Barack Obama will be announcing his pick for Vice-Presidential Nominee first to his supporters. I think that is an extraordinary move for two reasons.

First of all, it allows him to update his database of contacts and email addresses. Even though I was already signed up, I had to provide my contact data one more time. I assume that Obama is going to use this extended database for fund raising in the fall.

Secondly, it’s nice that his supporters will know something ahead of the media, although I suspect that every single journalist in the states will sign up already.

Can German parties learn from that lesson? Would be nice if Kurt Beck or Walter Steinmeier announce their decision on the candidate for the German SPD to the Party Members first.

I personally think that Kathleen Sibelius will be Obamas VP Choice, because of her profile as Governor of Kansas and her appeal to Clinton-Supporters (admittedly, there are some Clinton supporters who have warned Obama to pick a female VP other than Hillary Clinton, but I don’t think such a threat really had an impact).