McCain's Harriet Miers?

Political traders at Intrade are now betting on the likelihood that Sarah Palin, McCain's VP pick, will be withdrawn. The new prediction market contract, which was unveiled this morning and is currently trading at 13, comes on the heels of Palin's acknowledgement this weekend that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.

With the McCain campaign still too reticent regarding the rigor of its vetting process for some party loyalists, a handful of conservative bloggers are already expressing (pregnant) pause at their candidate's choice.

Still, Politickr is convinced that John Edwards would sooner claim responsibility for this pregnancy than John McCain would throw Palin under the bus for her straight talk. Any such acknowledgement that his first major presidential decision was so badly mismanaged would surely doom his candidacy. As a result, the new contract is a screaming short.

Other than the tabloids, the biggest winner here appears to be Intrade itself. The new contract has provided major news outlets, like Reuters, The Washington Post, and Huffington Post, with the news peg they need to write about a topic that has so far only generated off-the-record whispers.

Breaking: Pawlenty Crashes, Romney Rejected, Sarah Palin Surges

In a blog post entitled "Pawlenty Out of the Running for McCain's Vice President," the NY Times' Michael Cooper wrote: "Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota said in a radio interview on Friday morning that he planned to be at the Minnesota state fair on Friday, not here in Dayton with Senator John McCain. When he was asked if that means he would not be Mr. McCain’s running mate, Mr. Pawlenty told WCCO radio that 'I think that’s a fair assumption.'’’

So much for this Red State report from last night.

NBC and FOX claim Romney isn’t McCain’s selection, sending his shares spiraling more than 65 points on Intrade in the last hour.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, however, is up more than 45 points this morning in frantic trading. Mark Halperin reports that a a Gulfstream IV arrived in Middletown, Ohio from Anchorage, Alaska Thursday night. Middletown is not far from Dayton, where McCain seems poised to shock the punditocracy with his pick.