Obama might have liked to make his pick earlier. In 2004, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts announced his running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, 20 days before the start of the Democratic convention and enjoyed nearly three weeks of positive news coverage.
"It's really about shelf life," said Devine, a strategist for Kerry's campaign. "Can you turn the four days of the convention into a 10- or 12-day story?"
But Kerry wrapped up the nomination in February, giving him several months to vet prospective running mates. Obama, who dueled Clinton into early June, has had less than half that time to consider his options.
McCain, like Kerry, quickly captured his party's nomination. He too is believed to have a short list, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. But McCain has a strong incentive to wait until Obama has revealed his selection.
"Going second works to his advantage," said Scott Reed, who ran Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. "He can adjust his final decision based on the Obama ticket."
For that reason, McCain is expected to announce his decision no sooner than Aug. 29, the day after the end of the Democratic convention and, as it happens, his 72nd birthday.
It used to be that running mates were selected by convention delegates, who were free to disregard the preferences of the candidate at the top of the ticket. That changed in 1940, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt insisted, as a condition of seeking a third term, that he have Henry Wallace as his running mate.
With that precedent, presidential candidates began choosing their own running mates, and the custom soon took hold. Just a few conventions later, in 1956, Democrat Adlai Stevenson was criticized for leaving the vice presidential selection up to delegates.
"People expected him to choose his own running mate," said Joel K. Goldstein, a St. Louis University expert on the vice presidency. "When he failed to do so, people said it proved he was not sufficiently decisive to be president."
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mark.barabak@latimes.com
