Opinion: VP updates: Kansas printer does Bayh stickers but a private jet arrives near Joe Biden’s home from Chicago
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(UPDATE: Updated information is published below concerning a private jet flying from Chicago’s Midway Airport to a county field near the home of Sen. Joe Biden.)
TV camera crews are parked outside of possible Barack Obama vice presidential nominees’ houses all over the country.
But could a bumper sticker be the real tipoff?
Michael Mahoney, the political reporter for Kansas City TV station KMBC, is reporting that a printing plant in Lenexa, Kan., is today hastily churning out hundreds of thousands of bumper stickers with the names Obama and -- wait for it -- Bayh ’08.
So two senators from next-door states -- Barack Obama of Illinois and Evan Bayh of Indiana, former governor and son of former Democratic presidential candidate.
It could be speculative, of course. And campaigns have been known to feint. But Kansas isn’t so far from Denver, you know. And Obama has said that geography would not be the major factor it has been sometimes before. Remember Bill Clinton of Arkansas picked Al Gore from next-door Tennessee.
The printing plant is not saying anything. But this is just a heads-up before you get the Tweet or text message tonight. It could be an O-B ticket.
One other tidbit: Sen. Hillary Clinton has released her schedule for upcoming days and it does not show her traveling with Obama, unlike what usually happens with newly-minted running mates. But that’s just a paper schedule.
(UPDATE: NBC News is reporting that both Bayh and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine have been told they are not the running mates.
Meanwhile, other info filtering into The Ticket at this hour, a private chartered jet belonging to Netjets Aviation took off from Chicago’s Midway Airport, on that city’s South Side, this afternoon and landed not long ago at New Castle County Airport near Sen. Joe Biden’s home.
(Could be connected. Could not be connected.
(Obama and his new running mate are due to appear jointly Saturday at an event in Springfield, about 200 miles southwest of the Windy City.)
Either way, stay tuned here for instant updates whenever anything is breaking. A reminder: You can join the growing throngs and sign up for instant Twitter updates from The Ticket direct to your cellphone here.
-- Andrew Malcolm