Another veepstakes rumor

Marc Ambinder says the scuttlebutt is that Crazy Cousin John will announce his running mate Monday. Fine, I'll wait for Monday.

The game of speculating over running mates, and pundits pushing this or that possibility, bores me to tears. It's like kids who spend weeks wondering what gifts they'll get on Christmas morning, but worse, in that so many people claim to have the inside scoop on what's going on.

There may be a certain amount of trial-ballooning that goes on -- names being floated via press leaks to see how people react -- but most of it's just gossip. In the end, candidates usually pick either a blindingly obvious choice (Kerry and John Edwards) or they come up with a name so obscure that none of the pundits guessed it (Bush 41 and Dan Quayle). And beyond the genuine disasters (e.g., Thomas Eagleton) running-mate choices almost never have any real political impact.

Just wait until Dec. 25, kids. It will be here soon enough.