VEEPWATCH: Obama Winning High-Stakes Expectations Game

Barack Obama is winning the vice presidential race.

No, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president is not preparing to flip his ticket position. He's winning the fight for the centerstage position that a well-managed roll-out of a veep prospect affords a president candidate.

Obama's got everyone waiting to learn the identity of his selection of a running mate for the 2008 Democratic ticket.

Television crews have cameras stationed outside the homes of the "possibles" and even some of the "impossibles." They're at the airport with cameras aimed at Obama's campaign plane.

It's a classic Obama Drama.

And guess who is watching most closely?

John McCain, the man Republicans will run against Obama in the fall.

Of the two major-party presidential contenders, McCain is the advantaged player in this high-stakes poker game.

The Republican gets to see the Democrat's hand hefore he has to show his own.