The Twin Cities played a starring role in the selection of both major-party vice-presidential candidates this year — on stage in the case of Republican Sarah Palin and behind the scenes in the case of Democrat Joe Biden. But just as the grand total of Palin’s purchases on GOP credit cards (which started in Minnesota) was a moving target, the details of Biden’s back-door tete-a-tete with Barack Obama in Minneapolis last August have shifted over time. At issue: Exactly how long did they meet in person at Obama’s hotel, and exactly how many others (and of what gender) was Obama still considering for the veep slot then?

The Wall Street Journal told it this way on Aug 25:

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate reached a pivotal point in a secret meeting on the night of Aug. 6. Sen. Biden was whisked into a Minneapolis hotel room through a back entrance before Sen. Obama left for his Hawaii vacation. They talked one-on-one for 90 minutes. “It was spirited and pragmatic,” says one adviser who was briefed. … None of Sen. Biden’s vulnerabilities was likely a surprise to the Obama team, which conducted a thorough vetting of the candidates. The team, led by Caroline Kennedy and ex-Justice Department official Eric Holder, initially cast a wide net, but in the end focused more on Sens. Biden and [Evan] Bayh and [Virginia] Gov. [Tim] Kaine. Sen. Obama sought private meetings with the three. Sen. Biden’s turn came in Minneapolis in early August, when Sen. Obama was there for a $1,000 a person fund-raiser. He had Sen. Biden sneak into a downtown hotel through the back door. (WSJ)

On Larry King LIve last week (hat tip: Political Animal), Biden said the in-person meeting lasted more than twice as long, and that only one other person was under consideration at that point:

KING: How did you learn — the moment you learned that Senator Obama wanted Senator Biden to be his running mate?

BIDEN: Well, he had called me about a month before he chose me … And I said, “I’ll be vetted, but I — but even if you choose me, I still want to talk to you before that — before I would agree to accept.” And then several — then I got squirreled out to — he was campaigning in Minneapolis-St. Paul. And I got a phone call, would [I] go masquerade myself out there? They provided a plane for me and snuck me into this hotel. And we spent three-and-a-half hours talking about the role of vice president. And he said, “Well, it’s down to you and somebody else.” And he said, “I’ll give you a call later.”

KING: Did you ever know who the other person was?

BIDEN: Well, I think I do, but I don’t want to, you know, speculate on that.

Biden’s Larry King version squares better with what he told the New Yorker (Oct. 20 edition) although Biden lets on that his lone rival is neither man the Wall Street Journal mentioned but a woman — Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sibelius, apparently:

Biden agreed to let Obama’s campaign team consider him, but with a caveat: “I wanted to make sure we understood each other—that, even if I vetted and he wanted me to take the job, I wasn’t committing to do that. When the time was appropriate for him, if I was the guy, I needed to spend at least two or three hours with him to understand what the role would be.” Biden wanted what amounted to an oral contract between him and Obama, spelling out his specific responsibilities in an Obama White House. On August 6th, Biden said, the Obama campaign “smuggled” him into Minneapolis, where Obama was campaigning, and the two senators stayed up late in a suite at the Graves 601 Hotel working out the details of a potential deal. … [Obama] tested Biden’s understanding of how broad his role would be, as opposed to that of another contender — apparently, Kathleen Sebelius, the governor of Kansas and the only woman known to be on Obama’s short list. “He said, ‘Well, you know, if I offered this to somebody’ — he named her, a person — he said, ‘That person would be very happy if I assigned them to reorganize the government.’ And he said, ‘They’d be very happy doing that. How about you?’ ” That didn’t sound like much of a job to Biden. “No,” he told Obama. “That’s not what I want to do.”