McCain Makes Vice Presidential Pick, but Choice is Still a Well-Kept Secret

Just hours before presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain is expected to announce his running mate, the speculation over who the pick will be has reached frenzied proportions.

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McCain, R-Ariz., is scheduled to announce his choice at a noon rally in Dayton, Ohio, and just who the pick is has become the best-kept secret in politics.

ABC News has confirmed that two of the presumed finalists are no longer in contention: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will not join McCain on the Republican ticket.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, according to her spokeswoman Sharon Leighow, will not be on hand for the McCain event in Dayton but instead plans to be at the State Fair in Alaska.

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Another curve ball is the fact that other possible pick, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., is already in Ohio to attend the rally. But the McCain campaign says VIPs are gathering to show unity behind the new ticket.

McCain Makes VP Pick After Obama's Big Speech

The timing of McCain's vice presidential roll out is tricky.

Out of respect for Sen. Barack Obama, who accepted the Demoratic nomination Thursday night before 84,000 people at the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention, the McCain campaign does not want the announcement to leak out and step on Obama's moment.

There's a danger the news will leak once contenders are notified they are not the pick, which happened last week when Obama told Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh they had not been selected.

At the same time, the pick presumeably needs some lead time to fly to Ohio with a speech ready to deliver -- and be in place for the noon event. As of Thursday night, contenders were scattered from coast to coast.

However, any of the contenders could "appear" at the rally in Ohio via satellite.