Sen. Jim Webb will moderate three panels at George Mason University regarding drug trafficking, policy, and criminal sentencing this coming Oct. 15.

Beginning at 8 a.m. and running through noon, the three panels are: How do drugs get into the United States and how are they distributed? Combating Drug Crime. And, What’s happening to users?

For more information on the event, contact Kate Zinsser: (703) 993-9699, kzinsser@gmu.edu. RSVPs are required by Monday, Oct. 13.

Drudge is reporting that the New York Times has found out that Barack Obama will announce his Vice President pick as early as tomorrow:

Obama has set an elaborate roll-out to announce his decision that will begin with an early morning e-mail to supporters, perhaps as early as Tuesday, Zeleny and Adam Nagourney have been told.

A top source close to Caroline Kennedy tells DRUDGE — the pick is more likely to come early Wednesday morning.

Wednesday Obama is hitting Martinsville with Mark Warner (by invitation only) in the morning and then Lynchburg with Jim Webb (open to the public). Thursday will supposedly see Obama in Richmond.

A Vice President announcement from Obama in the next two days that finds him spending an awful lot of time in Virginia might be a good sign for Tim Kaine’s chances.

UPDATE: The NYT article is up:

If all goes according to plan, the announcement will be made with text and e-mail messages to supporters early in the morning, in time to capture coverage on the morning news shows and take advantage of a full day’s news cycle. Mr. Obama and his new running mate will than begin a cross-country tour; current plans call for them to on the trail together for most of the time between the day of the announcement and when Mr. Obama arrives in Denver, a week from Wednesday.

Mr. Obama’s schedule calls for him to awake Tuesday morning in Orlando, Fla., and by the end of the day be in Raleigh, N.C. By Wednesday, he is scheduled to be in Virginia. The Obama campaign has cautioned against reading anything into his schedule, saying it could be changed in an instant to accommodate the plan to introduce the running mate.

Aides said the announcement would come at the earliest on Wednesday morning, and no later than Friday.

The president finally put his money where his mouth is and is rescinding the executive order (signed by his dad) that banned offshore drilling. Now it’s up to Congress to ultimately lift the moratorium.

Also, Sen. Webb has stated that drilling is an option.

How did I miss this last week? Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), when at a book signing in Arlington, made comments advocating for nuclear and coal as alternative energy sources. This is sure to get the left in a twist.

Since September 2006, there has been speculation on the web, particularly here in Virginia, that Webb might not make it the whole six years as our U.S. Senator and would likely be on any of the then-unknown Democratic nominee’s vice presidential short list. However, Dale Eisman’s article today in the Virginian-Pilot makes it appear that this is somehow a new phenomenon.

Although Virginia blogs have weighed-in on the subject for years, Eisman chooses as his examples national blogs, including an international one from…Australia? And, instead of having any blogger quoted on the significance of these predictions, Eisman trots out three political science professors almost in an effort to diminish or demean the internet discussions.

It almost read to me to be an apology of the traditional v. the new. Of MSM and acedamia v. Web 2.0.

I had a chance to see Sen. Jim Webb’s endorsement of Leslie Byrne for Congress, which in all likelihood is a payback for her endorsement of him in 2006, and was struck not by its blatant defeatist mentality (which is certainly there), but this key line buried at the end of the literature in the small print:

The Virginian-Pilot writes today that Sen. Webb is still a possible candidate for vice president — something we’ve been saying since Sept. 2006.

Also, Sen. Webb will be appearing on the following shows: