Email Gives Away Obama VP Pick -- Maybe

Not tea leaves but tee shirts. The identity of Sen. Barack Obama's vice presidential pick is being closely guarded, yet I received an email about campaign tees and buttons that might have given that secret away. What we have is either a leak or a businessperson betting on the odds!

In an email to Obama supporters in the Greensboro, North Carolina, area, a marketing email includes this line: "*Obama-Biden campaign items will be posted on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008."

Here's the full email as I received it (the bold is mine):

"Subject: [GreensboroLGBTforObama] -- URGENT -- NEW OBAMA T-SHIRTS & BUTTONS OUT TODAY

***** HELP THE BARACK OBAMA CAMPAIGN *****
From Obama Blog Group member William Castronuovo:
Go to www.ElectObamaStore.com and get everything Obama today.
We all know the Obama campaign could use the proceeds during this election!
HUNDREDS OF OBAMA-ONLY ITEMS IN STOCK NOW!
Get Barack Obama campaign gear you can't get anywhere else.
New design updates posted each day.

* Obama-Biden campaign items will be posted on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008.

E-MAIL EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS STORE

www.ElectObamaStore.com

**** Send your Obama Blog Group name and a slogan and we'll make a T-shirt
available at the store for your blog group.

E-mail to: [e-mail]
(Put in subject line: "GROUP STUFF")

-- FYI: I use CafePress to make the items I design for the campaign Obama
Blog Groups.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This email was sent to 18 members of Greensboro LGBT for Obama"

So, did this person have advance notice in order to prepare campaign materials for the new ticket? If so, the cat is out of the bag!

Or it this another ruse to throw us off the trail and heighten interest? A gimmick to drive traffic to this person's web site? With everyone speculating, any rumor or gossip becomes a prized nugget.

Here in Greensboro, a surprise sighting of Obama on Wednesday, August 20, reminded me the excitement kids feel when Santa visits on Christmas Eve. The previous evening, I casually drove by a local hotel and noticed the presence of several police cars. What I didn't realize was that Obama was on his way to stay overnight in that hotel, and the local law enforcement was carrying out preparations.

Under cover of darkness, Obama sneaked into Greensboro. The next morning, he enjoyed a quick game of basketball at a local high school and then made an impromptu stop at the downtown farmer's market, much to the surprise of early birds gathering their week's worth of fresh veggies and local baked goods. Some local media had been tipped off by the campaign, but of course, us lowly local bloggers were left out.

Obama signed a few autographs and took a few photos--and then with a wink and a touch to his nose, he vanished, just like Old Saint Nick.

Comments

[schicklett3]

01:30 AM on 08/23/2008

Biden is perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[joefazio]

11:50 PM on 08/22/2008

Joe Biden is probably one of the most honerable people
one could ever hope to meet. If he becomes the Vice Presidential
nominee Obama and America will be lucky to have him.

He is truly a bright spot in this blood sport of politics.

[Old time Dem]

01:38 AM on 08/23/2008

But , if it is Biden, where is out text message before the media got the story?

[musselmanm]

08:33 PM on 08/22/2008

I used to be involved in merchandise that was sold at playoffs and championships. Super Bowl shirts and stuff was printed the night the team became known. This could be the real deal.

[heal57]

09:24 PM on 08/22/2008

Obama/Biden I think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[demfriend]

07:36 PM on 08/22/2008

I have to hope Obama knows what he is doing as if it is Bayh the exist doors will be jambed with people running away at this point. Bayh bring nada with him and Biden while he can be cranky at least he has a voice. I am sooo glad Hillary has nt a mention here either with the clintons Obama would be wearing a vest for the four years because of the knives. Nunn went away beofre so we will all be waiting the real news and not some bunch of fools jumping the gun and making a gamble.

[Head-Liner]

05:54 PM on 08/22/2008

Let's see if I can predict the future. Um um um um um rubbing my crystal ball.....wait, wait a minute..... I think I got it ....... Hold on ....... Oh what do you know It's not Biden, Hillary, Bayh,Webb, Edwards, ...... Drum Roll It is CLARK, the General Attack Dog


Obama/Clark -------- Money in the Bank

[cmbaldwin]

08:37 PM on 08/22/2008

I would love it if Clark is it!! The wait is killing me!

