What a difference four years makes.

While Paul Ryan‘s name had been near the top of many VP pick lists, the confirmation came a good 9 hours before the official announcement. News networks confirmed the choice late last night with their sources, while @MittRomney confirmed it this morning, sending a Tweet at 7:45am.

That’s quite a contrast from four years ago, when John McCain chose Sarah Palin has his running mate. On the morning of Friday, August 29, 2008, the day after Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech at the DNC, the news networks scrambled to confirm Palin, the relatively unknown Alaska Governor, as the pick.

90 minutes before the announcement, FNC’s Carl Cameron was first with the news, just like he was last night with details of the Romney pick.