With all of the talk of Obama announcing his running mate, I think I know who it’s going to be: our governor, Tim Kaine.
The schedule has him in Martinsville Wednesday morning (with our next Senator Mark Warner) and in Lynchburg Wednesday afternoon (with Senator Jim Webb). Thursday there is supposed to be an event in Richmond. And I’m hearing that there will be an event in Chesapeake sometime Thursday as well, likely Thursday evening.
Yes, Virginia is a battleground state. And yes, the Obama campaign has opened up in excess of 30 offices here. But it is the timing of the appearances, the number of them, and the various locations, that lead me to believe that Kaine will be the choice.
There is another factor here that I’ve been considering. It just makes no sense to me for Obama to pick Evan Bayh or Joe Biden. If the Democrats had 65 Senators, such a choice would make sense. But with the Democrats barely hanging on to a majority (and that’s only because Joe Lieberman (I-Lieberman) is counted as one of them) and the big push to pick up more seats this fall, removing two Senators make getting to 60 impossible. And that would make life for President Obama much more difficult.
I think Kaine’s the guy.
UPDATE: I forgot to include this tidbit regarding the hiring of Kaine’s 2005 advance man.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
AEM,
Consider only quotes from your post:
From JTB: “…the logical response would be for an American citizen to kill him.”
From AEM: “…it is a real stretch to assume that Mr. Ballance was talking about an American citizens as potential assassins.”
Nope, not that much of a stretch. The words are pretty clear.
Getting back to the point of Vivian’s article:
Let me say that I am amongst those less likely to vote for Obama if he selects Kaine.
Having said that, I need to identify that I lean McCain thus far. However the selection of VP’s (on both sides) could upset the apple cart and get me to switch. I am not a firm McCain supporter, I only lean in his direction right now.
David, it was Silence Dogood, not Mr. Ballance, who wrote “…the logical response would be for an American citizen to kill him.” Mr. Dogood was trying to attribute that sentiment to Mr. Ballance.
Please get your facts straight.
Get yours straight. He referenced assassination separately from foreign and domestic terrorism.
OK, quoting from JTB: “Given that the election of Obama will signal the world that America is weakening, we can expect assassination attempts on the President.”
OK, since the Obama election is pointed to, as opposed to the election of someone else, what do you take from this?
No, silence, he did not. In fact, he did not even put any punctuation between the two:
“…we can expect assassination attempts on the President and more terrorist attacks, both here and abroad.”
Furthermore, since he prefaces that with “the election of Obama will signal the world that America is weakening” (emphasis mine), he is clearly speaking of acts of others besides American citizens.
Now, David, you ask a legitimate question: “[Since] the Obama election is pointed to, as opposed to the election of someone else, what do you take from this?”
Just what Ballance said, that the election of Obama (an inexperienced appeaser) would be a sign of weakness. Terrorists are bullies, and bullies attack when they see weakness.
J. Tyler, I don’t know what sort of trauma you were exposed to during your stint with the Ron Paul Revolution, but it’s clearly having residual effects.
Heard today on some radio program that Howard Fineman, Newsweek magazine, said it’s definitely going to be Joe Biden. We’ll see.
I’m hearing from other sources that it will be Kaine. Like you said, we’ll see.
Brian after your performance last year, your not worth the trouble .
It’s “you’re”
At least launch attacks with proper grammar.
“Just what Ballance said, that the election of Obama (an inexperienced appeaser) would be a sign of weakness. Terrorists are bullies, and bullies attack when they see weakness.”
It can´t be worse than Bush. Most people outside the US thinks that the Americans suffered a major defeat in Iraq and everyone jokes with Bush. If the matter is having a strong image then waging colonial wars where bodies of Americans soldiers could be shown all over the world is the last thing to do. Most people outside the US don´t care if the president is a appeaser. But they care and see weakness when they see thousands of Americans Soldiers dying somewhere.
And terrorists aren´t bullies, but coldblooded killers.
New poll out in Indiana has Obama down 6. Can Evan Bayh swing 6 points? Doubtful. Looks like this is down to Biden and Kaine.
“It can´t be worse than Bush.”
News flash, Andre: Bush isn’t running.
Oh, the fun I’ve missed.