Friday, August 22, 2008
EMPORIA, Va (AP) — Barack Obama said Thursday he’s chosen his running mate, but coyly kept all the details to himself as he campaigned with one leading contender and planned a major rally to present the Democratic ticket Saturday in Illinois.
Obama refused to say whether he’d notified his pick or when exactly he would send cell phones buzzing with the answer delivered via text message. He seemed to relish the frustrations of scores of reporters following him this week in anticipation of the announcement.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he said with a grin when asked by an Associated Press reporter when the text would be sent.
“I’ve made the selection, that’s all you’re gonna get,” Obama said as he visited a store selling roasted Virginia peanuts as nonchalantly as any other day campaigning in a battleground state.
Obama planned to appear with his pick Saturday at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., where he launched his presidential campaign in February 2007. Obama then planned to travel to the battlegrounds of Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Montana before arriving in Denver to accept his party’s nomination Thursday.
One person who had been vetted for the position told The Associated Press there had been no contact from Obama or his campaign about the decision. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Obama campaign had not authorized public comment.
The Illinois senator was widely thought to be considering Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Evan Bayh of Indiana along with Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. None of them gave anything away — at least not in words.
Obama spent part of the day with Kaine, who reportedly told a colleague Wednesday that he believed he was on the short list. West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin said Kaine told him although he hadn’t heard anything from the Obama campaign on where he stands at the time, “he really thinks he has a chance at the short straw.”
But Kaine may have had more information Thursday after he campaigned with Obama, including a private meeting between the two men and Kaine’s staff for 15 minutes at a Richmond hotel. Afterward, Kaine said he would let the Obama campaign speak about whether the candidate asked him to be his No. 2.
If Kaine had good news when he appeared with Obama at a discussion of the economy in Chester, Va., he hid it well. The governor hardly spoke as he sat slumped and expressionless, and Obama acknowledged him only in passing.
Asked later at a news conference if he was heading to Springfield, Ill., on Saturday, Kaine said he and his family were flying out Friday night for Denver. When pressed if it was a nonstop, direct flight to Denver, he smiled and would not comment.