Veepstakes: The Silly Season for Speculation

I was away on vacation in Prince Edward Island for almost three weeks and, since my Monday return, have spent the past few days re-obsessing myself with the presidential race, including the whole Veepstakes saga, about which I’ve written extensively, some here and more over at my place.

An announcement from Obama could come at any moment. For what they’re worth, which isn’t much, here are my predictions:

Obama — Biden
McCain — Romney

But there are those nagging doubts. Always those nagging doubts. Here are my wildcard picks:

Obama — Clinton
McCain — Giuliani

I think this a year for big-name, national-celebrity politics. Look at who ran for both parties in the primaries. For the most part they were all big names: Hillary, Obama, Edwards, Biden, Richardson, McCain, Giuliani, Romney, Thompson, etc. (Huckabee and perhaps Dodd were the major exceptions.)

And I think Obama and McCain will go big with their veep picks. Which means Biden or Bayh (or Hillary or Gore) for Obama, not Kaine or Sebelius. And which means Romney (or Ridge or Giuliani or Lieberman, however unlikely) for McCain, not Palin or Jindal or Pawlenty or Portman. (Actually, if weren’t for the whole foreign-born restriction thing, Schwarzenegger would be an interesting possibility for McCain. But, alas.)

In fact, more and more, I think Obama will pick Hillary. As I’ve said before, it makes sense, and it would be just the sort of game-changer he needs.

But, well, it’s the silly season. And I’m full of it, too. So whatever.