The Low Road

On Saturday of last week Barack Obama returned from a wildly successful trip abroad to Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Germany, France, and England. On Sunday he was greeted to the following ad:



Besides the fact that he used an image of Obama visiting the troops to make the case that he didn't visit the troops, there are rumors that he had another ad ready to hit him if he did visit the troops.

If that wasn't enough of a cheap shot despite being widely panned as being an inaccurate cheap shot, the McCain camp moved on to their "Celebrity Ad".



Third rate? yes. Demeaning? yep. Low Road? Absolutely. But that's where he's going to leave it right? He's not going to go lower than those two ads?

The Messiah web ad.


This one I have to admit is at least funny. Surely the American Public can see through this campaign of distraction. After Bush ran twice and won using the same techniques, surely people are not going to be fooled again.

Take a look at these national pole numbers from Gallup.


There is a reason they are doing these seemingly low rent ads.....because they work. A Republican operative summed it up best by saying "if the election is about John McCain, we lose, if it is about Barack Obama we have a chance".

John McCain has accused Obama of being willing to lose a war to win an election but it truly looks like he has sold his dignity to win.

Commander in Chief Test

It would be funny if our current Commander in Chief didn't fail this test as well.

"Other" Options

Mark Halperin had a teaser today suggesting that McCain could pick a candidate outside of conventional wisdom. So who could possibly be on that list?

Joe "Bleeping" Lieberman. Recent Rasmussen polls showed him with the highest favorability ratings of any potential candidate. Seriously? Who the f#$! likes this guy. In his own state he has favorability ratings less than 40%. The thought of Joe Lieberman joining the ticket would fire up Democrats more than anyone else.

Carly Fiorina. A terrible CEO of Hewlett Packard, but could bring in big money to McCain. In a campaign that struggles with message discipline, Carly should fit right in. She is known to put her foot in her mouth. Her tenure at HP saw a big down turn and lots of layoffs, but she escaped with a $40 million parachute. Fits right in.

Lindsey Graham. I'm surprised that he isn't on top of the list. There is no Senate crony that is more up Senator McCain's ass than Lindsey Graham. These two spend more time together than Barney and Fred.

Bill Gates. Ok, I don't think he has any shot, but I have seen him mentioned by Politico. Bill Gates? The guy that gave us Windows Vista? This would be the funnest campaign to run against. I'd get that guy from the Apple commercials to do Obama's commercials. Bill Gates? Why not George Bush instead? I bet he has higher approval rates. Bill Gates?

Robert Gates. A pretty good job as the SecDef. Would be pretty hard to go after the ticket on national security issues. The negative is it would further reinforce the notion that John McSame is George Bush's third term.

Jeb Bush. He would fire up the base like no one else. Unfortunately the 70% of the country that aren't right wingers would be scared $hitless.

Michael Bloomberg. I'm really surprised this guy hasn't gotten more play. He may have trouble settling into a # 2 role but so would most of the people listed above. In an election about the economy, who better than a guy that ran New York City after being a successful business man (much more than Romney for instance).

Working the Refs

In the NBA everyone complains about the refs hoping to plant the seeds into the subconscious until they get favorable calls. John McCain is working the refs, or in this case the media by putting out a video on their favorable coverage of Obama. Unfortunately this is in contrast to another video on his website.

Money in the Bank

I have been asserting that this race isn't as close as it seems, even if the popular vote is only 3-4% difference, I fully expect an Obama wave across the electoral map. 350-400 delegates are not out of the question as the race stands today. Things could happen that change this, but if the election were to be held today I would classify the states as follows:


In the bank (207 Delegates)
I know that on a few of these, the conventional wisdom is that they are swing states but in this climate there is no chance Iowa, Washington, Wisconsin or Oregon go to McCain

New York
Hawaii
Illinois
California
Massachusetts
Maryland
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New Jersey
DC
Vermont
Maine
Delaware
Washington
Wisconsin
Iowa
Oregon

On the way to the Bank (71 Delegates)
These states are trending heavily to Obama and are all far more likely to fall his way than not. The only possible exception is if Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is chosen as McCain's VP it could put Minnesota in play.

