Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/new-ads-running-mate-rumors-fuel-presidential-campaign Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Days before the national party conventions begin, the campaign trail is heating up as Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama release new ads and the poll gap between them tightens. Political reporters discuss the race. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: There's the vice presidential build-ups, new polls, and negative ads, among other things, with the national party conventions now only days away.For a reporting look at where the campaign stands tonight, we go to Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA Today, and Adam Nagourney, chief political reporter for the New York Times.OK, Susan, who has Barack Obama chosen? You reported today — your paper reported today that he said he's chosen the running mate. Now, who is it? SUSAN PAGE, USA Today: ┬áWell, we're taking it the first step. My colleague, Kathy Kiley, had an interview with Barack Obama in Chester, Va., this afternoon. He said he'd made his decision. He wouldn't tell us if he had told the person he chose about that yet.We can only assume he told his choice before he told us, but we don't know who it is. I do think, though, that things are now in motion and it's only a matter of hours before we start getting leaks on who it is. JIM LEHRER: Adam, do you agree? What about the so-called Biden buzz, the Joe Biden buzz? It was in the wires today. Is that real? ADAM NAGOURNEY, Chief Political Correspondent, New York Times: Yes, it's real as, I think, any of this stuff is. I mean, the sort of conventional wisdom is that there are three candidates out there, Joe Biden, Even Bayh, and Tim Kaine, the governor of Virginia.I don't think anyone really knows. I mean, some of it's some reporting. Some of it's sort of informed guessing.In terms of timing, they've done a very good job of keeping this a secret. And I can see where Susan would be right that this is going to start leaking out tonight, but I can also see, knowing these guys — and they're very deliberate, they know what they want to do — that they might put it off a day.And, in fact, Senator Barack Obama might not tell his running mate, his new running mate until tomorrow or even tomorrow night or even Saturday morning.As far as we know — and, again, we're just trying to read some tea leaves here — the first time they're going to appear together publicly is going to be Saturday in Springfield, Ill., which is the place where, on a very cold morning about two years ago, Senator Barack Obama announced for the presidency. JIM LEHRER: And Abraham Lincoln had a connection there, too… JIM LEHRER: … early on, yes, right.