News: Obama Vice President

Former GOP foe Mitt Romney is the rage in Sen. John McCain’s circles as the Republican moves to pick a running mate with good business and economic creds—and moderately youthful good looks.

But if you want a really juicy rumor, consider who some key Democrats want for Sen. Barack Obama’s No. 2 - Caroline Kennedy.

And, adds one fan of the idea:
“Caroline is the good Kennedy.”

There’s recent precedent. President Bush picked his vice presidential search team leader, Dick Cheney.

A senior Obama adviser told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday that Obama and his veep choice will appear in front of the former state Capitol where Abraham Lincoln once served. The last time Obama appeared there, he announced he was running for president.

Amid seemingly endless speculation about who Obama will select, a group of new employees arrived Monday at his Chicago headquarters to help prepare the campaign apparatus needed to support the vice presidential candidate. More than a dozen employees are now in place as part of a staff ultimately expected to total 30 to 40.

There’s been some breaking news that Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas’s Governor and a highly touted possible VP candidate for Barack Obama may have inadvertently slipped information regarding Obama’s vice presidential pick.

Early Monday morning, Sebelius held a press conference to discuss schedules and events planned for the Democratic National Convention that is coming in two weeks.

Iscol turned their phone conversation Thursday to the vice presidency — something the Obama campaign has refused to discuss publicly. She said she told him that Clinton would be his best running mate.

She then went on to make an intriguing announcement: the Vice Presidential nominee is slated to address the convention on Wednesday night.

Typically, this statement would be a standard disbursement of information. However, some reporters who had been paying close attention to Obama’s campaign and it tendencies in the past year followed up with a very keen question. They asked if there was a connection between who the VP nominee is and the “theme” of Wednesday night, which again, focuses on national security and veterans/foreign affairs.

Clinton told the crowd she would consult in the coming days with advisers about the fate of her moribund candidacy. But her remarks came hours after she told congressional colleagues she would be open to joining Obama as his running mate.

This is certainly an interesting development. Obama’s presidential campaign has demonstrated incredible discipline, an excellent sense of timing and a deft grasp of symbolism. Slotting in the potential VP nominee on Wednesday night cannot be a mistake or unintentional. Nothing about the Obama campaign has been has been done as accidental, fortuitous or haphazard.

That may be why the Obama campaign signals that narrow geographical calculations may not play a role in the hunt for a vice president. Briefing reporters in Washington last week, campaign manager David Plouffe dismissed the notion that a running mate should be expected to deliver his or her home state. Plouffe cited the choices of Al Gore in 1992 (Bill Clinton would have won Tennessee anyway) and Dick Cheney in 2000 (Wyoming was never in doubt for the GOP) as shrewd political choices that brought heft to the ticket. Plouffe predicted that Obama would choose someone who is “qualified to be president and who will be a partner in governing.”

Many of her top supporters spoke openly of Clinton’s potential vice presidential prospects. Lanny Davis, a former White House special counsel under President Clinton, said he told the former first lady Tuesday that he was initiating a petition to press Obama to select her for the second spot on the ticket. He said Clinton did not encourage or discourage the step.

Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee on Tuesday night after the last two contests of a race that spanned 54 primaries and caucuses beginning in January. He won Montana 56% to 42% but she took South Dakota 56% to 44%. The share of delegates he won in these contests pushed him over the finishing line of 2,118 delegates. He is to be formally adopted as nominee at the party conference in Denver in August.

While Obama’s search committee reviewed its list of potential candidates during the past several weeks, the campaign was busy building the vice presidential staff operation that includes chief of staff Patti Solis Doyle, who was Clinton’s campaign manager, and spokesman David Wade, who was 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry’s traveling press secretary. Rick Siger, advance director for Kaine’s campaign, came on to oversee the travels of the eventual pick, increasing buzz that his former boss could be the likely choice.

While Obama’s search committee reviewed its list of potential candidates during the past several weeks, the campaign was busy building the vice presidential staff operation that includes chief of staff Patti Solis Doyle, who was Clinton’s campaign manager, and spokesman David Wade, who was 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry’s traveling press secretary. Rick Siger, advance director for Kaine’s campaign, came on to oversee the travels of the eventual pick, increasing buzz that his former boss could be the likelychoice.

Obama’s plan could be similar to the one he followed in launching his campaign last year, when he posted a Web video to rev up supporters the day before his big speech. This time, Obama might choose to announce his vice presidential choice on Friday and then appear with the person on Saturday in the same place where his campaign began.

The advisers said Clinton has made a strategic decision to not formally end her campaign, giving her leverage to negotiate with Obama on various matters including a possible vice presidential nomination for her. She also wants to press him on issues he should focus on in the fall, such as health care.