VP Hot Sheet: Timing Is Everything
Will Obama announce his running mate before he leaves for his vacation in Hawaii, or will he wait and risk being overshadowed by the Olympics? Is it better for McCain try to steal some of the Democrat's post-foreign trip glow by making his pick known this week, or should he hold off until after the Democratic convention?
As the swirl of veepstakes speculation continues, everyone seems to have an opinion about how to maximize the impact the announcements will have. The most complicating factor in weighing the pros and cons of an early or late decision are the Summer Olympics in Beijing, which figure to dominate the country's attention from Aug. 8 to Aug. 24.
There have been conflicting signals from each campaign about when the vice presidential picks will be announced, and it is still very much up in the air whether Obama or McCain will go first. But hang on tight, because if either candidate wants to make a pre-Olympics bang by announcing his VP pick, he has just ten days to do it.
On the Republican side, the majority of speculation has increasingly been confined to two men: Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. On the campaign trail, McCain has been talking up his longtime friend Pawlenty, and the Minnesotan recently paid a visit to the presumptive Republican nominee's national campaign headquarters in Virginia. Meanwhile, Romney remains in a strong position, in part due to recent polling that shows he could very well put Michigan in the Republican column for the first time since 1988.
On the Democratic side, the latest edition of the CBSNews.com VP Hot Sheet has some major changes, including a new number one and a fresh entry into the top ten.
© 2008 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved. As the swirl of veepstakes speculation continues, everyone seems to have an opinion about how to maximize the impact the announcements will have. The most complicating factor in weighing the pros and cons of an early or late decision are the Summer Olympics in Beijing, which figure to dominate the country's attention from Aug. 8 to Aug. 24.
There have been conflicting signals from each campaign about when the vice presidential picks will be announced, and it is still very much up in the air whether Obama or McCain will go first. But hang on tight, because if either candidate wants to make a pre-Olympics bang by announcing his VP pick, he has just ten days to do it.
On the Republican side, the majority of speculation has increasingly been confined to two men: Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. On the campaign trail, McCain has been talking up his longtime friend Pawlenty, and the Minnesotan recently paid a visit to the presumptive Republican nominee's national campaign headquarters in Virginia. Meanwhile, Romney remains in a strong position, in part due to recent polling that shows he could very well put Michigan in the Republican column for the first time since 1988.
On the Democratic side, the latest edition of the CBSNews.com VP Hot Sheet has some major changes, including a new number one and a fresh entry into the top ten.
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A VP is extremely Important, the person and their Qualifications utter most important. Not the frivolous reasons he is worried about when or if he beats McCain at it.
Obama is a Bone Head.
McCain now publicly calls for Bush to veto the Congressional bill which would prevent the CIA from torturing uncharged suspects, and prevent from breaking the Geneva convention and ignoring our beloved Constitution.
McCain has no character and he is only about winning the Presidency. Character? No. And not even willingness to allow a neurological test for his memory issues. That too is character. He is leaving his own party vulnerable if it should come out that he has "incipient" Alzheimer''s, not just poor and confused recall of events and people in the middle east.