On the other hand, what if Obama had picked Edwards early?

But it's 2 on the east coast and I don't think we'll hear it today.

I don't understand it actually, breaking a story on friday is for bad news, not something you want to be in the news for as long as possible.

Maybe I don't understand the media thing, but I would have thought wednesday would have been the best day to announce. This way it's in the news and talked about for 3 days and when people are hanging out at the beach or barbque they could talk about it with friends and family.

Oh well, maybe it'll be Monday?

I don't know about anybody else, but with the soul exception of Clinton and Gore I've never seen a veep as a particular help to a ticket. Mostly, with folks like Cheney and Quayle and Lieberman I've seen veeps as a negative for the candidate. I don't really care who Obama picks as long is it's not someone too awful. I didn't care last week. I don't care today. And I won't care two days from now.

I agree. This was fun on Monday but waiting for my cell to ring has gotten a little silly. Now everyone's tired of being on the edge of their seats.

I think Obama should have done this yesterday before the suspense got old.

Of course, now that everyone's talking about McCain's real estate empire he should probably give it another day and announce on Saturday morning.

"For the record, John Kerry picked John Edwards on July 6, 2004, three weeks before the Boston convention began. Looks like Obama is going to pick three days before. Think about what has unfolded in the past three weeks and how a veep pick could have helped."

Ummm ... or not.

If he had picked Biden early he could have him eating McCain's lunch over this Georgia/Russia intrigue.

Whoever he picks now, it's going to look like a calculation based on desperation of his declining poll numbers. He should have just picked HRC right after the primaries and united the party and held onto the voters who wanted her. Together they would have dominated the Summer, and each could have defended the other from attacks. Even if on the outside chance he picks her now, it's too late. As usual, the Democrats have blown what should have been a blow-out, as I predicted in an earlier posting. Idiots.

I don't mind that he waited until this month. But I do think Yeseterday would have been a good time to do it. I don't necessarily need to be "First to know" (I mean, c'mon, of COURSE I'm not going to be first!). But after all this buildup and week-long drumroll the poor Veep pick might end up feeling like an anti-climax when every one starts saying "he picked WHO?"

(For the record, Biden would be my first choice before Bayh or Kaine.)

Something I've noticed about the Obama team, they are big on coordination and timing. Making sure things get announced at the right time to get the biggest media buzz.

I think of the Edwards endorsement too late to effect the primary in his home state, but at just the right time to squelch the news about Hillary's victories and thwart her momentum.

Sure an extra set of hands would be helpful, but if you make a big enough bold enough important enough announcement late in the game it's going to turn all that attention right back at you.

Reason #234 why I am convinced on Saturday it will be Hillary Clinton next to Barak Obama. You only build this kind of anticipation if you have something worthy of that expectation. A Hillary announcement is the only thing that won't be seen as a bunch of hype for nothing.

Atleast that's my opinion.

HILLARY MAY BE ANTICIPATING A DIFFERENT OUTCOME AT THE CONVENTION

The Democratic convention is not over and done with.

http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/07/is-clintons-presidential-campaign.html

I get what Schaller is suggesting, and in some sense I agree. But I'm still harboring the same nagging suspicion as Ralph Nader, and I think this whole thing may actually be exactly the canny media savvy that Obama has shown in the past.

If the choice is someone like Biden, or even one of the potentials currently seen as second-tier possibilities like Richardson, then this wait is really fairly meaningless. In fact, I'd sadly say it suggests the same lack of outside-the-beltway understanding that led Al Gore to run AGAINST his eight years with Bill Clinton instead of playing off the popular support Clinton still enjoyed. For the most part, nobody cares who the second name on the ticket is.

Except that in this particular election, there is one potential second name that could draw HUGE news. Potentially enough news to even overshadow a McCain VP pick late next week. Consider the following possible scenario:

Right at the end of the primary season, Obama places a call to Hillary Clinton, tells her he thinks it's insane not to do a joint ticket given the state of the race. He also tells her that he is unwilling to announce it anytime soon because it would make it look like he was forced into the decision. Instead, he outlines a scenario where he looks like he's going to pick anyone BUT Hillary to throw the media off. Howard Wolfson (I believe) comes out shortly after the end of the primaries and says he isn't aware of any action to vet Hillary. And can we be surprised? Who would waste time and money vetting a former first lady who just went through a brutal primary campaign? Her dirt is all out there already.

At the convention, however, Obama is free to pick Clinton. It would be largely hailed as a masterstroke of political theater, and he'd almost certainly have an easier time calling it HIS OWN choice if it was a late sell. With the joint Obama/Clinton ticket which the media had spent so much time clamoring for now a reality, the convention would move forward with 1) a much better chance of reconciliation between the Obama and Hillary supporters and 2) a HUGE amount of free press coverage at the unbelievably unlikely result. But the only reason it's so unbelievably unlikely is because Obama has done everything he could to avoid even mentioning the POSSIBILITY of Clinton as a VP candidate for almost the entire time he's been the presumptive nominee.

Frankly, I'm not a huge Clinton supporter. I was for Obama all the way through the primary season, all the way from when he announced his candidacy, but I personally think this would be a brilliant ploy on his part, and would change the entire shape of the race overnight. And Clinton isn't the demon many people make her out to be. She is a VERY strong, VERY credible candidate - I just thought, and continue to think, that Obama is the better. But if you're looking for someone who can act as an attack dog and rip out McCain's throat, who could you possibly choose to fill that role over a Clinton?