Obama, McCain Close In On Running Mates

Obama Expected To Campaign With VP Pick On Saturday; McCain Could Name Choice Soon After Dem Convention

(AP)  Barack Obama and his newly named running mate will campaign together Saturday at the place where the Democratic presidential hopeful formally launched his White House bid.

A senior Obama adviser told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday that the Illinois senator and his choice for vice president will appear in Springfield, Ill., at the former state Capitol where Abraham Lincoln once served.

The last time Obama appeared there he announced he was running for president.

Obama strategist Anita Dunn sidestepped the question of whether the event would be Obama's first appearance with his vice presidential pick, but suggested the two wouldn't necessarily be related. The campaign's announcement Tuesday said only that Obama would begin the trip to his party's national convention at Saturday's event. The Democratic convention begins Monday in Denver.

"We could pick up the VP. any time," Dunn said.

The campaign has said it will announce the choice via cell phone text message to supporters.

The list of possibilities, meanwhile, is believed to be down to Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who planned to campaign in his home state Thursday with Obama.

At a town-hall meeting Tuesday night in Raleigh, N.C., Obama repeatedly said "he" when discussing the qualities he sought in a potential running mate, even as campaign officials cautioned reporters not to read too much into his choice of pronouns.

"Let me tell you first what I won't do: I won't hand over my energy policy to my vice president and not know necessarily what he's doing," Obama told the audience. "My vice president ... will be a member of the executive branch. He won't be one of these fourth branches of government where he thinks he's above the law," he said, an apparent reference to Vice President Dick Cheney's handling of the office.

Those thought to be on Obama's short list stayed mum.

Biden coyly told reporters staking out his Delaware home, "I'm not the guy." Sebelius, in an interview with the AP before stumping for Obama in Michigan, professed no inside knowledge of when word would come.

"A week from tomorrow we will all know," she said, referring to the running-mate acceptance speech set for next Wednesday at the convention.

Only Obama, his wife, Michelle, a handful of his most senior advisers and his two-member search committee know for certain who has made the cut.

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VP Hot Sheet: CBSNews.com Tracks Veepstakes Buzz:
McCain's Top 10 Contenders
Obama's Top 10 Contenders

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The running mate decision also looms large for McCain, too.

In hopes of grabbing the post-convention spotlight from Obama, McCain is considering announcing his choice in the few days between the end of the Democratic convention in Denver and the start of the Republican gathering in St. Paul, Minn.

McCain's top contenders are said to include Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Other possible choices are former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, an abortion-rights supporter, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential pick in 2000 who now is an independent.

Underscoring how seriously McCain may be considering Ridge or Lieberman, Republican officials say top McCain advisers have been reaching out to big donors and high-profile delegates in key states to gauge the impact of putting an abortion-rights supporter on the GOP ticket.

But conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh warned that the GOP base "will totally turn on McCain" if he picks an abortion-rights running mate and predicted such a move "will ensure his defeat."

[tominidaho]

Obama should pick Michael Phelps as his VP. Phelps will appeal to white voters, be popular with female voters, & owns enough gold to reverse the national debt. Phelps brings more experience in foreign affairs than Obama & is a non-muslin. Obama/Phelps will also look good on campaign posters together as both men have ears roughly the size Bill Clinton''s ego.

No seriously...Obama should pick Paul Reubens, a.k.a. Pee Wee Herman as his running mate. If we could find it in our hearts to embrace Bill Clinton%u2019s extracurricular indiscretions in the Oval Office, surely we can let slide a little self-abuse in a movie theater mens room. The primary role of VP Pee Wee will be to do funny dances to funny parody songs based on Barack Obama%u2019s name. VP Pee Wee will also lend experience in areas of weakness for Obama, such as education, etiquette, & will be a welcomed comedic distraction behind Pres. Obama during the State of the Union. Besides, Obama/Pee Wee just sounds good together.

McCain''s pick is much easier. All he needs to do is find a youthful ultra conservative, former military leader who is a religious moderate, pro-life, environmentally & energy exploration friendly believer in limited government. Also be a racially diverse minority dermatologist/oncologist experienced in geriatric emergency medicine & it would be helpful if he/she was a decent mortician & a skilled duck hunter.

With that criteria in mind, the field is really wide open.

[jackmayoff2]

semperfi2008 - DO LIKE IT THE NEOCON USE YOU AS THERE LITTLE PAWN

[semperfi2008]

JackMayoff2

Sounds like something Stalin would say.

[jackmayoff2]

semperfi2008 - ISNT THE MARINES PART OF THE NAVY?

IS IT IN THE WOMEN''S DEPARTMENT?

[jackmayoff2]

WE SHOULD EXILE ALL PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR BUSH

[semperfi2008]

It doesn''t matter which candidate Obama picks as his running mate, he cannot win in November. In the parlance of software development, he is "vaporware", a term meaning that you get promised the world but nothing you thought you bought is ever delivered. You end up throwing the whole project in the trash and starting over from scratch. That''s what the DNC will have to do after the election --- reinvent their party.

