Veepstakes: Probably Romney (updated)

By Michael J.W. Stickings

UPDATE: Well, I was way wrong. It looks like it's Palin. Quite the surprise. (See Creature's post above.)

**********

As I've been predicting for some time -- and, hey, I was right about Biden -- it looks as though McCain will tap Romney to be his running mate. (And if it is, it'll be fun to go back over all that McCain-Romney tension/dislike during the primaries. Biden's comments about Obama not being ready were nothing compared to that.)

Romney is scheduled to be in Dayton, Ohio today, where "two senior McCain campaign officials confirm that John McCain will appear with his vice presidential pick," likely at around noon. There has been quite a bit of speculation recently surrounding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, with reports that she was on her way to Dayton, but it seems that she is still in Alaska. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, another leading contender, won't be in Dayton either, saying it's "a fair assumption" it's not him. (And it won't be Huckabee, who has told supporters that he has "never been contacted by the McCain campaign at any point about the VP slot.")

There are still other contenders -- Ridge, Lieberman, Portman, Cantor, even Giuliani (my wildcard) -- but the recent Secret Service security sweep of Romney's sister's house would seem to be yet another indication that Romney's the pick. (Unless we're all reading too much into that.)

(Note: It probably won't be an outsider like Lieberman or an unconventional Republican like Giuliani or a pro-choicer like Ridge or a relative unknown like Palin or Cantor. Reports suggest that the pick will be a traditional one, likely either Romney or Pawlenty.)

And yet, Fox News today is playing up the Palin-to-Dayton story and claiming that Romney and Pawlenty are "out of the running."

So who knows?

Well, we'll know soon enough. The announcement should come in just over an hour.