And the winner is.....

Like most people I am getting a little annoyed that neither candidate has selected a running-mate yet and I am getting a little tired of trying to guess who each will pick. (Although, I will let you know that as much as I would love to see Tim Kaine as Obama's running mate, it looks like he won't be the choice due to Mark Warner's speaking spot at the convention. In fact, its looking more and more like it will be Joe Biden, especially with his trip to Georgia--the country not the state--to evalutate the situation over the weekend.)

Candidate speculation aside, I've decided to play a new game and try to guess when the candidates will announce their running mates. According to an email sent from the Obama campaign to supporters, it is fair to assume that the selection will be made before the convention and not at the convention. With that in mind, Obama has to compete with the Olympics for press coverage, something that will be immensely easier this week now that Michael Phelps has finished his races and the gymnastics team and all-around competitions are done. That being said, based off of the Olympic TV schedule, my guess is that Obama's decision will come Tuesday. Yes, it is the same night as coverage of the last of the gymnastics individual apparatus finals but any other night and he would risk competing with coverage of any number of team finals that are likely to feature American teams (Beach Volleyball, Indoor Volleyball, Women's Soccer, Basketball, etc.) and several track and field events that highlight promising American talent. As far as McCain's pick goes, he has to navigate Olympic coverage as well as the Democratic convention. This makes guessing his time-frame a little more tricky. My guess is that it will come on one of three days. He will announce on Tuesday (which if Obama announces on that day as well could be disasterous for both camps as far as press coverage is concerned), on the first of the Democratic Convention to try and steal some of the press coverage away from the Democrats (Monday is really the only night that this could work as the other nights are too top heavy with significant Democratic speakers), or on the Friday after the Democratic convention in order to try and control press coverage after Obama's acceptance speech on Thursday night (that day will also be McCain's 72nd birthday and could help deflect attention from the fact that his turning 72).