VP Watch

Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, who accompanied Barack Obama on his tour of Iraq and Afghanistan is the latest to remove himself from the list of Vice Presidential mentionables. He told the Providence Journal that "I am interested in serving in the United States Senate and that interest trumps any consideration of serving as a vice president.'' Asked if that meant he would decline if Obama offered, Reed said, "Yeah, but I frankly I don't expect to be offered the position.'' Yesterday, on the Republican side, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said he intended to remain in the state house.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty may be near the top of the McCain list as many have speculated, but his home state paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, didn't do much today to bolster what advantage he might bring. Democrats have carried the state in the last five presidential elections, but the fact that the margin of victory has been 3.5 points or less in 2004 and 2000 has fueled Republican hopes. Would choosing Pawlenty increase the odds of the GOP breaking through. The Star Tribune says "Research shows that a vice-presidential pick provides virtually no advantage in the candidate's home state." The paper goes on to say, "Although most presidential tickets during the past half-century have been regionally balanced, researchers found almost no evidence that the vice-presidential candidate increased the ticket's margin in his own state. A 1989 study found that, on average, vice-presidential candidates improved their ticket's performance in their own state by 0.3 percentage points, compared to previous elections."

We can't provide a link to this because the Wall Street Journal is a paid subscriber-only site, but it reports today that Obama has narowed his focus to Senators Joseph Biden, Evan Bayh, Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton and Jack Reed, and Governors Tim Kaine of Virginia and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. (So, we'll see how true to his word Reed is if asked). McCain's short list is said to be ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Pawlenty, and former Ohio Rep. Rob Portman. The Journal says Republicans "also are touting " South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, and campaign adviser Carly Fiorina among others.