Evan Bayh would be his vp pick .

Rob Portman for VP.

Speaking of foreign policy leaders, this report from a Sunday talk show (from The Page) caught my eye:

Late Edition: Sen. Lugar dismissed Lieberman's criticism of Obama at a McCain camp event as "clearly a partisan statement." Said McCain's support for kicking Russia out of the G-8 is probably not a good idea.
http://thepage.time.com/2008/08/17/on-th e-sunday-shows-39/

Might Republican Senator Lugar of Indiana endorse Obama? If so, Bayh is not needed to carry Indiana for Obama.

How about Secretary of State Biden (that is, if Delaware elects a Dem Goberno this year)?

Biden will be the VP.  Just because he is going to Georgia does not mean he isn't going to be the VP.  I am sure Biden will be back by Wednesday when Obama will make his announcement.  Biden is the perfect choice.  Older democrats will be very happy with Obama's choice.  Also, from watching the faith forum last night and old man McBush saying he would choose supreme court judges that will overturn Roe v Wade, democratic women who care about this should have no thoughts now of voting for old man McBush if they ever thought of doing so before.  I don't think that Obama ever had democratic catholics who vote on abortion issues.  I tend to think that these democrats were never real democrats anyway.  

Biden is Obama's least objectionable choice to me, Clinton being his most positive.

If he is playing it safe I bet on Biden.

Biden will be happy with VP or Secretary of State. I bet he probably prefers State because of the bigger budget, and the arguably greater global profile.

President Saakashvili's invitation to Senator Biden is a smart move.  It makes sense currently because Biden chairs the Foreign Relations Commitee in the Senate.  

Biden also serves as an ideal back-channel between the Georgian government and Senator Obama, more than likely our next president.  While this would be true even if Obama picks Evan Bayh, Tim Kaine, or someone who isn't the senior senator from Delaware, this invitation enhances the prospect that it will be an Obama/Biden ticket.

When will Obama announce his VP.   With only ONE week until the Conventions starts....Obama is playing this decision awfully close to gametime.

I heard rumors that he was considering John Kerry(according to the drudge report). Is that serious?  OMG! Talk about a PR disaster. 2004 anyone? Remember last yrs controversy over the education and Iraq deployment hoopla :(

I really hope he chooses Hillary Clinton since the list of qualified candidates seems to be dwindling big-time.

We need a VP who is a rockstar and someone who can excite the general public. Obviously names such as Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, John Edwards, and Colin Powell will succeed in that regard. (scratch Edwards off the list now with the sex sandal)

My fear is will try to play it safe and he will name a insecure unknown who is afraid of the national spotlight and quite frankly the nation as a whole doesn't give a hoot about.    Names such as Bayh, Biden, Sebelius, Kaine, Nunn, Webb, etc.....are doom to fail.   Essentially they are the Democratic version of Dan Quayle.    I don't know if that is the picture we want to portray in what is deemed to be a close election.

First most of America is barely starting to get use to BARACK OBAMA. Barack is a new figure into politics and familiarity with his name and platform is initially starting to get traction. It would be a HUGE mistake to force Americans to "google" his VP pick in order to know who the heck it is. People want familiarity and confidence in their VP pick.

Why do I keep thinking that Putin is going to challenge Biden to a fiddle contest?

I am hoping for Biden.  Interesting that Andrea Mitchell said on MTP that the Obama campaign is leaning towards Biden now.

I think it is NO accident that we haven't seen Biden much on the scene lately at all.  Typically he is on every show there is and he hasn't been around.  I think that Obama campaign is trying to see if Biden can keep his mouth shut.  Well it looks like he can.

My 2 cents on the VP pick:

Biden meshes well with Obama, offering experience and foreign policy credentials.  It's easy to forget that it was not so long ago that Joe Biden was a "rockstar" in the party.  While his star has dimmed through the years, I think this is a man that would have enough of the base intrigued as well.

