Quietly, Obama Begins The Quest To Find A Running Mate-The Atlantic [View All]

[Ichingcarpenter]

Quietly, Obama Begins The Quest To Find A Running Mate

Very quietly, Sen. Barack Obama has begun the process that will end in his choosing a running mate, Democrats inside and outside the campaign said.

Obama has sworn a small group of his senior staff to secrecy. He is determined to start the vice presidential search on his own schedule and has said publicly, and repeatedly, that he will not talk about ticket-mates until the race for the nomination itself concludes.

But on his behalf, staffers are putting together a team to assist the search committee, and a hand-full of Democrats connected with the campaign will start to pull together dossiers (based only on open source research and press clippings at this point) on a large number of potential picks so that Obama can have something to read when he starts to think about the choice.

By June 4, the day after Democrats finish voting, the campaign hopes to have a full team in place.

"He wants this done right," said one person who is privy to the candidate and campaign's thinking on the matter. "He takes this very seriously."

James A. Johnson, who vetted potential nominees for Sen. John Kerry in 2004, is playing a major role. He has advised Obama and the campaign about the architecture of the process, though it is not clear whether he will reprise his role as head of the search committee. Ex-Sen. Tom Daschle is also providing advice. >>>>snip
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/quietly_obama_begins_the_quest_1.php