Romney to announce VP choice on Saturday

12:54 a.m. | Updated Mitt Romney is scheduled to announce his vice presidential candidate on Saturday in Norfolk, Va., ending a four-month search for a running mate on the opening day of a four-day bus tour through four critical battleground states.

Several signs were pointing toward Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin as a leading candidate for the position, a choice that would electrify the Republican Party’s conservative base and potentially shake up the race with President Obama. Mr. Romney is set to disclose the selection at 8:45 a.m., as he tours the Battleship Wisconsin, the campaign announced Friday evening.

Mr. Romney telephoned other finalists for the position on Friday evening, a senior Republican aide said, and thanked them for their cooperation in the vetting process and their help with his campaign effort. But he did not tell them whom he had decided upon. 

Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, was set to campaign for Mr. Romney in New Hampshire on Saturday. A Republican close to Mr. Pawlenty said that he had been informed that he had not been chosen by Mr. Romney and would continue with his schedule and would not be in Virginia for the vice presidential announcement. (Continues)