John McCain Veep Watch: Campaign And GOP Sources Toy With Reporters

As John McCain arrived in Dayton, Ohio, where he will be announcing his vice presidential running mate today at noon Eastern time, he kept his Veep choice close to the vest. This hasn't stopped the massive speculation from running wild.

Starting with Tim Pawlenty who is the current Governor of Minnesota, with a very conservative record and was reported to be high on McCain's short list, we see that The Politico says that Pawlenty states he was "honored to be considered" but he will not be in Dayton Ohio today, despite previous reports that all the presidential candidates would appear with McCain in Ohio when he announces. Moving along to Sarah Palin, the first woman and youngest Governor of Alaska, elected in 2006 after she defeated the incumbent governor in the Republican primary, then a former Democratic Alaskan governor in the general election. Where initial reports from ABC News' Political Radar claimed she was still in Alaska watching the fireworks, yet later reports, though unconfirmed from CNBC say that Republican strategists claim Palin is the nominee.

Gulfstream IV from Anchorage, Alaska, flew into Middletown Regional Airport in Butler County near Cincinnati about 10:15 p.m. Thursday, said Rich Bevis, airport manager.

He said several people came off the plane, including a woman and two teens, but there was no confirmation of who was aboard.

"They were pretty much hustled off. They came right down the ramp, jumped in some vans here and off they went," Bevis said. "It was all hush, hush."

Palin's official website is also down for the moment, just as a piece of trivia, with people speculating that major changes are being made to it. That same report claims Mitt Romney, also said to be on the short list claims he will not be attending, although earlier reports stated he on his way to Ohio. Toying with the media a little more, Marc Ambinder reports that one sources tells him that Romney was asked by the McCain campaign to be in Dayton, Ohio, while yet another source claims Romney will be in Boston. Earlier it was reported at Digital Journal.Com by Sadiq Green that NBC had announced the choice would not be Romney. The Swamp claims that sources have told them that Sarah Palin is definitely the choice. Campaign officials have refused to confirm. Mike Huckabee, acknowledging the rampant speculation in the media, sends a personal note to his supporters saying he will not be in Dayton and thanking them for all of their support. he says that despite media reports about him having been considered for the vice presidential position, he was not contacted at any time during the process about the possibility. Another tidbit of trivia comes from CBS, which shows that in a C BS News/New York Times poll, 38 percent of GOP delegates, chose Mitt Romney as the top vice presidential choice, far ahead of the second place candidate which was Mike Huckabee with only 7 percent. It is clear the McCain campaign as well Republican sources from all over have made a concentrated effort to make sure the news was not reported and/or confirmed until John McCain was ready to do so himself. Perhaps learning from last week when the media blew Barack Obama's choice before he was able to send his supporters who signed up to the first to know, their emails and text messages, when Secret Service was dispatched to Joe Biden's house and media was able to get the Obama campaign to confirm the choice. Either way, the announcement is due to be made in an hour and everyone will know.