(AFP) – Aug 22, 2008

CHICAGO (AFP) — Barack Obama's running mate was set to be unveiled in the coming hours with his Senate colleague Joseph Biden, a gaffe-prone foreign policy veteran, seemingly ahead of the pack.

A hotly awaited text message unveiling the Democratic White House hopeful's vice presidential pick was expected to be sent Saturday morning, a few hours before a campaign event scheduled in Springfield, Illinois.

US networks said Biden, 65, had emerged on top after Obama, according to unidentified sources, broke the news to two other contenders -- Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine -- that they were out.

ABC News said a detail of Secret Service agents had been sent to assume Biden's protection in preparation for his possible new role as an official candidate for high office.

The VP speculation went off the scale heading into next week's Democratic convention in Denver, where Obama and his VP pick will be formally anointed for November's election against Republican John McCain.

A Texan dark horse candidate called Chet Edwards, political literature supposedly confirming an Obama-Bayh ticket and evasive remarks from all concerned deepened the mystery all Friday over who Obama, 47, would choose.

The Illinois senator's campaign was resolutely tight-lipped, having promised to release the VP pick in an electronic blizzard of text messages and emails to registered supporters.

Obama says he has already selected his running mate and spent much of the day holed up in a downtown Chicago hotel to work on the convention acceptance speech he will deliver in a Denver stadium next Thursday.

He was expected to appear with his running mate at the rally Saturday afternoon in Springfield, president Abraham Lincoln's hometown where Obama first launched his White House bid in February 2007.

TV network crews were taking no chances, besieging the homes of the potential candidates and camping out at Chicago's Midway airport where Obama's custom-painted plane was parked on the tarmac for much of the day.

One politician apparently ruling herself out was Hillary Clinton, whom Obama vanquished for the Democratic nomination and who is now being watched attentively for any signs of unhappiness as she prepares to speak in Denver.

"I am not in that arena. This is his decision and I respect him to make it however he thinks is best for him and the country," the New York senator and former first lady told reporters.

Obama has said this week that he is looking for a principled running mate who is unafraid to speak his mind and tell his boss if policy is getting on the wrong track.

Biden, who is loquacious and pugnacious, would fit that bill. A Catholic native of Pennsylvania, he would also bring appeal to the kind of working-class voters with whom Obama has stuggled to connect.

Above all, the chairman of the Senate's foreign relations committee would bring decades of national security experience on board, having first been elected to Congress at the age of 29 in 1972.

On the campaign stump this week, Obama has singled out Biden for praise over his response to the crisis in Georgia and proposals to extend more US economic aid to Afghanistan.

But Biden's length of experience could also detract from Obama's promise to sweep away the Washington old guard, and Biden has a long record of verbal mis-steps.

Launching his own ill-fated shot at the Democratic nomination last year, Biden said of Obama: "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Biden apologized and Obama said he took no offence. But a year ago in a Democratic debate, Biden said something that will surely return to haunt him if he is the VP nominee.

Ahead of the debate he had said Obama "can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training." At the debate in Iowa, he said: "I think I stand by the statement."

McCain was also off the campaign trail Friday, finalizing his own VP pick days before the Democratic National Convention starts Monday to mark the formal start of hostilities for the November 4 election.

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