[kel]

04:57 PM on 08/22/2008

Obama/Clark
Obama Powell
Obama Gore
Obama Clinton

That will win.

Obama/Biden no no no.

[kel]

04:56 PM on 08/22/2008

I like Joe Biden a lot but not as our VP - he's a great guy, tells a good story, pads the truth. well he's a typical politician -
BUT let me say if McCain's got Mitt and O's got jOe America our hopes for change = sOl.

We need someone more experienced and a 'wow' factor - jOe isn't going to cut it for Obama.

Please say it isn't so, say it isn't jOe. Please.

[doc3osh]

06:58 PM on 08/22/2008

Please say it IS so! Someone with the guts to tell it like it is, someone who will take apart McCain on a daily basis with relish, someone who I'd be more than happy to see taking the reins as POTUS if the worst came to pass. Biden is a fantastic choice. The fact that he was not sent by Bush but ASKED to come help by the leadership of Georgia tells me everything I need to know: Foreign leaders know and respect him, and his knowledge of world affairs is unsurpassed among the candidates. If, after this primary season, I could imagine ANY WAY in which the two Clinton's would make governing at all bearable for Obama, I'd be rooting for Hillary as VP. But they've made it abundantly clear that their own aspirations supercede the needs of the Democratic party and the country, which is a real shame. Trying to govern with her as VP and him wandering through the White House telling the press how he thinks things should be would be an untenable situation.

[Tulka2]

04:26 PM on 08/22/2008

A couple of years ago, i had a pizza dream... one of those dreams where one thing after another happens and it all seems logical at the time.

When i woke up the vivid thing i remembered was Joe Bidden in the Senate slapped Dick Cheney's face with a kid glove. Then, we raced to the Washington Mall in time to see old Joe in a wig and velvet cut-away coat brandising a sword. He then proceeded to cut all Cheney's clothes off his back till Cheney stood white, fat and naked in front of a big crowd. Very statisfyin', i can tell you. I have recognized my crush on Joe Bidden ever since. A real man. Sometimes you just need to send in a real, stand-up guy. LOL

[lotuslike]

03:59 PM on 08/22/2008

Gimmick. And---how dee DOOO!---it seems to have worked. He gets a national / international write up and folks checking out his website. Ka-ching...

[Bozwellian]

09:57 PM on 08/22/2008

LOL, easy to print up the T's, best to WAIT til OFFICIAL, bets are designs in waiting, and BLANK ones as well. WOuld also suggest going to a LEGITIMATE OBAMA SITE to PURCHASE , lots SAY are donating/etc, many out to make a few $$$ nd not exactly sincere (note those 18million stalwart Hillary supporters who chose not to cough up a measly $2-3 dollars to retire her camapgn debt...no need for major parties/etc...she should have been able to cull her supporter list, have them donate some rather POCKET CHANGE amounts and be done with it rather than the begging/whining that O and HIS supporters and others such as DNC HQ pay off her mismanged fund debts !!!)

[CallMeNAG]

03:45 PM on 08/22/2008

Someone, please help me understand why so many people want Biden. After the "articulate" remark -- honestly, to vote for an Obama/Biden ticket to me would feel like selling my soul. Or is that what elections are all about? Am I too naive? Idealistic?

[OhComeOnNow]

06:28 PM on 08/22/2008

I wanted Biden from the get-go. He has the depth and breadth of experience - sorely lacking in POTUS candidate. He will definitely compliment the candidate.

[doc3osh]

07:00 PM on 08/22/2008

Couldn't agree more. See my response to kel above for more detail if CallMeNAG wants that.

Biden is a phenomenal choice!

[musselmanm]

08:37 PM on 08/22/2008

Pardon the seeming insensitive remark i am going to make. That comment was intended to bring up Obama as a dark horse early in the campaign. Do you not understand that he was praising this young Senator?

