Blog Buzz: Veep Frenzy, Poll Shows McCain Leads Obama, Convention News

Our daily look at stories and topics that are lighting up the Internets:

Veepstakes

The veep watch frenzy continues as John McCain's campaign eyes Joe Lieberman and Barack Obama narrows in on Joseph Biden and Tim Kaine. Conservative bloggers strongly agree that the pro-choice Lieberman (or any other candidate who supports abortion rights) is the wrong choice, but McCain is still coy about his decision. Liberal bloggers think the only reason McCain is throwing around the idea of a veep who backs abortion rights is to prove he has an open mind on the issue. (Post your thoughts: Should McCain select a pro-choice candidate?) On the Obama front, rumors surround Tim Kaine (one blogger is already calling him the veep) and Joe Biden, who liberals say would be a good choice and conservatives are skewering for his "foot-in-mouth disease." Whomever Obama picks, should he have waited so long to do it?

Polls

The latest Reuters/Zogby poll shows John McCain leading Barack Obama by 5 percentage points. Most liberal bloggers aren't too freaked out by the results from a "discredited" pollster like Zogby. One blogger says two other developments showing an Obama slump still aren't cause for panic, but others say the Zogby poll could be a warning sign. Even conservative bloggers recognize that the results are questionable; some are still encouraged, while others wonder if they mean anything at all.

Conventions

The Republican National Committee has released the full list of convention speakers, with Joe Lieberman slated to speak on opening night. Liberal bloggers call the senator "sad," say his speech marks the end of his relationship with the Democratic Party, and suggest he will be John McCain's running mate. In other convention news, Rudy Giuliani will give the keynote speech at the GOP convention, and reports are surfacing that the Obama campaign lied about free tickets to his convention speech.

—Gretchen Hannes