Minnesota
Michigan
Colorado
New Hampshire
Nevada
New Mexico
Pennsylvania

Filling out the bank slip (61 Delegates)
These states are the the most competitive of the election (although if Obama gets all the states listed above, he doesn't need any of these to get 270.

Virginia
Indiana
Ohio
Missouri
Montana
North Dakota

Check is in the mail (128 Delegates)
None of these would surprise me to go either way. The voter registration drives in Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi could make the difference. The African American population of these states are noted to give an indication of what a disproportionate turn out could mean to these states.
Almost all polling is smoothed to reflect the racial make up of the state. If African American's vote much higher than their population proportion then it wouldn't take much to flip many of these states Obama's way.

Florida
Georgia (30%)
North Carolina (21.7%)
Mississippi (37.1%)
Alaska
South Dakota
Texas
Louisiana (33%)
Alabama (26.3)

The Check Bounced (70 Delegates)
These states are not going blue even with the biggest electoral tidal wave since Reagan beat Mondale.

Tennessee
Arkansas
Utah
Wyoming
West Virginia
Kentucky
Oklahoma
Kansas
Nebraska
Idaho
Arizona

Summer Reading

Just back from a week away for a little relaxation in the sun. So first I have few words of advice, if you are going to read a book on a beach then keep moving your chair around to tan around the book. I currently am burnt all over my chest and stomach except for a white rectangle across my chest where Scott McClelland's book"What Happened" was.

I actually happy to have gotten the chance to read two books over vacation, ending a long drought of not reading books. I read McClelland's book and Jim Webb's book "A Time to Fight".

I had serious misgivings about buying McClelland's book. I agree a little with Bob Dole that if the guy had a problem with what was going on he should have spoken up instead of waiting for a 7 figure book deal. Upon reading the book, Scott is very honest about his role and shortcomings in the process. Scott's overarching theme of the book is that the Bush administration went into permanent campaign mode and often would attempt to vilify anyone that opposed them. I don't think any of his revelations were a big surprise but it is interesting to hear them from someone that was on the inside. Although I think he is a little naive in some of his observations and proposed solutions to the permanent campaign, but he is correct that the Clintons were great at it but Bush perfected it. The only real question is can anyone end it?

Jim Webb's book was more interesting. If you are not a political buff a quick bio on Jim. He held several positions in the military eventually becoming the Secretary of the Navy under Reagan. After leaving the position due to differences with policy, he went on to become a journalist (on military affairs) but more prominently a best selling award winning fiction author. In 2006 Jim Webb ran for Senate in Virginia against a powerful Republican Presidential Hopeful George Allen. Jim Webb won a narrow victory. Since becoming a Senator, he has done an outstanding job including his recent championing of the GI bill. I am happy to say I gave money to his campaign., because he has been such a great Senator in just 2 years.

Jim's book was a combination of an autobiography mixed in with his views on prominent defining issues our country is facing. I must admit that for a best selling author, I was surprised by how many tangents he went on in the book. That aside, after reading his book I am even more excited about the possibility of him being Obama's VP. That folks would be a dream team. Jim Webb would be a pitbull an Obama administration. One of the biggest problems of the Bush administration was that Bush surrounded himself by like minded individuals who all sang kumbaya as they went off merily to war. Jim Webb is nobody's lap dog (unlike let's say Condoleeza Rice). Jim Webb had amazing historical perspectives in his book about military tactics and would be an incredible asset. As passionate as Webb is about military tactics, he is just as passionate about the great divide in the class structure in the US. A Time to Fight is a great read.

Next up I need to read Audacity of Hope. I bought it months ago when it came out and haven't picked it up. I hear that author is doing pretty well on his own.

Got Bills?

Maybe this is a case of much ado about nothing but when a sitting Senator has an unpaid tax bill for 4 years on one of his homes it is an incredibly big embarrassment. John McCain wants to cut your taxes, but he wants to skip paying his entirely? Looks like he runs the household as well as he runs his campaign.

This was on top of his filings that show a minimum of $225,000 to $600,000 worth of credit card debt at rates as high as 25.9%. How does someone worth $100,000,000 have a credit card rate of 25.9%?

Somebody has to follow this up, and keep harping on her to release all her tax documents. There is something that is more interesting here than meets the eye.

Brilliant

I came across this great video of Tim Russert interviewing John McCain. It's this type of exchange that we will miss. Brilliant research and a perfectly delivered question. Watch it twice to get get the full detail of the quote that Russert refers to.

Mixed Bag

It's been a few days since I last posted and even those were bored ramblings while watching 10 hours of recitals this weekend. So I have a few thoughts stored up for this week's mixed bag.

Speaking of recitals, every year I wonder why we torture ourselves/kids this time of year. My son was signed up for soccer (which I coached) and baseball, my daughter had dance three days a week, and I also squeezed in all the Celtic home playoff games. Spring was a blur and I barely had time to go to the gym. That will end right next week. My wife, kids, and I are all spent and ready for a little r&r vacation to kick off the summer.

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Don Imus put his foot in his mouth the other day implying that Pacman Jones legal troubles were because he was black. He later changed his story to say that he was merely saying that he was getting a bum rap because he was black. He only changed his story to save his job. But really, why are we so sensitive. Yes he was making a derogative comment about blacks, but aren't his listeners adult enough to discern between a weak attempt at humor and real malice. My take is that either you agree with his premise or are mature enough to hear him say that, grumble a minute and move on. I can hear politically incorrect remarks and laugh or not and move on. His comments on the Rutgers girls were more egregious but if you don't like his comments, don't listen. If enough people don't listen, then he should be fired. That is why I stopped listening to the two racist morning men on WEEI Dennis and Callahan.

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I know there was a lot of surprise that Obama and McCain raised about the same amount of money in May. Let me put your concerns to rest (if you support Obama). This month Obama will raise close to $70mil, 3 x John McCain's take. This will come from his major donors most of whom only contributed to the primary fund and can now donate another $2300. Plus he will get a good portion of large Clinton donors that can donate $4600 each ($2300 for the primary and $2300 for the general). Additionally he will get his standard $20mil from internet donors (quick estimate is that he has raised $12mil online since Friday). The money disparity will only increase from here as the party coalesces behind him.

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Speaking of Obama, I am pegging his Electoral Vote total at >350. This will be a Reagan-Mondale thumping. Surprise wins will come from Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, and North Carolina. I'll do a whole post on why this will be such a resounding Celtic like thumping when I am back from vacation.

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Speaking of the Celtics, the NBA draft is tomorrow (Thursday), my last fix until October. I promise not to do a post on this topic tomorrow.

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George Bush has 208 days left in office to try to accomplish anything. Can you ever remember a President less concerned with his legacy than this idiot? He is too lazy to make the effort.

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While we are on the topic of fear mongering useless Republicans, did you see McCain's Campaign Manager saying that it would be good for McCain's candidacy if there were another terrorist attack. Great idea, when can we schedule that? For him to say this it is either a) a case of a complete lack of message discipline on McCain's team or b) a butchered attempt a Bushlike fear mongering. I am going to stick with my belief that you shouldn't look for conspiracies where incompetence is a more likely scenario so I am going to pick a.
Just one of the major differences between the two campaigns. Barack vs Hillary was a case of a Major League team vs a good AAA team. Barack vs McCain is more like a Major League team vs a high school team. The only saving grace for McCain is that the RNC is pretty strong.

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Our Loss

This morning I had the rare chance to watch Meet the Press live as opposed to listening to the podcast. Brian Williams milk toast interviews remind us again how much Tim Russert will be missed during this election cycle. NBC announced today that Tom Brokaw would fill in tgtough election day. While that probably makes the most sense, he is an ancor first an interviewer second. Russert was an interviewer first and second.
I couldn't help think how much different this election will be without the forceful cross examination of campaign surrogates that only Tim Russert did effectively.

