Kerry’s silence on the VP issue is turning the press corps into stalkers :

Kerry has been in the Capitol infrequently this year as he pursues the presidency. But on this day, the man whose days are normally a frenzy of campaign activity spent hours chatting amiably with colleagues on the senate floor, giving fellow Democrats an overview of his campaign at a closed-door lunch and posing with 99 other senators for the formal portrait of the 108th Congress.

He got a high-five greeting from Sen. Barbara Boxer of California; a kiss from Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and a thumbs-up from Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa. “Our next president is in there. He was fantastic,” Boxer said after attending the lunch.

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who rejected overtures that he join Kerry on a ticket that crossed party lines, walked by him on the senate floor at one point and leaned over to greet his fellow Vietnam War veteran. Kerry remained seated, the two men grasped hands and chatted briefly.
. . .
Edwards, a first-term North Carolina senator, was present on the senate floor for nearly the entire time in the morning that Kerry mingled, but the two men stayed in separate orbits.

They met a few hours later, when they repaired to a small room and closed the doors for a private word. The session did not appear on either man’s schedule and lasted only a few minutes.Aides to Kerry sought to minimize the political significance of the meeting. For his part, the Massachusetts senator appeared taken aback afterward when he realized photographers were waiting for the two men to leave the room. He spoke to senate aides, who then informed waiting photographers he did not wish to have his picture taken.

Whatever the significance of the meeting, Edwards has influential supporters in the jockeying that accompanies the selection of a running mate.

“After the meeting, Kerry had two cans of Diet Coke, read pages 24-38 of Clinton’s new memoir, and went to the bathroom. Although aides refuse to disclose whether the senate nominee went number one or number two, Kerry’s fondness for diet soda suggests that he had to pee-pee.”

Seriously though, I love that Kerry’s being so tight-lipped about his selection process. The buzz he’s creating about this whole process is great for the Kerry campaign, since every “Who’s he gonna pick?” story likely means that there’s one less “Kerry is a waffler” (how original). I saw drag this thing out as long as you can get away with it.