The world is watching presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama are yet to announce their running mates in the race to the White House. Who will Obama pick ask bloggers from all walks of life.

Jotman, from Thailand, asks “Who is Obama's Vice President?” Rooting for an Obama-Hillary ticket, Jotman writes:

The fact Obama has held off until the last minute to announce his running mate would seem to auger well for Hillary Clinton. In the last few days, it has become more clear that McCain is catching up. Having Hillay behind him could probably give Obama far more electoral support than any other pick. He needs Hillary's legions of working-class supporters — voters Obama has yet to win over..

Obama is in trouble. According to the Democratic Party's pollster, among independent voters, Obama led polls by 14% a few months ago, but today, among independents, he is behind McCain by 10%.

There is certain excitement about combining Obama and Clinton on the one ticket. Call it the “fire and ice” factor. I think if Obama truly believes Hillary will help him to secure his victory, he will pick her.

The speculations at Jotman continue with an announcement that Obama's choice is set on Evan Bayh – a Senator for Indiana.

According to SF Gate, a company which specializes in political literature,* is printing Obama-Bayh bumper stickers. Evan Bayh is the U.S. Senator for Indiana.

Bayh appears somewhat lacking in the foreign policy experience. . . .
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* The company in question is Gill Studios, which actually invented
the bumper sticker.
Update: Obama will announce his choice at 10:00 EST.
Update: Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia, is off the list.
Update: Huff Post report says Bayh is not the VP choice

In an earlier post, Jotman backed Joe Biden as Obama's Vice-President, saying an endearing quality is Biden's heat when compared to Obama's cool. He further adds:

Biden is at once charismatic and gracious; in a word, he looks like a statesman. What more could Obama ask for in a running mate?

A Political Glimpse from Ireland has another take, saying it could be someone we don't expect:

Senator Biden is now the most likely choice according to the market but this is probably due to his trip to Georgia. Governor Sebelius is slightly below him but I imagine this is because she is a popular choice but not the most likely due to the Obama campaign stating they would not choose a female VP. So where does that leave us? I don’t know and like many people have said, it could be someone we don’t even suspect.

Sunny, writing at Indian Pickled Politics, says his “gut feeling” is that Obama will select John Kerry. His reasons are:

Firstly because John Kerry is a known name that Americans (Democrats) will be comfortable with, and Obama needs this because there’s chunk of Democrats still avoiding him because of racism.
Secondly, Obama needs a strong attack dog if he is to challenge the smears that McCain is putting out. Kerry’s the only person doing that right now – the rest of the VP candidates have been very quiet on this front. Kerry came within a whisker of beating Bush last time. If he can hold on to those Democrats, and combine that with the added number of new African-American and younger voters, they’ll cruise through.

According to Canadian Darryl Wolk:

The more I think about it, the more I cannot understand why Obama would name anyone besides Hillary as VP

Among Wolk's reasons are:

What would be a better way to overshadow the Republican convention than to name Hillary VP and steal the headlines for the next couple of weeks. Poll after poll shows that far and away Democrats prefer Obama to select Hillary. I think a major opportunity would be lost going with a lesser known candidate. With the exception of Al Gore, I cannot think of any name in the top tier that would be anything more than a total letdown if selected.

In an earlier post Wolk lists all the likely candidates before asking the million dollar question: Who will Obama pick?

His answer is:

My money is on Joe Biden. His trip up to Georgia and recent campaigning could be a good indication he is the favourite inside the Obama camp. Offers good foreign affairs experience that can complement Obama's weaknesses and lack of experience. Had the best plan for withdrawl of Iraq in a responsible fashion. Has great relations with world leaders and the Senate. Although he sometimes speaks off the cuff, he offers a low enough profile to avoid overshadowing Obama on the ticket while at the same time is recognized nationally due to his time in the Senate. Likely a safer choice than other names mentioned.

And Wolk‘s final prediction is:

Obama picks Joe Biden this week despite pressure from Hillary Clinton supporters to go with the “Dream Ticket”.