No. Fucking. Shame.

John McCain is a fucking liar:

"I think she's most qualified of any that has run recently for vice president, tell you the truth," McCain said, citing her experience as a small-town mayor and Alaska governor. He added: "Bill Clinton was pretty well derided when he came out of a small state to run for president of the United States," and he pronounced himself "amazed" at the criticism.

The "most qualified of any that has run recently for vice president." More qualified than George H.W. Bush. More qualified than Al Gore or Jack Kemp. More qualified than the man who is currently running our government - Dick Cheney.

And Bill Clinton. Who had a law degree from Yale. And was a Rhodes Scholar. And was governor for over a decade. She's at least as qualified as Bill was, probably moreso.

OMFG.

It was enough to foist her upon us in the first place and pretend that she was qualified to run the country. But to offer this stunningly over-the-top endorsement is a transparent lie. And he knows it.

If Joe Biden-qua-Veep is Wrong...

h/t to Chris Cilizza for hipping me to Ryan Lizza's in-depth profile of Joe Biden, veep-aspirant, and his forebears/foibles. i like the idea of him as an LBJ-ish "Master of the Senate," counting votes and pushing BHO's agenda.

Chris Matthews' Advice for Joe Biden

"Ignore her nice stories" and go after John McCain.

Who You Got?

I won't set up a poll, as that is EZ's domain, but I thought I'd take the temperature.

Who do you have for VP? Kaine, Bayh, Biden, or surprise fourth candidate?

Vote in the comments.

Sebelius Mistake

I was also thinking that the Kaine thing was a feint...

Jeralyn explores Sebelius as a possible VP:

Why does Obama need Kaine as a smokescreen? To make Sebelius more palatable to Hillary supporters who will be more than a bit upset at his choosing a woman other than Hillary. [More...]:

It's the same theory behind the five stages of grief, 1. Denial and Isolation, 2. Anger 3. Bargaining. 4. Depression 5. Acceptance.

Hillary supporters are just coming out of the anger phase. They realize Obama is going to be the nominee and, as loyal Democrats, have been trying to get to a place where they can accept him. One of Obama's dilemmas has been that Hillary supporters aren't ready to accept a woman other than Hillary for the ticket. They view it as a slap in the face. The only way Obama can pick a woman other than Hillary is if the alternative is worse...
The downside: The Democratic ticket becomes a double-dose of inexperience at the national level. Neither Obama nor Sebelius have enough experience. But when reality sets in, the bottom line will be, contrary to what I repeatedly said and believed during the entire primary campaign, the devil you know actually is worse than the devil you don't. I'm now ready to buy that pig in a poke. A candidate like McCain with bad foreign policy and domestic views is worse than a candidate with good views who may need a little on the job training. Obama and Sebelius are a far better choice than McCain and another four years of Republican rule.

So I am reversing my prediction from June. I think Sebelius is the most likely choice right now. And I'm okay with it.

I would be concerned that the "experience" issue might gain traction...

***To Clarify: I will support the Democratic nominee for President***
(unless He picks a Republican for VP)

Kaine't be happening

I have to say I would not be too happy with a vp choice that was anti-choice, anti-stem cell research, and would mean the loss of a weakly held gov's seat.
I also think Daschle would be a very very bad choice.

I am sure this will not be popular here, but I have to agree with BTD:

The VP Choice: Do No Harm
By Big Tent Democrat, Section Elections 2008

Trapper John has an interesting post on how Barack Obama MIGHT be approaching his VP choice. Trapper's bottom line? Obama will choose the "do no harm" option. I suspect that is the thinking in the Obama camp and likely the McCain camp (though clearly McCain will be more likely to take a risk for some upside). Here's the problem I see with Trapper's analysis - it is impossible for any choice to not do some harm.

I know they do not like to hear this at daily kos, but the day Obama announces his VP and it is not Hillary Clinton, that will cause Obama harm. It may be unfair, it may be wrong, but it is a fact. (My own view is that picking Hillary Clinton clearly remains the best choice for Obama, both on the positive and negative side. Clinton's supporters will be energized, her fundraisers will work their heart out, the Clinton brand will help with voters on the issue of the economy, she has become a first rate campaigner, etc. But he will not pick her for reasons only Obama can and will have to explain.)

How's that for bait dave?

veepstakes probuhm savved

Hillary, Swillary, Swoo! In actuality, Barack Obama's veep needs to be one of these two:

Fidel Castro (Communist, Cuba)

Talking Points for Castro as Veep

Okay, so first of all, Castro dropped a groovy non-endorsement recently, calling Barry "the most progressive candidate to the U.S. presidency." That was effing huge.

Secondly? I mean, shit, Cuba's got like "the dankest" organic farming going on in the world today.

Fuck governors. why bring on a governor when there are people out there in the world who have executive experience like FC?

Also, this guy's like, even older than McCain, and has better ideas about distribution of wealth than any American president of the last four decades (at least.) When I see video, it seems like everybody's just rolling around in vintage cars and playing ethnic music, down there.

Most importantly, this Castro nomination'd end Right Wing speculation about whether to cast Obama as a McGovern-style wimpy/pissy liberal or as a more dangerous (i.e., black) man with New Left patrons. 'Truth be told, Obama's ascendancy betokens a so-often-unstated, alien usurpation of the DNC. Barry Obama is, in truth, a Pabloist. (The ISO is gonna be on Obama like flies on shit, mark my words. )


Steve Albini (Shellac of North America, the Britt Walford snare sound on the Breeders' Pod)

Talking Points for Steve Albini as veep

Barack Obama needs to be slightly more antagonistic (or, wheeze, "populist") in positioning himself for the general election. That's hard for him because it's not allowed for black people to be antagonistic, ever. And also it's hard for Barry because he's a nerd. Albini is the prototypical "antagonistic nerd," who's taken being smart as far as one can down the road of engagement, malice, irony, etc. These are the forms of tussling that Obama can evoke without horrifying stupid white people such as myself.

Steve Albini laments the vertical integration and/or capitalist penetration of music-making and /or the "record industry," and Barry as we know is rooting out (some of) the financial weeds that long needed rooting at the DNC.

And of course Obama would do well to recall that the pitchfork generation and the pigfuck generation are not the same thing. Albini totally bridges the gap between everyone from Ministry fans to Forced Exposure readers, both of which are as we know, increasingly "loud and proud" and/or "fast and loose" with the $25 donations paypal-style.

(Okay, either these two or Ed Rendell.)