Curtains for Kaine?

August 21, 2008— -- Barack Obama said on Thursday that he has settled upon a running mate.

He did not, however, reveal his selection.

The only thing that seems certain (or close to certain) at this point is that it's not Tim Kaine. The Virginia governor began referring to the process in the past tense after meeting with the presumptive Democratic nominee in Virginia.

"I've always thought it seemed a bit unlikely but I'm not going to tell you it hadn't been fun," said Kaine, per ABC News' Jen Duck.

Pressed about his use of past tense, Kaine said "I'll let you be the grammar judge although I've never been known for accuracy in grammar so it would be hard to scrutinize my grammar and make a conclusion."

Asked if he has been let in on any conversations surrounding the Democratic veepstakes, Kaine said "I'm going to let the campaign take it from here. They're going to reveal what they want to reveal when they want to reveal it."

"It's been nice to be mentioned but I'm going to let them do the heavy lifting at this point," he added.

While Kaine appears to be out of the running for VP, he played an amiable attack dog on Thursday morning television when he went after John McCain for directing a question about how many houses he owns to his staff.

"I understand that Sen. McCain was asked yesterday this question, 'how many houses do you own?,' and he couldn't answer that question. He couldn't count high enough apparently to even know how many houses he owns," said Kaine while appearing on CNN's "American Morning."

Watch it here.

The Kicker:

"I'll have my staff get to you."

--John McCain to Politico's Mike Allen when asked how many houses he and his wife own

Listen to the audio

Does the Governor's schedule reveal he's out? Kaine on the veepstakes. LINK

Political Real Estate
Sen. McCain 's gaffe leaves the door open for Obama campaign attacks. LINK

Obama: McCain Out of Touch
Sen. Obama chides Sen. McCain for not knowing how many houses he owns. LINK

Presidential Race a Dead Heat
New polls suggest race is tighter than expected. LINK

McCain's VP Dilemma
The senator is considering a pro-choice No. 2, despite resistance from base. LINK

Condoleezza's Surprise Iraq Visit
The secretary of state is in Baghdad to discuss a security deal. LINK

Remembering Stephanie Tubbs Jones
The congresswoman of Ohio died of a brain hemorrhage at age 58. LINK

Obama Respects McCain, Not His Message
In swing states, the Obama campaign airs ads attacking McCain's policies. LINK

Obama Ad Hits McCain on his 7 Homes
A new ad released by the Obama campaign paints McCain as being out of touch. LINK