VP Hot Sheet: Are We Almost There?

The word from campaign insiders is that neither candidate is likely to select his running mate for at least another month. But remember, at this point in 2004 John Edwards was already stumping with John Kerry, having been added to the Democratic ticket on July 6 of that year.

The conventions are later than usual this cycle, so the presumptive nominees have some extra time to mull over their options. But that doesn't mean Sen. Obama or Sen. McCain won't pull a fast one on us all by announcing their VP choices earlier than expected. At the very least, we know that the vetting process has already begun on the Democratic side, after CBS News chief political consultant Marc Ambinder reported that the Obama campaign asked Virginia Senator Jim Webb to hand over personal information. Webb refused to do so and subsequently removed himself from consideration.

Webb drops all the way out of the Democratic side of the latest CBSNews.com VP Hot Sheet as Delaware Senator Joe Biden rockets to the top half of the pack. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel and Indiana's Evan Bayh also move up on the list. And Obama's "other" former rival John Edwards cracks the top ten after changing his tune on whether he'd accept an offer to join the ticket.