[blkpresident]

Bec67,

So sorry that lil'' Hillary lost and had her *** handed to her by the Obama Shuffle, but don''t you think your sour grapes should have run its course by now?

[bec67]

Plain and simple, without Hillary on the ticket Obama will never make it to the White House. Millions of Hillary supporters, like myself, will roll over to the McCain campaign. The DNC has proven more corrupt than the RNC, and that''s saying something.

[gocubs58]

Great news...John McCain is in the lead with the latest poll. For we Hillary Democrats, this offers hope the party will realize its fatal error in annointing someone with no experience, no record of accomplishment, and lacks the trust of Americans...

Posted by CBS4me3

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He doesn''t lack my trust. I have no reason to mistrust him. You militant Hillary supporters make me sick. You will not listen to any kind of reason. Since Obama and Hillary''s views are mainly the same, you really never supported her in the first place. You are voting for McCain out of nothing more than spite.
Real smart.

[gocubs58]

Sit out the election? Hell no, voting for McCain is the best ammo I have in this regard.

Posted by macamaca

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Oh, that''s great. Punish the democratic party by voting for that old windbag. That way, when he wins, you can say "That''ll show ''em! --Revenge!!"

- then you can sit back and watch as the McBush administration continues his hero''s policies:

-tax breaks for the wealthy will be made permanent,
-continued spending of billions in Iraq,
-the middle class will continue to disappear,
-health care will continue to be out of reach for millions.

But at least you will have had your revenge....

Wake up, think about it.

[blkpresident]

Obama-L. Douglas Wilder ''08 baby!!!

[realpatriot1]

macamaca,

McCain may not rape us but he''ll definitely screw us all.

If you''re raped for real you better plan on having the baby and not receiving any help raising it.

You''ll be receiving as many flowers as our soldiers have received from the Iraqis.

[dnsallday]

Reflecting his character as a shallow, arrogant, platitude-spouting, inexperienced, elitist, narcissistic, flip-flopping gas-bag, JOHN MCCAIN will likely pick a running mate who is so bland, unknown and undistinguished he won''t even have a shadow. That is the only way the VERY SHALLOW,DIM WITTED, empty-suit MCCAIN won''t be upstaged by a VP with all those things he doesn''t have, like integrity, competence, skill, honor, intelligence, etc.

-Posted by VastR-WCon at 10:39 AM : Aug 20, 2008
**********************************

**********************

Have a bit more ring of truth to it now?

I corrected a couple of slight typos for you.

[dnsallday]

Reflecting his character as a like shallow, arrogant, platitude-spouting, inexperienced, elitist, narcissistic, flip-flopping gas-bag, JOHN MCCAIN will likely pick a running mate who is so bland, unknown and undistinguished he won''''t even have a shadow. That is the only way the VERY SHALLOW,DIM WITTED, empty-suit MCCAIN won''''t be upstaged by a VP with all those things he doesn''''t have, like integrity, competence, skill, honor, intelligence, etc.
-Posted by VastR-WCon at 10:39 AM : Aug 20, 2008
**********************************
**********************

Have a bit more ring of truth to it now?
I removed the name Kerry, no point in insulting a good, honest man with integrity.

[dnsallday]

Reflecting his character as a Kerry-like shallow, arrogant, platitude-spouting, inexperienced, elitist, narcissistic, flip-flopping gas-bag, JOHN MCCAIN will likely pick a running mate who is so bland, unknown and undistinguished he won''t even have a shadow. That is the only way the VERY SHALLOW,DIM WITTED, empty-suit MCCAIN won''t be upstaged by a VP with all those things he doesn''t have, like integrity, competence, skill, honor, intelligence, etc.
-Posted by VastR-WCon at 10:39 AM : Aug 20, 2008
********************************************************

Have a bit more ring of truth to it now?

[macamaca-2009]

Only Obama, his wife, Michelle, know for certain who has made the cut.

even if it was clinton as v.p.

If Obama think he can patch things up by picking a V.P. ?!. This is the equivalent to sending me flowers after raping me!

Sit out the election? Hell no, voting for McCain is the best ammo I have in this regard.

[vastr-wcon]

.
Reflecting his character as a Kerry-like shallow, arrogant, platitude-spouting, inexperienced, elitist, narcissistic, flip-flopping gas-bag, hussein will likely pick a running mate who is so bland, unknown and undistinguished he won''t even have a shadow. That is the only way the empty-suit hussein won''t be upstaged by a VP with all those things he doesn''t have, like experience, competence, skill, good judgment, accomplishments, etc.

AMNESTY-JOHN, on the other hand, needs desperately to have a competent, experienced running mate who can take over the Presidency when the inevitable occurs. That makes Romney the best choice.

/

[gangesdak]

Jeopardy question: Who ran twice as Vice-President candidate from two different parties and lost both times?- Liberman.

[dnsallday]

McCain can pick anybody he wants. The right wingers have no standards to fall below.

[whitemale08]

Hey where''s all the "bitter Hillary clingers" at? LMAO!!!!