DNC Preps For VP Pick

"We're ready no matter who he picks," says Mike Gehrke, the DNC's research chief. "Republicans have a habit of pulling surprises." So: "We've dramatically expanded what the DNC has done previously and tied it in tighter with the message team earlier."  15 different picks were thoroughly vetted by the DNC... Gehrke won't say who. What about an independent Democrat named Lieberman? "No names," he says. To prepare, the team held conference calls with local officials in the potential picks' home cities and states. And a website to heckle the pick has already been set up.

But the DNC and the Obama campaign have special VP boiler rooms ready to go in Denver and Chicago. As soon as the pick is announced, those operations will pounce.