Obama's choice?
Senators' offices say 'Mr. Vice President' tease was just a joke
Running mate tea leaves are a hot commodity nowadays on the presidential campaign trail. Any new clue as to who Barack Obama or John McCain might choose to share a ticket is devoured.
Roll Call seems to think Virginia Sen. Jim Webb could be Obama's potential pick. According to the subscription-only paper's Heard on the Hill column, Sen. Claire McCaskill's overheard joke offered some new clues, but the senators' offices were quick to quash excessive speculation.
The Missouri Democrat and confidante to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) was overheard teasingly referring to Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) as “Mr. Vice President” on the Senate floor Thursday night.
Webb, McCaskill and a clutch of other freshmen were hanging out together on the chamber floor when Webb stood up from his seat to make his way to the podium to deliver a speech on the war spending bill. “Oh, Mr. Vice President,” McCaskill called after him. “Mr. Vice President!”
McCaskill's and Webb's offices quickly splashed some cold water on RAW STORY's fevered speculation.
"I'm sure she was simply joking around," Adrianne Marsh, a McCaskill spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail Monday morning. "You'd have to check with the Obama Campaign to get a better idea of who is on their list. Sorry."
"No meaning, just a joke," Webb press secretary Kimberly Hunter said. "Senator McCaskill is a joker and she likes to tease him about the media speculation – nothing more..."
The Obama campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Webb and McCaskill are both considered potential running mates for Obama, although the Democratic candidate has been tight-lipped about the process. Heard on the Hill notes the line may have been just "an inside joke among Senators who’ve been fielding will-you-or-won’t-you questions about their aspirations to be Obama’s No. 2."
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