I guess a Slow News Week is when the media pays the kind of attention they're paying to who the candidates may pick as their running mates. I keep reading stories that treat it as Breaking News that Obama's announcement "may" come soon and that McCain's will probably follow. No, that's not news. Neither are the various "short lists" — you know, it'll definitely, absolutely, positively be one of these three people…unless, of course, it's someone else.
A lot of these conjectures say it won't be Joe Biden since he's from a state that has very few electoral votes and which Obama is certain to carry anyway. Hey, didn't that Cheney guy come from a state that has very few electoral votes and which Bush was certain to carry anyway? It annoys me a little that this kind of logic is getting tossed around by reporters and pundits who are pretending they can give us insight into a situation where they're pretty clueless. They all make it sound like they've obtained access to Obama's short list when it's actually their own supposition they're giving us. It also annoys me, of course, that I haven't been vetted for the Veep job. What the hell are they waiting for?
And I guess it's a little annoying that all this speculation out of nowhere is about how picking this guy or that gal may help or hurt Obama's chance of winning. The choice of either running mate — Obama's or McCain's — matters partly because of that but also perhaps a tiny bit because (let's do this in boldface:) that person stands a good chance of becoming the "leader of the free world." They won't be the next one but they might be the one after owing to death, impeachment, resignation or because the position makes them a front-runner to succeed as a candidate.
I have no particular faves to fill out the bottom of either ticket. Ideally, I guess, I'd like to see Obama pick someone who'll help him win, if not because of the state they're from then because they'll be a great candidate who'll go out and play not Attack Dog but something nicer and equally effective. It might be nice if that person was also qualified to actually be President of the United States, too. And I'd like to see John McCain pick someone who all of America will agree would be an absolute disaster as a Vice-President. I'm thinking Dick Cheney.
Anyway, we'll know soon enough. Obama will apparently announce any day now via a text message that will go exclusively to those who've donated to his campaign. The rest of us will have to wait another twenty seconds before it's on every single news site. Don't you just hate it when you're the last to know?