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(DENVER) He may not have been the “rock star” that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine had hoped to introduce in Colorado this week, but the former VP prospect embraced his role as the warm-up act for Dave Matthews at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre a few miles up the road from Invesco Field tonight.

Matthews, whom Kaine introduced as a “great Virginian,” took the stage along with guitar virtuoso Tim Reynolds to culminate the long night of music and political activism, which was billed as “Green Sunday At Red Rocks”—the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee’s concert designed to tout Denver’s environmental record.

Before introducing Matthews and Reynolds, Kaine fired up the crowd of invited guests by singing the praises of Barack Obama. Kaine also couldn’t help but take a dig at Obama’s Republican rival John McCain.

“Raise your hand if you know how many houses you own!” he shouted, drawing laughter from the nearly 10,000 people in the crowd. “Raise your hand if your staff has to get back to me on that one.”

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With just two weeks to go until the Democratic vice presidential candidate is scheduled to speak at the convention in Minneapolis, it's crunch time for the VP wannabes.

On this week's "Face The Nation," the stakes couldn't be higher for Evan Bayh and Tim Pawlenty, who hold down the top slots on the latest CBSNews.com Democratic and Republican VP hot sheets. When Bayh and Pawlenty square off, they'll spend most of their time talking about Barack Obama and John McCain, but the implications of their CBS News appearances are clear: this is a final tryout for the two top VP contenders.

If Bayh and/or Pawlenty shines on television this Sunday, it may very well be enough to give either man the VP nod. But if either vice-presidential prospect stumbles, Obama or McCain could decide to look elsewhere for someone who's up to the task of performing under pressure on the national stage.

The Politico reports that Virginia Governor Tim Kaine "ranks very, very high on the short list" for potential Obama running mates, according to a source who has spoken recently to senior Obama aides.

Kaine, an early Obama supporter, has the relative youth and compelling biography that the presumptive Democratic nominee may be looking for to dovetail his campaign's message, and it couldn't hurt that Kaine is from Virginia—a state that's shaping up to be a critical battleground.

Kaine, who's stock has been rising in the CBSNews.com VP Hot Sheet, recently got some unexpected support from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe, who said that the Virginia governor would be the Democratic Party's best option to fill out the bottom half of the ticket.

Though an Obama spokesman declined to comment, Virginia Democrats close to Kaine, Politico reports, said Kaine and his staff believe that he is being very seriously considered for the number two slot.