Legal Commentary

Another Sign Obama Will Choose Bayh?

By Jeralyn

It doesn't look like Sen. Barack Obama will name his running mate after all this week. It's hard to imagine him naming someone on Wednesday when he's leaving for vacation in Hawaii on Friday. But to add to the Evan Bayh speculation, there's this, from his birthday party-fundraiser in Boston Monday night:

Introducing Obama, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry said: "I asked Barack Obama what he wanted for his birthday. He said, 'Indiana, Colorado and Virginia,' " said Kerry, referring to three potential swing states Obama hopes to win in the Nov. 4 election.

Since both Colorado Governor Bill Ritter and Sen. Ken Salazar have said they haven't been asked for documentation, that says to me Obama will pick either Kaine or Bayh. It would be crazy to pick Kaine who is personally anti-choice and has backed abortion restrictions. Between the Hillary supporters he's alienated and others who won't vote for a wishy-washy on abortion candidate, Kaine's negative impact on the ticket is obvious. That leaves Evan Bayh.

I suspect he will drop hints at his joint appearance with Bayh today in Indiana. Then his campaign can do a final round of polling before he makes a final decision.

One question: What if his final polling results indicate it has to be Hillary? [More...]

In 2004, John Kerry announced that John Edwards would be his running mate three weeks before the convention. If Obama waits until he returns from Hawaii, he'll be two weeks out from the convention.

Obama's VP staff is sitting in Chicago, chomping at the bit to know who he chooses so they can get to work.

Both Obama and McCain have made huge ad buys for the Olympics. That would be a great time to air some ads showing the complete ticket.

So, will it be tomorrow or next week? Will it be Evan Bayh? Or will Obama cool his jets for a week and ponder his final choice and the latest polling results while in Hawaii? And finally, will McCain beat Obama to the draw and name his VP candidate while Obama's on vacation, or wait until the Democratic Convention in Denver to try to steal a little of the limelight from him?

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 06, 2008 (boomark / email).