Dignity restored

Obama VP will be Biden

Sen. Barack Obama hasn't made it official yet in the much-awaited email to his special mailing list, but it appears if this ABC News blog post is to believed that Sen. Joe Biden is to be his running mate:

The United States Secret Service has dispatched a protective detail to assume the immediate protection of Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., a source tells ABC News, indicating in all likelihood that Biden has been officially notified that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, has selected him to be his running mate

CNN later confirmed through multiple sources that Biden will indeed be named Obama's running mate on Saturday.

Obama's choice of veteran senator Biden (D-DE) comes as little surprise for many in the media and blogosphere who had expected Obama to pick seniority over obscurity.

His pool of potential candidates had dwindled over recent weeks. Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas were other names often bandied about as possible contenders, but Biden seemed to have the lion's share of the attention.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama's bitter rival in the Democratic primaries, was out of the running early, signified by her and former president Bill Clinton's tepid support for the Illinois senator in the days following her concession. Just recently her brother also had paid a visit to the McCain camp.

Sen. John McCain will announce his VP pick on his 72nd birthday on Aug. 29.

Obama makes a molehill out of a mountain

Huffington Post and others tried to capitalize on this earlier, an out-of-context quote from Obama supposedly characterizing rural Pennsylvanians as bitter, gun-totin' nutballs. If you read the original quote in context, you'll see how Jake Tapper et al. could carve it up for cheap hits on a slow Friday.

"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Having been set up for easy lay-ups, both Team Magoo and No. 2 went in for some gimme points by issuing snarkments on this non-story.

Well, Sen. Obama slaps them both down with his just-issued response to it all:

...I made this statement -- so, here's what rich. Senator Clinton says 'No, I don't think that people are bitter in Pennsylvania. You know, I think Barack's being condescending.' John McCain says, 'Oh, how could he say that? How could he say people are bitter? You know, he's obviously out of touch with people.'

Out of touch? Out of touch? I mean, John McCain -- it took him three tries to finally figure out that the home foreclosure crisis was a problem and to come up with a plan for it, and he's saying I'm out of touch? Senator Clinton voted for a credit card-sponsored bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of debt after taking money from the financial services companies, and she says I'm out of touch? No, I'm in touch. I know exactly what's going on. I know what's going on in Pennsylvania. I know what's going on in Indiana. I know what's going on in Illinois. People are fed-up. They're angry and they're frustrated and they're bitter. And they want to see a change in Washington and that's why I'm running for President of the United States of America.

Richardson says Viva Obama

This may be the final blow to Sen. Clinton's bleak hopes for the White House. At least Gov. Richardson, who worked for Pres. Bill Clinton, waited till after Texas to endorse Obama likely out of respect and loyalty to his old friends. This must have been tough for him, but apparently it was tougher for Hillary.

The endorsement from Richardson:



The acceptance from Obama:

Video: Dodd endorses Obama

Former Democratic White House contender and progressive hero Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) today endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) for president. Excerpts of prepared statements from both follow the video.



STATEMENT FROM SEN. CHRIS DODD: "I am here to express my strong support for the candidacy of Barack Obama. This is a moment of unity in our country, a time where we need to come together as a Democratic party and to get behind a candidacy that expresses the aspirations, the hopes, the ambitions of millions and millions of Americans. And I believe that Barack Obama has demonstrated that not only in the campaign, but also in his service to his state and his country..."

STATEMENT FROM SEN. BARACK OBAMA: "It has been my pleasure to serve alongside Chris Dodd in the United States Senate and share a stage with him during his principled run for the presidency. ... [A]s passionate as Chris Dodd is about the causes he champions, he also has that rare ability to disagree without being disagreeable. He is respected on both sides of the aisle for his authenticity, reason, and civility. And that is how, time and again, he's been able to bring Democrats and Republicans together to make a real difference in the lives of the American people. ... He conducted his campaign for President with that same character. He resisted the cheap and easy shots, and elevated the debate with important ideas about how to address the great challenges we face. He and I share a deep commitment to take our country in a new direction, and I am grateful for his endorsement."

Complete statements available here.

Ann Coulter would vote for Hillary Clinton? Makes sense to me

Ann Coulter was on Hannity & The Other Guy last night and said she prefers Hillary Clinton over John McCain. Wait, what?

Yes, you heard it right. Check out the vid, which I was made aware of via DownWithTyranny!, props.


