LIGHTNING ROUND: THE MEDIA IS TO THE VEEPSTAKES AS BLACK HOLES ARE TO LIGHT.

• Running mate announcement watch: Barack Obama will make an appearance with his VP pick in Springfield, IL, on Saturday, the same location where he announced his candidacy in February 2007. It is unknown at this time whether the identity of the veep will be disclosed in advance. Personally, I would like to see the veep jump out from behind a curtain, preferably one colored a lush burgundy (or lavender) and made of crushed velvet, to the sounds of trumpeting horns - that's the only way I see for the announcement to live up to the hype of the veepstakes. In other news, John McCain also made the revelation that his veep choice will be announced on August 29 in Dayton, OH -- the day after the gavel closes the Democratic National Convention.
• National Review reports that John McCain has been contacting state GOP officials to sound out the feasibility of a pro-choice VP pick, most likely Joe Lieberman. Another possibility being floated by the Cornerites is Rudy Giuliani, which could produce a truly awesome vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and America's Mayor.
• Al Gore is scheduled to speak on the final night of the Democratic National Convention -- and on the same stage at Invesco Field where Barack Obama will give his acceptance speech. The campaign is mum on the time slot.
• A New York Times/CBS News poll of DNC delegates asked who their preferred running mate is. Hillary Clinton topped the list with 28 percent (although fully one third offered no opinion). The next highest pick was Joe Biden, at 6 percent.
• Greg Sargent reports that John McCain is outspending Barack Obama by hundreds of thousands of dollars in battleground state television advertising. But as Sean at FiveThirtyEight points out, and I concur, these figures don't begin to reckon with the vast sums Obama has sunk into his field operations compared to McCain's very modest -- in some cases nonexistent -- efforts.
• The Washington Times has a write-up on Obama's "southern strategy" but I recommend the Salon.com discussion between Bob Moser and Prospect alum Tom Schaller for more rigorous analysis on the relevance of Dixie to Democrats this election cycle.
• New national polls: Quinnipiac University has Obama ahead of McCain by five points among likely voters, 47-42 and a L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll has Obama up by two, 45-43.
• Chris Cillizza does some solid reporting on Democratic challenger Andrew Rice's chances of taking away Republican James Inhofe's Senate seat in Oklahoma. The verdict: the race is on the "national radar," but unlikely to flip now or in the near future.
• And Finally, McCain campaign blogger Michael Goldfarb apologizes for insulting Dungeons & Dragons fans. Haven't gotten near a non-computer-based RPG in over a decade so maybe I'm out of touch, but I had no idea this constituency was such a valued part of the GOP base.

--Mori Dinauer