Relative numbers

The McCain campaign is letting it slip that they intend to announce his VP on Aug 29, but what really caught me was this,

The campaign has begun building a crowd of 10,000 for Dayton, Ohio, according to an organizer.

Probably the biggest campaign event of McCain's year, and they're having to "build" a crowd of only 10,000? How long would it take for the Obama folks to "build a crowd" of 10,000?

(Also, McCain is really fueling speculation about Tom Ridge. This article says that McCain's first appearance with his VP is scheduled for Pennsylvania (although that could easily change,) and the Politico Playbook says "the McCain campaign has been calling key state GOP officials around the country the last couple of days and sounding them out about the consequences of a pro-choice VP pick."

My guess is that they're using the environment to try and take some limelight from the Obama campaign. The talkers would grant whole shows to "Could McCain pick pro-choice?")

And, don't miss FirstRead on McCain and Aug 29.

By the way, there are three reasons why an August 29 VP announcement for McCain could be a problem: 1) it will come as nearly every political reporter -- save those actually following McCain -- is headed on a flight from Denver to the Twin Cities; 2) it occurs at the start of the Labor Day weekend, when many Americans are probably headed to the nearest beach or lake; and 3) it’s the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Still, the upsides of picking that day: 1) it immediately forces the national press corps to turn its attention away from Obama and to McCain; 2) it steps on McCain's 72nd birthday a tad; and 3) it creates a little buzz going into the weekend of what could be one of those bad press weeks for the Republican Party, as many media outlets focus on all the Republicans NOT showing up to the convention and the Bush-Cheney opening night potential dud.

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