So Barack Obama’s campaign plans on announcing his running mate via text message.

It’s rarer to find text messaging or communications systems charging on a per character basis these days. But if brevity, and the ability to fit a message on a small screen plays into Obama’s choice (wink, wink) that doesn’t narrow the list of the most discussed choices:

evanbayh (8 characters)
timkaine (8 characters)
joebiden (8 characters)

But it’s also good news for:

wesclark (8 characters)

It’s close, but no cigar, for:

timroemer (9 characters) tonyzinni (9 characters) edrendell (9 characters) chrisdodd (9 characters)

Nevermind the affair, the length of the name is bad for:

johnedwards (11 characters)

Bad news for:

hillaryclinton (14 characters)
billrichardson (14 characters)

Really bad news for:

janetnapolitano (15 characters)
clairemccaskill (15 characters)
kathleensebelius (16 characters)

But if the criteria is the shortest name to text-message, the pick will be…

samnunn (7 characters)