Simply the Best

Today the best political journalist, Tim Russert, passed away unexpectedly today. Tim was undoubtedly the far and away best of his industry. While I rarely got the chance to watch Meet the Press on Sunday, I religiously download the podcast and listen to it each week. Every Friday I would receive the MTP newsletter and would be excited to see who would be on his show.

I remember a couple of years ago flipping channels to find Tim Russert interviewing Elizabeth Edwards. What on the surface seemed like a bland interview had me practically (ok, actually) in tears 5 minutes later. Tim conducted an unbelieveable interview which struck an incredible balance while discussing the death of her son. He was sympathetic and gentle yet managed to coax such a depth of undertstanding of the emotion and anguish that followed her son's death.

As an interviewer, Tim had the persistence to keep cross examining his subjects until they left their talking points behind. Not too long ago, John McCain took quite a drilling and at the end of his interview, John McCain joked he had received less harsh interrogation by the Vietnamiese. He was the Wayne Gretzky of his field, far and away the best. It's hard to imagine going through this important election cycle without the best candidate vetter in the business.

Rest in peace Tim, you will be missed.

New Leaders in the Clubhouse

So now that the drama of the Democratic Primary seems over, it is a good time to update my predictions on Obama's prospective VP. A few months back I thought Jim Webb would be the choice but a lot has happened since then and I no longer think he is the front runner. So here's my list in order of likelihood in my opinion.

Hillary Clinton
Yes, Hillary Clinton is now my lead candidate in who I think Obama will pick. I think Barack showed a lot of strength in pushing back on getting pushed into it, but I have a feeling he is going to decide that she gives him the best chance of winning. Ironically, her biggest negative in the VP job was her biggest asset in running for President. Bill Clinton.

Wes Clark
In absence of Hillary herself, picking Wes probably would appease some of her supporters. Additionally, his Military experience would help negate some of McCain's perceived strength.

Tim Kaine
Tim was a very early Obama supporter and is Governor of a very key state. He is an extremely popular Governor and is more moderate than liberal. Would bring some executive experience to the ticket.

Jim Webb
Still a top tier candidate but some of his old statements about women in the military will further alienate Hillary Clinton supporters. If within the month or so the Democratic party comes together behind Barack and Clinton supporters are in the fold, then Jim Webb is the choice. If there is any doubt then he is out.

Kathy Sebelius
I must admit not knowing much about this Governor of Kansas. From what I have read recently she is just the type of change agent that would complement Barack. This may not sit well with Hillary Clinton who may want to be the history maker.

John Kerry
I admit this is kind of a dark horse but he has a lot of credentials that would be very useful to Barack. He's been fully vetted. His aloofness and his elitism perception work against him, but you have to remember, this is a guy that got 57 million votes in the general election and was only about 80000 votes short in Ohio in winning the election. He would probably be a better VP than he would have been as a President. Although he would have been a better President than current occupant.

Wow wow wow. Ray Allen just hit a three to put the Cs up by 4. (but I digress)

The last guy on my shortlist is....
Mike Bloomberg
Another longshot but would seem to give Obama some of what that worm Romney would give McCain. Someone with street cred on economic issues, someone with executive experience, but also someone that would lend credence to the notion that Obama is working across the aisle (although Bloomberg is now an Independent)

This Just In

If she were being honest, it would go something like this:

Dear Phil, I wanted you to be one of the first to know: on Saturday, I will hold an event in Washington D.C. to thank everyone who has supported my campaign. Over the course of the last 16 months, I have been privileged and touched to witness the incredible dedication and sacrifice of so many people working for our campaign. Every minute you put into helping us win, every dollar you gave to keep up the fight meant more to me than I can ever possibly tell you. On Saturday, I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy. Between now and then I will continue to try to exact a price from him otherwise I will continue the threaten to split the Democratic Party. I also have not entirely ruled out going the Joe Lieberman route and run as an independent. While I know this may not be supported by some of my colleagues, I am doing this for you. After all, this is not about me, it is about you. Heck, not even my husband Bill will be happy if I split the Democratic Party, but he didn't exactly help me gain the nomination did he? First he saddled me with that boob Mark Penn and then he kept on putting his foot in his mouth every time I had my foot on Barack's throat. I am willing to risk straining my marriage for you. After all, this is not about me, it is about you. While I haven't fully decided whether Barack needs to make me VP or if I will run as an Independent, if I go the VP route there are a few other requests (demands) that I would like to see my good friend Senator Obama make. Geraldine Ferraro must be put in charge of HUD. Pay off my campaign debts by tapping those (suckers) that donated to his campaign. Send Bill to Gitmo. I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can implode Senator Obama's chances in November so I can preserve my options for 2012. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do leave America in his (muslim) hands. After all, this is not about me, it is about you. Lastly I want to remind you that you can still donate to my campaign. It is the only way you can tell the world how you feel. After all, this is not about me, it is about you. I can never possibly express my gratitude, so let me say simply, screw you. Sincerely, Hillary Rodham Clinton

Another Stunner

I gotta admit, I haven't been this pissed off since watching Bennitto Salvatoree call Pierce for an offensive foul. Granted that was only Friday, but I am disgusted by Hillary Clinton's speech tonight.

Instead of acknowledging that the race was over, she fought a valiant but misguided fight but lost, she is out swinging for the fences in some delusional coma. She is saying she is fighting on, but that is like Chauncey Billups showing up at the Arena today to play the Celtics even though the series is over and they lost.

Not only does she say she is fighting on, but is so f$%#ing out there that she seriously believes she is doing it for America. Hillary, it's not about the American people at this point, it's about you. This is right up there with renting the Lincoln bedroom or Bill's shady business dealings. It's about what price can you extort out of Barack. I will be seriously disappointed if Barack gives you anything more than the lack of respect you showed him.

You were a disgrace tonight and you will have a lot of making up to do if you are to be taken seriously again.

The Closer

Today it looks like Barack Obama is going to officially close out the primary race for Presidency. Think about what an incredible accomplishment that was for a moment.

By all conventional wisdom, this was to be a coronation for Hillary Clinton. She had the money, she had the institutional support, she had the massive organization from previous National campaigns, and she had a spouse that was the most popular Democratic President since JFK. The other candidates were no slouches either. John Edwards was the darling of the liberal wing and the trio of Richardson, Dodd, and Biden were well respected politicians with long resumes and accomplishments.

With all of that stacked against a three year Senator, it is amazing to see what he has accomplished. For starters, they built the largest of it's kind of grass roots fundraising that has the potential to strike a major blow to the power of money over Washington. This money network has done the unthinkable by driving Hillary Clinton to virtual bankrupsy. Hillary had to loan herself money to compete for Super Tuesday.

Even more impressive than the money advantage was the organization's mastery of the rules and strategy. You knew that their delegate counters were the sharpest knives in the drawer when after Super Tuesday they knee immediately that they won aout 4 more delegates on the night than Clinton, a fact that neither the Clinton Campaign nor the networks could confirm for several weeks. While everyone was focused on Super Tuesday, Obama's camp was laying the ground for the race beyond. It was really the next three weeks that essentially won the nomination. These things don't happen by accident, they happen because of a great team executing a plan flawlessly.

Lastly there is the candidate himself. Barack has largely fought an honorable campaign except for lowering himself to the mudfest during the Ohio and pennsylvania primaries. No coincidence is that they were probably contributing factors in the losses. Overall though, the candidate himself has been better than advertised striking a rare balance of confronting our national problems with honesty while challenging and inspiring us to do better.

So enjoy the day of victory Obama team, you've earned it. The long fight for November begins on earnest tomorrow.

Mixed Bag

Geraldine Ferraro was back in the news today hoping to remind people that she wasn't voting for some guy named Hussein. Thanks Geraldine, we stopped caring about your thoughts when you proved yourself to be a bigot.

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The crowd that saw Obama speak in Oregon numbered over 80,000. Think about it. Who else could draw 80,000 people in Oregon? Could a free concert from U2 draw that many people? Springsteen? How about the Pope? I'm hard pressed to think of many more that could draw so many people. Truly astonishing.

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The few remaining holdouts on staying Republican just about all make the tax argument. Democrats will raise your taxes. It's true I'm paying less money in taxes, but I'm paying more in gas, groceries, my housing value is going down, my stocks portfolio isn't going up as much. The moral of the story is that sometimes you get what you pay for.

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Today is Kevin Garnett's 32nd birthday. 8 more wins and you can have the summer off.

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I've seen every episode of Lost and I must admit, I'm so confused that I do not have one theory of where this is going. This really is either the most brilliantly written TV show of all time or the worst. I have no idea. Ask me in two years when the series ends.

ABC should piss every one off and cancel the series the year before it concludes.

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Quick name three Bush administration accomplishments........

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I have now attended 7 of the 8 Celtic Playoff games 5 of which with my children. While the games have been great, it amazes me how much some fans can be idiots. I was in the Men's room, standing behind a guy that could barely stand but proclaimed that hew would drive home that night. It reminded me of an article I read this year that said basically Kevin Garnett didn't want to play here because it is the only place where he was ever called the dreaded 'n' word and it happened several times.

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Jon Lester pitched a no-hitter for the Red Sox tonight. A great accomplishment especially considering his comeback from cancer. Congrats Jon!

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Jim Webb has a new book out today, I can't wait to read it. In addition to being the current Senator of Virgina, lead candidate for VP, a former Reagan administration Secretary of the Navy, he is also a best selling novelist. I am glad to see that a lot of people are putting him on the VP shortlist, I hope Obama makes the call. This guy is a GREAT Senator and would be an outstanding VP.

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After tomorrow's primaries, Hillary is going to be making a claim that she is winning the popular vote (including Michigan which Obama didn't get a single vote). This is like watching a player past his prime not realizing that the clock has struck midnight. Think Larry Homes fighting Butterbean in 1995). Poor Hillary, everyone else has moved on and she has no idea it is over.

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Bob Barr is going to be a major thorn in McCain's side. He is going to put at least two states in play for Obama (Georgia and Alaska). Look for lots of Democrats to make donations to his campaign to make him viable.

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Lastly, congratulations to George Takei (of Star Trek and Heroes fame) on his engagement to long time partner Brad Altman now that California has lifted the ban on gay marriage. George is a part time announcer for the Howard Stern Show and called the show today to announce his engagement. Good for George and Brad. they have been together for 21 years and who is to say they have a less meaningful relationship than anyone else.

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The Real McCain

The great movie documentary producer Robert Greenwald has another installment out today of the Real McCain series. When you watch the video you can easily picture the same type commercials they ran against John Kerry. When you get a chance to see all the contradictory remarks McCain makes it hard to see that not coming back to bite him in the general election.

If you haven't seen the Robert Greenwald documentary Iraq for Sale you should watch it. It will make you sick to see how badly the war is being mismanaged. But that is a story for another day. For today the story is McCain. Without further ado.......

Trail Mix

Barack Obama has had a pretty good week, after getting shellacked in West Virginia by over 40 points he quickly changed the conversation by announcing the Edwards endorsement. He has also picked up about 30 superdelegates in the last week to Clinton's 2 and has effectively shut her out of the national political conversation. Even the few remarks you hear from her lately from the trail are very conciliatory.

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Barack's biggest win of the week came in his late week tussle with Bush over his ignorant remarks while traveling in Israel. When John McCain jumped in too it gave Barack an opening to tie John McCain's policies with that of the current Idiot in Chief. Barack will take that opening every day of the week. If John McCain wants to suffer the same fate as the 3 recent congressional defeats in Republican districts, he should continue to side with Bush on issues. The best thing McCain could have done in this instance is sit on the sideline and let Barack hammer Bush. It's a losing proposition anytime McCain is publicly associated with the worst President in the history of the United States.

