Opinion: John McCain and Barack Obama not likely to get much of a veep bounce

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Our cousins over at the Swamp ferreted out this nice detail from Gallup: Political writers apparently care an awful lot more about who John McCain and Barack Obama will pick as their running mates than you do.

It’s fairly new polling involved, since, as Gallup points out, the vice presidential running mate used to be picked at the convention. And no, they didn’t just pick the guy in the bathroom at the time of the vote, so he couldn’t say no. The choice usually was predicated upon regional concerns -- balancing a ticket geographically -- or making sure the party was solidified for the general election. That usually meant picking a running mate who would appease whatever internal faction felt aggrieved.

But in modern campaigns the presidential candidates have been selecting their running mates before the convention. So beginning in 1996, Gallup began polling voters after running mates were selected, and since then found that candidates received about a five-point bounce in polls after naming their running mates. Of course in a bounce, what goes up comes down. Head over to the Swamp for the details.

-- Scott Martelle