It came out a couple hours ago that secret service had been dispatched to begin protecting him. His entire extended family is at his house in Delaware, waiting for the announcement.

The official word will come in a text message from the Obama campaign in the morning, but at this point its pretty clear that Biden’s the one.

This Baltimore Sun piece from last week is priceless:

With Sen. Barack Obama retaining a slight lead in the polls, Sen. John McCain today threw caution to the wind and made one of the most audacious running-mate choices in American political history. Seeking to gain the most media exposure bang for the buck, the Arizona senator and presumptive Republican presidential nominee has asked Ronald Reagan to join his ticket.

“I carefully considered all the possible candidates,” said Mr. McCain. “And it was clear to me that Reagan beat them all, hands down. None of these guys today can hold a candle to the Gipper, dead or alive.”

When questioned about Ronald Reagan’s current breathing abilities, Senator McCain became visibly annoyed and reacted angrily.

“Yeah, duh, he’s dead,” said Mr. McCain. “So frigging what? He’s going to be the vice president. It’s not like we’re asking him to do anything productive.”

And wait, thats not all:

To counter Mr. McCain’s surprise move, Barack Obama made his own unconventional choice for a vice presidential running mate: himself.

“That’s right,” said Senator Obama. “After vetting the short list of potential Democrats, it was blindingly obvious that I was by far the most qualified.”

When questioned about the impossibility of succeeding himself as president if he dies in office, Mr. Obama assured American voters that in the unlikely event that he did die, he could just about guarantee a resurrection by the third day.

Its now almost 3pm and we still don’t know who Obama’s running mate is. The ideal time to announce would have been early this morning. Another two hours and people start going home for the weekend. People won’t be in front of their computers to get the news immediately.

I wonder if Obama really did make his choice a couple days ago. It doesn’t feel like this is scripted.

Erick Erickson muses along similar lines:

Maybe the reason this is taking so long is because they want to research whether The One needs more than One.

No doubt he’s also hacked off about having to add another name to the Obama ‘08 stuff.

The One doesn’t need anyone else. The empty suit does not think the suit needs filling out.

UPDATE: 5:00pm comes and goes… still nothing.

According to his own words:

“Obviously, the most important question is: Is this person ready to be president?” Obama told “The Early Show” on CBS. Second, he said, was: “Can this person help me govern? Are they going to be an effective partner in creating the kind of economic opportunity here at home and guiding us through some dangerous waters internationally?”

And, he added: “I want somebody who is going to be able to challenge my thinking and not simply be a ‘yes person’ when it comes to policymaking.

I have scanned every Democrat in my universe and cannot think of anyone that meets the above criteria.  Now, that’s gonna be a hard decision.

As of today, I believe it will be Tim Pawlenty and Joe Biden.

Consider this an open thread to post who you think it will be.