CNN is treating tomorrow’s “State of the Union” coverage like an election night, loading up on political anchors and analysts. Coverage will be led by Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo, Jake Tapper, Kate Bolduan and Erin Burnett, who will be overseeing a focus group reacting to the speech. Dana Bash will be in the House Chamber while Jessica Yellin reports from the White House. John King will be on “Magic Wall” duty, with John Berman and Tom Foreman in the “virtual studio” to offer “reality checks” of the President’s remarks, and the Republican response.

On the analysis side, former Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich and former Current TV anchor Jennifer Granholm will provide insider analysis, with Gloria Borger, David Gergen, Cornell Belcher, Donna Brazile, Alex Castellanos, Margaret Hoover, Van Jones and Ana Navarro also weighing in throughout the night.

One person who apparently will not be appearing on CNN’s SOTU coverage is the anchor of CNN’s “State of the Union,” Candy Crowley. Crowley hosted her weekend program from DC yesterday, and previewed the SOTU on “CNN Newsroom” yesterday afternoon.

Update: CNN says that Crowley is out of town, caring for her mother. Hence, she won’t be able to participate in the coverage.

More info, below.
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Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in for his second term this morning at 8:21amET. The cable news channels carried live coverage of the event. While CNN and Fox News carried the entirety of the event, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and his guests were discussing gun control as Father Kevin O’Brien offered a solemn prayer before the swearing in.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor administered the oath of office. Two of CNN’s big gets for Inauguration coverage include both Biden and Sotomayor. Soledad O’Brien sat down with Justice Sotomayor and Gloria Borger got the first post-election interview with Vice President Biden. Both interviews air tomorrow.

President Obama’s official swearing in happens in less than an hour.

Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper will lead CNN’s coverage of President Obama’s second inauguration. Coverage of Sunday’s swearing-in ceremony begins at 10amET. Cooper and Blitzer will be joined by John Berman, Kate Bolduan, Gloria Borger, Erin Burnett, Candy Crowley, John King, Don Lemon, Piers Morgan and Soledad O’Brien. Crowley will anchor “State of the Union” from the National Mall. Special Sunday editions of “Piers Morgan Tonight” and “Anderson Cooper 360″ will air in primetime.

On Monday, Blitzer will be live with Berman, Bolduan, O’Brien and Jessica Yellin from the U.S. Capitol West Front beginning at 9amET. Cooper will be live from the National Mall with Borger, King, Lemon, David Gergen and Brooke Baldwin.  Blitzer will  anchor “The Situation Room” from Lafayette Park, the location of the President’s viewing stands. Cooper, Morgan and Burnett will anchor from 7-1opmET. Cooper will be live from the Mall, with Morgan and Burnett from the inaugural balls.

More from CNN after the jump. Read more

Politico’s Dylan Byers catches up with some print and TV journos covering the campaigns. He finds they are nonplussed about the whole thing.

“Until the candidates restore joy, it’s impossible for us to be joyful,” NBC News senior White House correspondent Chuck Todd tells Byers. “The campaigns are trying so hard to manipulate us, to work the refs, to withhold access. If these candidates were comfortable, the campaign might be joyful to cover.”

Because of the pace established by Twitter and the Internet, the latest “gotcha” moment snowballs faster than ever. For a reporter pressed to be ahead of the cycle, assuming conscientious-objector status would be suicide. Once one credible journalist takes the bait, everyone takes the bait.

“There’s no off-Broadway anymore,” CNN’s Gloria Borger says. “There is a sense among the candidates — and their staffs — that nothing is off the record. And while I think we can idealize the way it used to be in the good old days, this new, high-speed news cycle has had one result none of us likes: a constant barrage of scripted sound bites and talking points, just to make sure everyone is on message, all the time.”

What do you think? As a viewer, do you think the 2012 campaigns are too scripted and on-message or should the journalists try harder?

CNN will kick off the Republican and Democratic National Conventions with documentaries profiling the two Presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The network has secured interviews with both Romney and Obama for the documentaries.

“Romney Revealed: Family, Faith, and the Road to Power” will air Sunday, August 26 from 8-9:30 PM, and will feature interviews with Romney, Ann Romney and their son Tagg Romney. Chief political analyst Gloria Borger is the reporter for the doc.

“Obama Revealed: The Man, The President” will air Monday, September 3 from 8-9:30 PM, and will be reported by White House correspondent Jessica Yellin. She speaks to Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emnauel, among others.

“We’re very pleased we were able to work out access to both presidential candidates so that we could produce comprehensive portraits,” said Bart Feder, senior vice president of programming for CNN in a statement. “These documentaries deliver informative, nonpartisan political reporting, revealing surprising facets of these men’s lives, and what has shaped them, just before they take center stage at their conventions.”

MSNBC also has documentaries about the candidates coming up, but it was only able to secure an interview with Romney. President Obama declined to participate, instead sending Joe Biden.

Fox News broke into the 11pmET reair of “The O’Reilly Factor” with the news that Mitt Romney would be announcing his VP pick in the morning. Carl Cameron confirmed the announcement would be on the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, VA at 9amET. “All signs have pointed to the likelihood of Paul Ryan as running mate, the congressman from Wisconsin,” said Cameron in his report at 11:04pm.

Following the news, the Tweets with confirmations from other news organizations began rolling in.  ”Norfolk” and “USS Wisconsin” began trending on Twitter.

MSNBC broke in with the news at 11:29pm and CNN broke in at 11:33pm with a report from CNN International.

