Last night, at about 3 a.m., anyone who signed up to be the first to know about Obama's veep selection received a text message on their cell phones announcing:

Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm ET on www.BarackObama.com. Spread the world!

We doubt that many people, other than reporters, bothered to "spread the word," except to perhaps groan, shove the loved one in bed beside them, and gesture wordlessly at the phone. But the Obama and McCain camps were already in full gear. Obama-Biden ads already appear on political Websites, and an attack spot featuring Biden's previously voiced skepticism about Obama has already been produced by the McCain campaign.

Expect cable news outlets to go nuts this weekend trying to figure out what this decision will mean for Obama. As far as we're concerned, we're prepared to wait and see how Biden, the well-regarded Delaware senator and chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, will affect the campaign. We've already learned more than we expected to this weekend — that Obama is way better at making 3 a.m. moves than Hillary Clinton ever predicted.

Obama Chooses Biden as Running Mate [NYT]