[Final Update 10:21] Thanks, everyone. FoxNews is reporting that this is now a Tale of Two Planes: a LearJet that originally left Anchorage two days ago and flew to Flagstaff (the airport nearest McCain's Sedona compound). That plane left yesterday at noon and landed in Ohio a little after 7 PM last night. The second plane left Anchorage last night and flew directly to Ohio. The same minivans met both planes and took the passengers and luggage away. It looks like Palin. Let the games begin! -JR
[update 10:15] Chuck Todd says there is not yet a second source on Palin (I guess the Chicago Tribune and Harwood have the same source, since Todd says he still needs a second source before confirming), and that he won't confirm a story with a single source: can we get him on MTP, please? He also reports that Whitman is elsewhere, and that Tom Ridge is at an unknown location, but won't confirm it isn't anyone other than Romney and Pawlenty.
[update 10:08] FleetAdmiralJ is running GOP VP Speculation THREAD II, so perhaps it's time for the conversation to migrate. I'll likely update a few more times, but let's start shifting to the other thread (then HE can watch Fox all morning, ha ha!).
[update 10:02] Fox sent a 'reporter' to the airport where the chartered Gulfstream landed, and showed a picture of Palin to the manager who was there and saw the plane's occupants, and he was unable or unwilling to firmly identify the passenger as Palin. But he's also saying that the minivans that picked up the passengers were there earlier to pick up passengers from a flight out of Flagstaff, AZ, so it does look like the Alaska flight was campaign-related.
[update 9:55] We're apparently not the only obsessives outside the media: it looks like RedState has crashed.
[update 9:50] Via ekthesy in the comments, John Harwood reports on CNBC.com that Palin IS the pick, according to his source. So it's CNBC and its anonymous source versus ABC and Palin's spokesperson now.
[update 9:47] FWIW, FauxNews is now saying that the plane that landed at Middleton, OH last night from Anchorage had on board "a woman in her mid-forties and several teenagers," which would, of course, be consistent with Palin and her spawn. None of the Alaska paper websites seem to have anything on her up right now, and I can't find any evidence that anyone in Alaska has seen Palin since that plane took off last night.
[update 9:41] McCain is just teasing everyone now: he's sent his economic adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer to torment the MSNBC crew. Mika is teasing that John Harwood might have something, but she won't read it on the air.
[update 9:37] Missed this: Mike Allen at Politico is reporting that Karl Rove thinks it's Palin, and FoxNews is now discussing Palin's current scandals. Fox is also talking to Mark Sanford, who says he hasn't been vetted and is in Columbia, SC. Sanford thinks that it could go any way.
[update 9:34] FauxNews is keeping Whitman and Palin in the mix, as well as Ridge, Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham. I assume if there was a legitimate leak, they'd get it first from the McCain camp.
[update 9:25] Jonathan Martin at POLITICO now claims it is NOT Lieberman, and Mike Murphy on MSNBC is now reading an email directly from Romney saying he isn't going to be in Dayton today. Marshall Wittman is saying he doesn't think it's Lieberman. And Scarborough is now snarkily attacking Mika on MSNBC--is there any bridge he won't burn this week? (that last point is not really VP related, but what else is there to talk about other than the newscasters tripping over their own two feet left and right today?)
[update 9:14] MSNBC CONFIRMS FROM TWO SOURCES: LIEBERMAN IS IN DAYTON TODAY--pleasepleaseplease!!!!
[update 9:11] John King on CNN is saying his "very well-informed Repubican" source is saying "keep [Palin] in the mix: she's a very strong contender on this"...don't count her out "just because her office has told us she's in Alaska"
[update 9:07] MSNBC's crew is now throwing around the possibilities of Condi Rice, Colin Powell (though Andrea Mitchell is flatly saying that's not a possibility based on her reporting), Lieberman, and Ridge.
On MSNBC, Scarborough just reported that ABC is confirming that Sarah Palin is still in Alaska, and has scheduled events today.
MSNBC is not yet confirming this information.
I don't know if it's correct or accurate or not, but we're getting nice and obsessive about this, so let's start listing who it ISN'T:
-Pawlenty
-Whitman
-Romney
-Palin
Who else from the short-list is left?
JOE FREAKIN' LIEBERMAN
In any event, we're at a point where the constant stream of update diaries is getting nuts, so I'm offering this as a thread for updates and additional speculation. If anything breaks while I'm paying attention, I'll post it as an update above the fold and move info down as space concerns dictate.