NBC: Bayh, Kaine not chosen for VP

According to NBC News, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine have been told they were not selected as Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate.

Now it seems unlikely that they would announce the selection this late and some news agencies are saying that the announcement is scheduled for early tomorrow morning. There have been complaints though that all this suspense building is taking away from focusing on important campaign issues.

VP choice expected this week

The media is reporting that Barack Obama will announce his choice for vice presidential running mate at the end of this week possibly as early as Wednesday. However, the media got it wrong when they thought the candidates would announce before the start of the Olympics.

This time though there are reports that Obama staffers at the Chicago headquarters have been hastily preparing to transition in the Obama's pick.

Speculation, of course, is running wild with most commentators placing their bets on Joe Biden, Evan Bayh, Bill Richardson or Kathleen Sebelius. I still think that Hillary is a slight favorite, but her husband Bill might have hurt her chances. Barack's weakness has been with the more strident Hillary supporters. By choosing her, it's hard to imagine they could still oppose the Illinois senator.

Most people think that John McCain will wait until after the Democratic Convention to announce his choice in an attempt to upstage any "bounce" that Barack might gain from all the attention.

Barack and Family heading for 'Da Kine' Vacation

Barack Obama, his wife and two daughters are heading for a week-long vacation in Hawai'i, the first real time off since starting the campaign in Feb. 2007.

The family leaves on Friday and that leaves open the question as to whether the Ilinois senator will, according to conventional wisdom, announce his VP pick before the Olympic opening ceremonies.

Some suspected that such an event would happen today as Obama campaigned in Indiana with Sen. Evan Bayh, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

Obama for America has displayed quite dramatically that there are no ship-sinking loose lips aboard. Nobody seems to have a clue as to who or when regarding the VP pick. There have been rumors of course, but these seem to change randomly.

Hillary Clinton will be campaigning for Barack on Friday in Henderson, Nevada, but again that's when the family should be leaving for Hawai'i.

That leaves tomorrow, Thursday, as the last chance for an announcement before opening ceremonies on Friday.

The only thing I can see in the news wires is that Hillary will be having a web chat early on Thursday at 9 am PDT. Now, that's awful early for New York or Washington DC, so I have to wonder if she will be on the West Coast at the time of the web chat.

Of course, the West Coast would also be a good spot for a Hawai'i departure flight!

But then again, who knows? I can't figure out where Obama will be on Thursday.



Barack Obama in Elkhart, Indiana.