Shocked? Puhleez. Why wouldn't Ann campaign for Hillary? If Clinton's elected, it means at least four more years of food on the table for the silence-challenged Coulter. All the right-wingers want Clinton in office. It's their fervent dream. The conservative Mouth of Sauron, Bill Bennett, practically blew kisses to Hillary after the debate last night (emphasis on race-baiting garbage mine):

It was a -- frankly, it was a -- I think, a little disappointing, from my perspective. I think Barack Obama had to do more than he did.

I thought she won -- I will just be crude and say I thought she won the debate. I thought she was in control. He said -- he used the locution, "we both believe," "we both think" too many times.

I think, if it comes out even, if no one has a clear advantage, it's advantage Hillary Clinton. He's the challenger. He's an athlete. He should know that he had to work a little harder.

He's an athlete that has to work a little harder for some reason. Hm, where have I heard that before?

Anyway, conservatives win three different ways whether or not Hillary is elected in November.

1. She loses to a Republican and the Clintons are never heard from again;

2. She wins, reveals herself as a right-leaning, business-friendly, pro-war "moderate," thus the status quo continues and fatcats stay fat and happy;

3. Least likely scenario: She wins, reveals herself as a hardcore liberal committed to reversing the Bush era, and conservatives spend every hour of their waking life gleefully trying to have her removed from office with lies and dirt and rehashes of Bubba's crimes.

Any of those three are enough to make cro-mag conservatives slobber like Rush Limbaugh at a Golden Corral.

The nightmare for the right is the ascension of Obama. And with the shenanigans Bill Clinton pulled in South Carolina seemingly not having much of an effect overall on Hillary's strategery, certain shameless cretins like the aforementioned Coulter might feel they can get away with even more egregiously racist attacks in November, which may well hasten their demise.

And sadly, inevitably, result in a powerful thirst for vengeance of some kind. That's one of the things the far right really specialize in, revenge... but you knew that, yes?

Hillary: Let's come together, because I rule

Sen. Clinton just released a statement, evidently in an attempt to slough off all the ugliness these last few days with back-and-forth sniping among the top Dem candidates (and a certain ex-prez), as follows...

"Over this past week, there has been a lot of discussion and back and forth - much of which I know does not reflect what is in our hearts.

"And at this moment, I believe we must seek common ground.

"Our party and our nation is bigger than this. Our party has been on the front line of every civil rights movement, women's rights movement, workers' rights movement, and other movements for justice in America.

"We differ on a lot of things. And it is critical to have the right kind of discussion on where we stand. But when it comes to civil rights and our commitment to diversity, when it comes to our heroes - President John F. Kennedy and Dr. King - Senator Obama and I are on the same side.

"And in that spirit, let's come together, because I want more than anything else to ensure that our family stays together on the front lines of the struggle to expand rights for all Americans."

UPDATE: Obama's on the same page.

Million-Years McCain and the answer to a stupid question

While CNN et al. were busy going ga-ga over Mike Huckabee's trouncing of Mitt Romney et al. on the GOP side, Barack Obama was steadily putting a similar distance between himself and the rest of the Democrats in a state that is almost 95% white. Hopefully this at last provides a definitive answer to the dumbest question still being asked by corporate media: "Is America ready for a black president?" Yes, America is ready. Are the media? Are the other Democrats in the race? And for that matter, is the black Democratic establishment? You'll all be left behind. Get with the times.

Here is Obama's compelling Iowa victory speech.



And while the caucus thingie was going on, GOP contender John McCain, who about tied for third among Republicans in Iowa, had something quite startling to say about Iraq while campaigning in New Hampshire today. He interrupted someone recalling that President Bush envisions U.S. forces in Iraq for 50 more years with, "Maybe a hundred [years]." He continued, "That's fine with me, I hope that would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al-Qaeda is training and equipping and recruiting and motivating people every single day." Video below. Notice that "Independent Democrat" Sen. Joe Lieberman is standing behind him.



David Corn asked McCain about his assertion afterward and says McCain told him American troops "could be in Iraq for 'a thousand years' or 'a million years,' as far as he was concerned." Hey, why not shoot for a googolplex, Senator? You gotta think big.

UPDATE 04 JAN 2008: It's up to ten million years now, per the AP.

ADD'L ADD'L 04 JAN 2008: McCain's also hip to having Lieberman "play a part" in his cabinet, "particularly in national security issues."