Is he the right choice?  For all the talk about rock star candidates and ideal VP choices this season, I still don't see it.  This isn't me being cynical - rather, I just never saw Obama or Clinton as rockstar candidates (whatever the heck that is ...).  I don't see an ideal VP candidate.  If you could take the relative youth of Bayh and combine it with some positive attributes of Biden, maybe you have a decently ideal VP candidate for Obama.  I never saw any of the governors as being ideal, particularly Tim Kaine, who I really like a lot (although, out of Virginia, I still like Jim Webb and Mark Warner better, but Webb backed off (and I'm not sure he meshed as well with Obama as most thought) and Warner wasn't a good fit for Obama).  I would've liked to see some House of Rep guys get consideration, perhaps a guy like Chris Van Hollen, but he offers little to the ticket, and "game planning" is a definite factor.

Anyhow, back more to the point of the OP - I think this move is to allow Saakashvili to cover bases.  To be honest, Todd, I don't see the point of emphasis on Saakashvili asking for Biden - people know Saakashvili has decent relations with the McCain camp to begin with.  I think this is Saakashvili wanting to make sure he's reached out to all sides, as this conflict isn't likely to be settled in totality before the next President.  

I think the Obama camp probably would encourage such action as well, showing some "commander-in-chief" action.  Maybe I'm not in line with liberal talking points, but I think McCain won points in this crisis with his firm stance, whereas I think Obama might've lost a little ground (that said, Obama wasn't going to "win" on FP anyways ... he just has to not lose badly on FP).

Anyhow, this gets back to the original starting point - what does this mean on the VP selection?  Well, I don't think it means much.  Actually, it could buttress a Biden pick.  Think about it - Biden comes back in time for the convention (and probably earlier), showing his FP chops to push Obama up.  They have a big PR showing of Obama and Biden talking about FP issues, announcing Biden as the VP, and Biden gets to not only give a strong theoretical assessment of FP, but a very real time assessment of FP in his VP speech.  Played correctly, this could be the type of FP push that Obama, IMO, still needs.

Short of it is, I think Biden is the front runner.  I'm okay with Bayh, although I know the blogosphere is aghast at that.  If Bayh could show some more fire, I'd like him even better.  The one name I fear is Bill Richardson, who I think would cause harm instead of helping.

How about Secretary of State Biden (that is, if Delaware elects a Dem Governor this year)?

Forgive the misspelling on my previous post.

Truthfully, if the election was simply between Biden and McCain, Biden would be up by 10  right now. However, as a vp Biden still packs a punch.  Hillary would also bring a lot to the table.

For what it's worth, I'm not that excited about Biden.  He voted for the war and is the personification of D.C. but, that said, he never co-chaired the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq with McCain and Lieberman and therefore is a hell of a lot better than Evan Bayh.

I prefer Tim Kaine, but if it must be Biden, and if he helps Obama get to the White House, then so be it.  Let's just make a decision soon and focus on the task of winning the election.

I don't think it's a good idea to have a Ticket with a combined total of 3 1/2 times the normal number of teeth.

I tell ya, I've been saying Biden for a while now, but . . .

Why did Gephardt spike recently in intrade? He didn't have a media boomlet, neither he nor anyone in the Obama campaign were quoted on the subject of him as the running mate.

Yet he surged suddenly last week, and in thinking about this I can only come up with one explanation.

Someone with inside info is trying to run up the price. This person isn't violating trust per se because they are not leaking the info, but are exploiting it for personal gain. Maybe it is two or three people. Regardless, what other reason is there for a sudden Gephardt boomlet in the futures market when there is absolutely none anywhere else?

Also notice the emphasis Obama is putting on labor lately?

That would fit if he is going to pick Gephardt.

After watching Evan Bayh get mopped up by Tim Pawlenty (of all people?) on sunday, all I could think of was Clinton or Biden as VP.  Both are supremely confident and would be the best choice as Obama's VP.  

Oh dear. Joe Biden is the man behind the RAVE Act, and the impetus behind every bankruptcy "reform" bill to grace the Congress in the last 10 years including the one that passed in 2005. It's a little sickening that that person is seriously being considered.