Slowly but surely the identity of Barack Obama's vice presidential nominee is coming into focus. That is, we may not know who the pick is but we know who it isn't.

Neither Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh nor Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine will be the number two man for Obama, according to the Associated Press. Both men were considered finalists for the job -- numbers two and three on The Fix's latest Veepstakes Line.

Earlier in the night, CNN's Jessica Yellin reported that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) was officially out of the running to be Obama's vice president. That report came after Politico's Mike Allen noted in a piece earlier in the day that Clinton had never been vetted by Obama.

With Bayh, Kaine and Clinton seemingly out of the picture, talk over the next few hours (if there is talk that late!) will center on Sens. Joe Biden (#1 on the Fix's Line) and Jack Reed (#5).

The chatter is now that Obama's much-vaunted text message announcing the pick won't come until tomorrow morning -- a likely scenario given that it is approaching midnight on the east coast.

Biden must now be considered the strong favorite for the job given the seeming eliminations of his top two competitors for the job. Of course, the veepstakes is entirely unpredictable so until we get that text message, nothing is certain.