Sen. Tim Johnson appears in public for first time since almost dying

Democrats breathed a (nervous, I'd imagine) sigh of relief as Johnson (D-SD), who suffered a "intracerebral hemorrhage" (i.e., bleeding on the brain) in December of last year that nearly killed him, made his first public appearance today to mark another milestone in a long and remarkable road to recovery.

As you might know, had Johnson died in office or become too incapacitated to perform his senatorial duties, South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds (R) could have appointed a Republican to replace Johnson, thus tipping the balance of power in the Senate to the GOP.

Video of the event can be seen here.

Bob Novak reminds us how the economy works

Er, the D.C. economy, at any rate. From his latest exclusive newsletter:

[F]amily members of senators and congressmen from both parties and in all regions of the country have for years benefited directly from the "Washington economy" of lobbying firms and government contractors, many of which would not even exist without the infusions of taxpayer money that earmarks provide each year. ... This has never been considered improper, but few Americans know that a very small number of Washington-connected families negotiate, appropriate and benefit from large expenditures of taxpayer money on a small number of companies through the earmarking process.

Another interesting bit from his latest is his take on the dust-up between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama at the recent Democratic YouTube debate. Of Clinton, Novak quips, "This debate will likely be remembered as the performance in which [she] finally learned to lighten up and act a bit human [emphasis his], eschewing the debilitating and robotic persona she normally affects in public speaking situations." Not sure exactly what Novak means by "act a bit human"; is this what he had in mind?

Crows Novak, "When offered the opportunity to exploit rival Barack Obama's lack of experience, she hit a home run." Uh, did she? He continues on Obama: "[He] delivered a gaffe on a foreign policy question that highlighted his lack of experience and could cost him...

"His unqualified willingness to meet with a number of rogue world leaders," he states, "was suddenly thrown into sharp contrast with Clinton's careful answer that she would not meet with anyone if she believed that the visit was going to be used as a propaganda piece to humiliate the United States."

Katrina Vanden Heuvel at The Nation makes a mockery of Novak's (and others') rah-rahing of Clinton's "careful answer" and alleged foreign relations superiority by simply saying, "Witness how far Clinton's nuanced experience got her when confronted with the 2002 Iraq war resolution."

But Clinton does have a point about being used as a propaganda piece. A president should always leave it to his lesser, nameless footsoldiers to do the grunt work with unsavory world leaders. Ronald Reagan was wise enough to do that with Saddam Hussein, sending some guy named Rumsfeld over there to meet with him. Whatever happened to those two, by the way?

Novak claims GOP voters have high standards, which still doesn't explain Patrick McHenry

"Republicans are always held to a higher standard by their own voters," asserts Bob Novak in his latest insider newsletter, adding that GOP voters "tend to place special value on family issues."

In making the claim whilst comparing wickdippin' Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to the "embattled" Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat, Novak doesn't explain how such high Republican voter standards could've let Vitter into office in the first place. After all, as Novak himself writes, "this is not the first time Vitter's morals have been called into question," including during his run for the Senate. "His enemies brought up old accusations that he had had a year-long affair with a prostitute in the French Quarter of New Orleans," says Novak, adding that "tales about Vitter's behavior abound in Louisiana."

This so-called "higher standard" Novak associates with GOP voters also seemed to have been waived while Republicans kept lowlifes like Newt Gingrich, Dan Burton, Tom DeLay, Richard Pombo, John Doolittle, Tom Feeney etc. in positions of power.

"Democrats will have lots of fun with this," Novak cynically declares. "They may not be able to win the governor's race, but they could make it more competitive by using Vitter to embarrass Jindal." Not sure I understand this; from what I've heard, Bobby Jindal is a good man and a worthy candidate to govern Louisiana. Why would Democrats engage in such sordid political shenanigans? Oh, I forgot; this is Louisiana we're talking about.

Novak also humorously reveals his own ridiculously low standards by asserting, quite soberly, that Sen. Vitter "cannot step down right now even if he wants to, because he would be replaced by a Democrat." Egad. Better to leave an ineffective serial adulterer in office than have a Democrat replace him!

And speaking of ineffective, the biggest waste of space in Congress, Rep. Patrick McHenry, for the second week in a row gets a consoling shoulder to cry on from Novak. McHenry, who somehow keeps getting re-elected even though he's constantly making a fool of himself, hilariously lost an earmark vote in the House recently after having ripped Democrats for their own earmark bills. "Democrats punished McHenry with a vindictive chuckle," sympathizes Novak. Curiously, he notes that "searches of Lexis-Nexis and Google News suggest that no one -- and we mean absolutely no one -- has picked up on the story of [McHenry] and the embarrassing fight he lost to keep an earmark in his district." Hm, maybe Bob oughta check out that fancy new gadget called the blogosphere, where the story was duly noted last week.

