Obama: Wud U like 2 kno my VP 1st?

The presumptive Democratic nominee for President said over the weekend that subscribers to his text messaging list would be the first to find out his vice presidential choice.

Alerting users of such important news via text is only the latest way Barack Obama has turned his back on political conventions. Typically, such an announcement comes during a carefully staged rally or campaign event. While such an event may still happen, it surely wouldn't have the suspense of other campaigns.

The message sent out Sunday night read, "Barack will announce his VP candidate choice through txt message between now & the Conv. Tell everyone to text VP to 62262 to be the first to know! Please forward."

Sen. Obama has regularly been using his texting lists to promote special appearances, campaign news, and even to solicit donations and volunteers. About two dozen texts have been sent to supporters since the campaign first started the program last year. Other 2008 candidates including Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Mitt Romney also used texting, but not to the extent Obama has.

Political pundits are widely expecting Obama to announce his choice sometime next week, about a week before the August 25 start of the Democratic Convention in Denver. However, the announcement via text could come earlier than that, possibly sometime this week.