With Barack Obama expected to announce at any time the name of his running mate every little bit of detail is being scrutinised to the nth degree to try to guess who the chosen one will be.

One person who had been highly tipped was the former Governor of Virginia and, incidentally, was alongside Obama one of my two long-shot tips for the President in 2005 and 2006.

Last night the announcement that he would be speaking on the Tuesday night of the Denver convention seemed to suggest that he might be out of the running – the V-P nominee is due to speak on Wednesday. This has been further reinforced by the usually well-informed Mark Ambinder who says that Warner refused to subject himself to the vetting that all V-P possibles were asked to go through.

This latest news has led to suggestions that second favourite, Tim Kaine. the current governor of Virginia might be the man.

From a betting perspective this is all crazy. The smartest ones are those who have kept well out – sadly that does not include me.

Mike Smithson