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I seriously think that after North Carolina Hillary Clinton is doing Barack Obama a favor by staying in the race (not intentionally). If she had dropped out after her NC loss, Barack would have still gotten smoked in West Virginia and Kentucky but it would have been much worse to lose to a candidate no longer running. Hillary is still pushing the Florida and Michigan issue because it is her last claim to the nomination, but other than that she has toned the rhetoric way down (either that or she doesn't have any media following her anymore).

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If I could give one piece of advice to Joe Lieberman it would be that it is better to be silent and thought to be a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. In other words "shut the f#$% up Joe you idiot".

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One of my the sites I read regularly is the DailyKos. This past week site founder Markos Moulitsas has been away on a family emergency and posting infrequently. Reading the daily kos without kos is like watching the Celtics without Kevin Garnett, there are other good players, but collectively not as good.

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I am surprised nobody has made the remark that the reason Clinton hasn't dropped out is because women aren't good at math. Let me be the first to make that sexist joke.

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The stories of racism that have been on the periphery of the primary is disturbing but the thought that in the year 2008 a bar owner would market T shirts with a monkey on them with an Obama 08 under it is despicable.

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After recent Democratic congressional wins in three Republican leaning districts I can't help but think the minimum of new Senate seats they pick up is 6 (with an out side shot at 8) and at least 25 congress pick ups. Of course the election won't be held today and it is a long way to November.

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The Obama Cabinet

Since the Presidential Election has moved past the Primaries and Hillary Clinton is not in the rear view mirror I've decided to help him fill out the key positions in his cabinet for him (why stop at VP?). Without further ado:

VP- Jim Webb. Jim would be the perfect selection. While not all of his positions on policies are consistent with Barack's, and he is a little more of a maverick than you would like in a VP position, he would be a great complement to Barack. Having been a former Secretary of the Navy he has the military and foreign affairs gravitas that some perceive Barack lacks. He also is a sitting Senator of a state Barack would like to put in play (Virginia). Having him on the team would effectively counter McCain's military experience. His son served recently in Iraq. Senator Webb has been adamantly opposed to Iraq.

Secretary of State-Bill Richardson. He has lots of foreign policy experience including working with North Korea, negotiating hostage releases, and has been an ambassador.

Secretary of Defense- Chuck Hagel. This is a good spot to take a flier on a Republican and offer the position to Retiring Senator Chuck Hagel.

Secretary of Transportation- Mike Bloomberg. While a more natural position for Bloomberg may be Secretary of the Treasury, rebuilding the country's failing infrastructure is one of Bloomberg's biggest concerns.

Attorney General - John Edwards. Wouldn't surprise me to see him sit 4 years in this position and then fill a position on SCOTUS in a second term.

Secretary of Homeland Security- Richard Clarke. Would anybody be more qualified for this position than this guy.

Chief of Staff- Tom Daschle. A former Senate Majority Leader to help guide the new President and help him get legislation passed.

Secretary of Commerce - Deval Patrick. This will make a lot of people in Massachusetts happy.

Secretary of Labor Byron Dorgan. Hard to remove a sitting Senator. Dorgan may be worth the loss.

Head of the EPA- John Kerry. At 65 John Kerry could serve 8 years in this position and retire. The environment is one of his major concerns. Plus it would be a safe seat to replace, unlike Dorgan's.

So that's Barack's cabinet. He should also pre-announce as many as possible before the General Election to help his standing in the polls. Guys like Richardson, Hagel, and Edwards could help put some states in play (particularly Richardson)

Explain something to me...

For the past couple of months I have been pretty insistent that Obama had the numbers and the race was pretty much over. For those same couple of months, the media had been anointing Hillary Clinton as the comeback kid and as a fighter. The more contests that came and went, the worse the math looked for Hillary and the more she was portrayed as making a run.

Tuesday Obama won a race everyone knew from February on that he would win and lost another state that was considered a toss up. After the long expected win, Obama was anointed the presumptive nominee.

I do not dispute that he is clearly the winner, but that was true back in February. What changed? How much did the media carry this race longer than it was a still viable race?

When you get right down to it, the media carried the McCain candidacy to the nomination, how long did they carry Clinton when she was no longer competitive?