[Wes Isley]

01:51 PM on 08/22/2008

Thanks, everyone, for the comments and spirited discussion.

Personally, I’m undecided on who Obama should pick. As far as Biden, it could go either way. Biden certainly would add weight and experience to the ticket, or he could be seen as another Washington insider who is “part of the problem.”

[nisha]

11:37 PM on 08/22/2008

Oh, but Biden always stood up to the rest! He was my hero in the Senate for years! Plus, let's not forget this is also a beauty contest and they make a great, photogenic pair!

[FirstShirt]

11:36 AM on 08/22/2008

Republicans are hoping it is Biden. He has a mouth on him and his experience and age will make him look like the presidential candidate instead of the Veep.

[EinChicago]

12:10 PM on 08/22/2008

"his experience and age will make him look like the presidential candidate instead of the Veep."

that's teh biggest problem with Biden. He will make 08ama look like another pretty boy vaucuous mouthpiece for a puppetmaster VP. Bush/Cheney redux.

[StillIRise]

12:43 PM on 08/22/2008

I've gotten to know Dick Cheney. In fact, over these last seven and a half years, I think I know him pretty well. And Joe Biden is no Dick Cheney!

Personally, I think Biden is a good choice for VP. He's brilliant on matters of foreign affairs, he's personable, he has a compelling personal story, he's Catholic (for those who care about these things), and though he's older, he's not too old (i.e. McCain). He would never abuse the Vice-Presidency as Cheney has done, nor would he seek to overshadow Senator Obama should he win the presidency. He would also blow whoever McCain's VEEP is out of the water in the Vice Presidential debate. But I have a nagging feeling that you would be critical of anyone ... unless it's Hillary!

[BushBites]

01:03 PM on 08/22/2008

Except Obama's smart.

And Bush isn't.

[BushBites]

01:06 PM on 08/22/2008

You're lying.

[DaOne]

09:46 AM on 08/22/2008

The O camp could surprise us all and pick HRC!

[AgeofReason]

12:01 PM on 08/22/2008

No, he really shouldn't. She burned her shot at VP by staying in the race too long, and then getting so dirty at the end of that campaign. She's a great Senator from NY. Leave her there.

[mosh]

01:27 PM on 08/22/2008

She will also energize the republican base like no other democrat on the planet.

[marykins123]

02:09 PM on 08/22/2008

Let's get over Clinton's OK! They both should just step back, take a deep breath, and get out of the way until after November.

Someone needs to let them in on the news - it is NOT all about a Clinton this time around!!!

[GGaylor]

08:35 AM on 08/22/2008

Well whether it is true or not, it has got us talking and I would think that means Obama wins because people seem to be much more interested in who his pick is than they are McCain's.

[FirstShirt]

11:37 AM on 08/22/2008

Keep dreaming. McCain needs a Veep because he has to have one. Obama needs a Veep because he only has 3 years experience in Congress and zero foreign policy credentials. He is a train wreck waiting to happen.

[StillIRise]

12:47 PM on 08/22/2008

McCain needs a VEEP in the event rescuitation fails!

[mosh]

01:31 PM on 08/22/2008

The train crashed 7 years ago. This is about rescuing the republic.

The king is dead long live Obama.

[meanguy]

12:17 PM on 08/22/2008

yeah. exactly. because that IS the most pressing issue before voters. has anyone told you that presidential elections DON'T work like american idol?

[mosh]

01:30 PM on 08/22/2008

Unfortunately, for the thinking among us, presidential elections do work like American Idol -

and congressional elections work more along the lines of Let's Make a Deal.

[IslandGyal]

12:48 AM on 08/22/2008

Obviously it was a lie, since it's now Friday August 22, and we still don't know who it is. It reeks of nonsense anyway(s), since Senator Obama is not telling his staff, and IF his campaign did set-up to have stuff printed, those folks would be subjected to some type of disclosure agreement, so are we to believe that some joe shmo will be able to scoop them? That's ridiculous on his merits alone.