It's Veep Time!

Presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has scheduled his VP announcement for Friday August 22nd. John McCain has stated that he plans to make his announcement on August 29th, the day after the Democratic Convention.

Fox News reports on Obama:

Obama was believed to have narrowed his list to Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine,
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Kansas Gov. Kathleen
Sebelius. While it seemed increasingly unlikely that he would choose his
vanquished rival, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, some Democrats
speculated Monday that he could pull a surprise and pick her.

I agree that it is highly unlikely that Obama selects Clinton as his running mate. Not only did they have a bitter dispute for the nomination, but selecting Clinton would be a sign that he is lacking Washington experience. Not to mention it would be the epitome of putting a fox in the hen-house.

As well, Obama is unlikely to pick Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. The Democrats in support of Clinton would be up in arms over a no-name woman VP candidate cutting in line in front of their woman candidate. Obama is limited, then, to selecting a male candidate - Kaine, Biden, or Bayh from the list above. (of course there may be someone else, but I am tending to side with speculators in the know)

Bayh would be a selection of necessity for executive experience on the ticket. He served as Secretary of State, Governor and currently Senator for Indiana. An Obama-Bayh ticket would prove difficult to overcome in the Great Lakes states, but may not fair so well in southern states, though it would mark a decisive lurch towards the center for Obama.

Kaine is another choice representing the need for executive experience on the ticket. The Virginian Governor accepting the nomination would turn Virginia over to a Republican Lt. Governor, Bill Bolling. This would make Virginia a hot race in 2009 as Democrats would have to double their efforts to uproot an incumbent Republican.

Joe Biden would be a closer fit for the TRUE Obama - a radical leftist liberal in favor of socializing the US. Biden would bring foreign policy experience to the ticket, but selecting Biden would isolate Centrist Democrats, possibly giving them directly to McCain.

No doubt, the announcement of Obama's Veep announcement is timed to change headlines from his horrific showing over the weekend on the political forum, in which he is being slammed very hard for a number of lies and an inability to shake the "Not Ready To Lead" stigma, as he came across very inexperienced.

McCain's selection will be discussed further at a later time - however, picking a reformist woman such as Gov Palin would lock the conservative voters and pull Clinton voters in who were looking for casting a feminist vote. More to come as this develops.