McCain Laughs Off Obama Trip Envy, Considers 'Bold Choice' for Veep

July 22, 2008 — -- Openly jealous of the lavish press coverage Sen. Barack Obama's world tour is getting, the campaign of Sen. John McCain is searching for the bold stroke that will steal the spotlight.

The campaign trail is abuzz with hints that McCain might have a July surprise -- naming his vice presidential running mate this week.

"They are frustrated in the McCain camp," ABC News' senior Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos told "Good Morning America" on Tuesday.

"I think that Senator McCain and his team will try to counter [the Obama trip] later with more interviews and are even suggesting there's some kind of surprise coming this week," Stephanopoulos said.

"The surprise is that John McCain is going to announce [his running mate]," he said.

The McCain camp has hinted they want to "scramble the jets" with the Republican's running mate choice -- meaning a "bold choice," according to Stephanopoulos.

McCain, R-Ariz., may also be trying grab the spotlight simply by teasing the public, suggested Stephanopoulos, who said that a running mate announcement this week is "conceivable, not likely."

Republicans have not been coy about their envy of the presidential-style press coverage Obama has received as he's made stops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

During a fund raiser Monday in Kennebunkport, Maine, McCain and former president George H.W. Bush laughed off questions about the scale of Obama's press coverage.

"We're jealous is all," Bush said.

They are jealous enough to post a Web video today mocking the press coverage of Obama.

McCain Looks for Limelight in Obama's Shadow

McCain has been left behind while Obama -- trailed by all three network anchors -- has met with the leaders of Afghanistan and Iraq, and consulted with America's top military commanders in the war zones.

The Democrat's world tour continues early this week through Jordan, where he will sit down with King Abdullah. Obama will have high-profile sessions Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, and he will visit the oft-rocketed Israeli border town of Sderot.

Obama will conclude his tour in Europe with a foreign policy speech at Berlin's historic Victory Column -- potentially in front of thousands -- in addition to stops in Paris and London.

Republicans are going to have to endure a few more days of headline-stealing settings and photo ops for Obama. The Democratic presidential candidate held a news conference at the majestically named Temple of Hercules in Jordan to talk about Iraq on Tuesday before continuing his world tour.

McCain, meanwhile, will hold a town hall meeting focused on energy and the economy in Rochester, N.H., on Tuesday, before traveling to Baltimore for another fundraiser.

Tempering Enthusiasm and Anti-American Sentiment

The Obama campaign expects a huge crowd when Obama speaks in Berlin later in the week.

"Who knows how big the crowd is going to be," Stephanopoulos said. There is a danger, Stephanopoulos said, that Obama could be hurt if the enthusiastic crowd takes on an anti-American cast.

So far, however, the trip has been a politician's dream.

"It's been better than they could have imagined," Stephanopoulos said, referring to Obama strategists.