“Nightline’s” Cynthia McFadden led the ABC show with the news (and updated the show for the West Coast at 2:35amET). Expect expanded coverage from the cable and broadcast networks in the morning, including Bret Baier anchoring FNC’s coverage from Miami. And fortunately for NBC and MSNBC, they won’t have to decide whether to interrupt the Olympics, as Olympic programming doesn’t start until 10amET on both networks.

> More: At 12:01amET, NBC’s Chuck Todd reported live on MSNBC that Ryan was the pick. At 12:22amET, the NBC broadcast network broke in with the news.

> More: On ABC, David Muir, who has been covering the Romney campaign, will anchor a special report beginning at approximately 8:45amET. George Stephanopoulos and Jonathan Karl will contribute. CNN’s coverage begins at 7amET with lead political anchor Wolf Blitzer, along with Candy Crowley, John King and Gloria Borger.

The expediency of TV news is not meeting well with the depth involved in the ruling on the Affordable Care Act of 2010, more commonly known as Obamacare.

“Be cautious with us, we’re trying to do the best we can,” said Bill Hemmer on Fox News, at 10:11am. “We may need to update our lower third, which may not be correct,” added Megyn Kelly, which stated the court had ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional.

At 10:07, CNN’s Kate Bolduan reported the same: “It appears as if the Supreme Court justices have struck down the individual mandate.”

“Wow, that’s a dramatic moment, if in fact the Supreme Court has ruled the individual mandate is in fact unconstitutional,” said Wolf Blitzer.

In fact, they didn’t and it was more complicated than that.

At 10:11am, a breathless NBC justice correspondent Pete Williams got it right in an NBC/MSNBC simulcast, “They have said that it can’t be upheld under the commerce clause, the individual mandate can’t. But [Chief Justice John Roberts] said it can be upheld under the court’s taxing authority. So the bottom line here is the Supreme Court has upheld the health care law. It is a penalty, not a tax.”

That clear enough?

Probably not. Our suggestion: see how the three evening newscasts report it, or read the New York Times.

As for the broadcast networks:  Matt Lauer anchored on NBC until 10:26am, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos on ABC, with Terry Moran at the court also aired their special report until 10:26. On CBS, Scott Pelley was in Washington along with Jan Crawford at the court with their special report running until 10:30. And FNC’s Jon Scott anchored on FOX stations until 10:27

HLN, CNBC, Fox Business, Bloomberg and C-Span, are also giving the decision extensive coverage.

Voters in 10 states head to the polls tomorrow to weigh in on the next GOP Presidential candidate. Here’s the plan for Super Tuesday coverage on the broadcast and cable news and business networks.

The broadcast networks:

• “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams will helm a one-hour special on NBC News from 10-11pmET. Williams will also present live updates on the voting results between 7-10pmET as news dictates. “Nightly” will be updated for later feeds throughout the evening.
• Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulous will anchor special reports on ABC beginning at 7pmET. “World News” will also be updated for later feeds. At 11:35pmET, Terry Moran will anchor a special edition of “Nightline.”
• On CBS, Scott Pelley will provide live primetime updates throughout the night.
• Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff will anchor a live “PBS Newshour” at 11pmET.
• On FOX, Shepard Smith will anchor live updates from 8-11pmET.

The cable networks:

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We know you can’t wait for Super Tuesday, but hold your horses. First, Washingtonians vote tomorrow. Here’s the cable coverage:

• CNN’s Wolf Blitzer leads an hour of coverage from 8-9pmET joined John King, Gloria Borger and CNN contributors Hilary Rosen and Ari Fleisher. And since they can’t wait, Jim Acosta and Joe Johns will report from the Super Tuesday state of Ohio.

• Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier anchors from 10-11pmET. Baier will be joined by Bob Beckel, Charles Krauthammer, A.B. Stoddard, Steve Hayes, Kirsten Powers and Ed Rollins.

• MSNBC will be producing extended cut-ins during Saturday night documentaries.

Voters in Michigan and Arizona go to the polls tomorrow. Polls close at 8pmET in Lower Michigan and most of the U.P. And and hour later, at 9pmET, in the Westernmost counties which are in the Central Time Zone. Polls close at 9pmET in Arizona.

• FNC will be live from 9pm – Midnight ET with co-anchors Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly reporting the voting results from both states. Martha MacCallum and Bill Hemmer will provided live coverage of exit poll numbers. Also contributing to the network’s primary coverage: Chief Political Correspondent Carl Cameron, correspondents Shannon Bream and Mike Tobin, and Senior National Correspondent John Roberts who will be stationed at the primary locations and candidates’ headquarters.
• Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett and John King will headline CNN’s America’s Choice 2012 coverage beginning at 7pmET. CNN Gloria Borger and David Gergen, along with political contributors Paul Begala, Maria Cardona, Alex Castellanos and Ari Fleischer will be on set in the CNN Election Center. Candy Crowley will report from Romney campaign headquarters in Michigan, Jim Acosta will be at Santorum headquarters, and Joe Johns will be at Gingrich headquarters.
• MSNBC will air live special coverage  from 8pm – Midnight ET. MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Rev. Al Sharpton, Ed Schultz and Lawrence O’Donnell will lead coverage and analysis of the results.
• FBN’s Neil Cavuto will host special live coverage starting at 8pmET. FBN’s Rich Edson will report live from Michigan while Lori Rothman will be in-studio to examine exit poll data.