North Korea has begun calling key ambassadors home, leading to speculation that some sort of announcement is coming.
Bobby Kennedy later yelled at Shriver for taking such a risk, but even he followed through on his brother's gesture, calling key officials in Georgia.
They are engaged in an especially delicate process, quietly calling key Democratic donors to gauge support while trying to remain invisible.
Mr. Kerry's strategy to try to force an early stampede to his candidacy -- his supporters have quite literally been calling key Democrats to tell them that "the train is leaving the station," one party official reported -- is hardly without risks.
Throughout Menendez's trial, prosecutors scored major wins from a judge who prohibited the defense from calling key witnesses, denied the admission of dozens of documents into evidence and adopted the government's preferred jury instructions.
By 7 30 p.m. on Tuesday, as Mr. Bush was informing important members of the Senate before his 9 p.m. televised announcement, Karl Rove, the president's political adviser, was calling key conservatives to tell them that Judge Roberts was the pick.
