think they have to start taking questions on the veep selection as soon as the text goes out.

I think around 6:45 pm EDT tonight would be the best time to release the message.  In time to get a breaking item on the broadcast network nightly news shows, but too late for them to do anything substantive, thus forcing that to be the main item the next night as well.

[WalterMitty]

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sounds like hillary.

[skoods]

Obama's comment about wanting somebody who will be to help on the economy makes me think more of Bayh than it does Biden.

What about Kaine? I figure since he said nothing of national security he's going to make a collosal mistake and pick someone who has less experience than he does.

[skoods]

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sounds like hillary.

I can hope

[Mr.Phips]

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sounds like hillary.

Hillary, independent?  I think not.

[Lunar]

Obama's comment about wanting somebody who will be to help on the economy makes me think more of Bayh than it does Biden.

What about Kaine? I figure since he said nothing of national security he's going to make a collosal mistake and pick someone who has less experience than he does.

Here is some analysis from Times:
http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/08/obamas_vp_the_candidate_drops.html

One reason for the feverish running-mate speculation is that those who actually know anything are a small, leakproof circle. And most leakproof of all is the man who is actually making the decision.

But in an interview (you can see and hear it here) that my colleague David Von Drehle and I did earlier this week for our convention issue, Barack Obama offered some clues as to how he is approaching the decision, and--to my ear, at least--a sense that he had pretty much made up his mind.

The question I asked Obama was what his choice of a running mate would tell the country about Obama himself. Here's what he said:

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So let's do some deconstruction, read some tea leaves, and try to figure out who Obama is--and isn't--talking about:

I try to surround myself with people who are about getting the job done, and who are not about ego, self—aggrandizement, getting their names in the press...

Okay, so the first qualification he mentions is someone who won't be all that interested in getting his or her name in the media. That would seem a high bar for the famously voluble Joe Biden to clear.

I think people will see that I'm not afraid to have folks around me who complement my strengths...

Obama is both gifted and precise in the way he uses language. Here, interestingly, the word he chooses is "complement," not "supplement" or "augment." This would suggest that this choice will be someone who has experience or expertise that Obama himself lacks, rather than a pick--such as Bill Clinton's of Al Gore in 1992--that reinforces his message. My guess here is that is not good news for either Governor Kathleen Sebelius or Tim Kaine. Though both have executive experience that he doesn't, their chief political assets are much the same as Obama's, in that they bring an ability to blur party lines.

I'm not a believer in a government of yes—men. I think one of the failures of the early Bush Administration was being surrounded by people who were unwilling to deliver bad news, or who were prone to simply feed the president information that confirmed his own preconceptions.

This may well be the most telling part of his answer. It sounds as though he is offering a rationale for picking someone who has disagreed with him in the past on something big, and the Iraq War immediately leaps to mind.

All that put together, if I were to guess who it would be based strictly on what Obama himself has said, I would say the pick is either Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana (low profile, both executive and foreign policy experience, but a supporter of the Iraq War), or a surprise whose name has not been circulating on the pundits' short lists.

And of course, we'll know the answer soon.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Dammit, everytime I get a txt I keep thinking its Obama

[Ronnie]

PLEASE GOD BE KAINE.

It would make me so happy if he chooses him.

[skoods]

Dammit, everytime I get a txt I keep thinking its Obama

Ha i know how you feel. I have an eerie feeling they're not going to say anything to anyone. Then on Saturday in Springfield Obama is going to come out and say..."here he is, my Vice President!" And the chosen one runs out of a tunnel with confetti and a marching band playing "There Goes My Hero."

Sounds like an Obamaesque festivity.

[Eraserhead]

I don't know if were going to get anything today anymore guys.

This sucks! I have work all weekend. I wanted it today.

[skoods]

PLEASE GOD BE KAINE.

It would make me so happy if he chooses him.

I'm sure it would. I, on the other hand, would cry...(not really but I'd be pretty pissed).

[Vsanto5]

Yeah I think Nader's prediction has more legitimacy.

True dat.

[Lunar]

I don't know if were going to get anything today anymore guys.

This sucks! I have work all weekend. I wanted it today.

AAAAAAAAAAGH

I won't give up until 8 pm EST though.

[NOVA Green]

I don't know if were going to get anything today anymore guys.

This sucks! I have work all weekend. I wanted it today.

Damn! I left work early afternoon just in case the announcement was made.

That and I was feeling a little sick.... (probably from election season related excitement)

[Meeker]

It'll probably come early tomorrow morning. If they're smart.

[Mr. Morden]

Here's a question: Once the name is announced, who do you think will be the first to post the news on this board?

[Lunar]

Here's a question: Once the name is announced, who do you think will be the first to post the news on this board?

Haha!  I was thinking the same thing an hour ago.  I was thinking about starting a competition thread about who could post first, but I decided I already have enough threads.

[skoods]

I anticipate that there will be no first. There will be atleast 3 (more likely 5) threads posted at the same exact time.

[Eraserhead]

It would possibly be me, if I didn't have work.

I'm gonna bet on Lunar.

[Speed of Sound]

Last second e-prayer to the Obama Campaign....

Dear Obama,

I dont ask for much, but I really need this one. Please, Obama, please, dont pick Biden. He makes me so no fired up.

--Zach

PS: I guess that leaves you with this guy.....


Can I get a Whoop Whoop?