All Indications Point to Biden

After a day of painful political drama craftily created by Sen. Barack Obama, several recent events and leaks indicate that Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware has been selected as Obama's running mate.

All day, much of the media and many other curious individuals (myself included) who waited for the imminent text message bearing the message of Obama's pick were sorely disappointed when no such message came.

But several news media sources confirmed tonight that Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia--the two other apparent finalists on Obama's short list--had been phoned by Obama telling them both personally that they had not been selected.

Also, a senior Democratic official who had spoken to Sen. Hillary Clinton earlier told CNN Friday night that the Obama campaign has communicated to Clinton through private channels that she would not be Obama's pick.

On top of that, ABC News reported that the U.S. Secret Service has dispatched a detail to assume the immediate protection of Biden at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. This is yet another indicator that Biden has been selected as Obama's running mate.

The Obama campaign has revealed that Obama's pick will be announced Saturday morning via text message, before he speaks in Springfield, Illinois--where he launched his campaign 20 months earlier--with his vice-presidential nominee (Biden) tomorrow afternoon.

After that, maybe all the hype will die down, and we can all (again, myself included) stop making a big deal out of something that will probably not even matter all that much in the end.