GOP quietly giddy about New Orleans' black diaspora

So Bob Novak snidely suggests in his latest political report.  Talking about upcoming US Senate races, Novak has this to say about Louisiana, which he feels is the GOP's "best pickup opportunity" in 2008:

Republicans were already on the upswing here before Hurricane Katrina, and at the local level, the villains in the story of Katrina were nearly all Democrats. The election of 2007 could be promising for Republicans at the state level.

If Rep. Bobby Jindal (R) wins the race for governor this fall -- and indications are that he will -- then the governor and one senator will be Republicans. Of course part of the thinking, voiced publicly by no one, is that the state's black population in New Orleans largely disappeared with Hurricane Katrina, significantly diminishing the base vote for Landrieu.

Gotta love those Acts of God, especially when the Lord smiles on the Grand Old Party and smites the swarthy sons of Canaan.  My question is, who would be so cynical, so selfish and indifferent, that they'd consider the still-suffering Big Easy as an opportunity to be exploited politically?  Whose shameless "thinking" is this?

Perhaps subtly answering these questions, Novak writes in his very next line, "There is no obvious GOP candidate ready to step forward. White House advisor Karl Rove has been urging..." (snip)

Of course, Karl Rove!  The master spinner himself who--unlike his boss in the Oval Office--isn't afraid to flaunt his detachment from, and glaring insensitivity to, black people.  Novak underscores this with a most telling parapraxis in his final sentence on the matter; read into what you will: "No one will be worrying too much about this race until after the governor's race is over."

Novak: '08 Democratic sweep of Presidency, Senate, House is 'probable'

Sometimes it's hard to tell, when our old buddy Bob Novak scuttlebutts, whether he's been interacting with actual people or talking to his fist like Señor Wences.  And then, if there's good reason to believe he's not winging it on his own, you have to figure out if he's sharing legitimate insider analyses or just passing on Karl Rove's latest crateful of fat red herring to hapless readers.  That's what makes him fun to peruse.

If we got no-bullshit Bob in his latest political newsletter, then Republicans are in for an even more miserable 2008: "The private outlook for '08 by Republican leaders is gloomy -- not a Democratic blowout, but probable Democratic wins for President, Senate and House, with the best GOP chance being in the race for President.  It may be premature, but Republican insiders are already talking about the outlook for 2010."

Something that Novak himself has been talking about non-stop is Fred "Uncle Hulka" Thompson.  Perhaps aware that he's been a Thompson PR machine of late, Novak now asks aloud, "How viable is Thompson as a candidate?"  He writes:

Republicans may want to be cautious about giving frontrunner status to someone who has not been tested in a single debate and has not won a single difficult election. Thompson is "the man who was not there" -- he is where he is because no one like him existed in the field before now. He reaps the benefits of the political vacuum on the GOP side.

Then Novak dons his purple fedora and gold medallions and promptly starts pimping his man by taking jabs at the Democrats for squawking (thanks to the press) that Thompson was a power lobbyist for nearly twenty years:

The Democratic National Committee is evidently afraid of Thompson, or else its operatives at least perceive enough fear among Democrats that they can be frightened by him into giving money. The DNC sent out a fundraising appeal that demonizes the senator-turned-actor for his lobbying career. "In the real world, Thompson has made a fortune in a decades-long career as a Washington lobbyist," reads the e-mail, referring to him as "lobbyist Thompson."

Novak also predicts that NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg could go independent, the news of which had already made the rounds of the blogosphere last night.  He foresees a potential Bloomberg run for the White House in '08 with Oklahoma Democrat David Boren sharing the ticket:

According to New York political sources, the two discussed a role Boren might play in an independent Bloomberg campaign for President -- generating speculation about a Bloomberg-Boren ticket. In introducing Bloomberg for his commencement speech, Boren praised the mayor's record stabilizing his city's budget and strengthening its economy after the 9/11 attack.

Buried in the middle of his latest report, Novak also makes a striking observation about America's gas problem:

When it comes to energy, the public is upset over rising gasoline prices -- not the failure of oil companies to invest in alternative sources of energy. U.S. demand for oil is at a record high, and gas prices are close to a record high, meaning that there is no public clamor for an energy bill that does not increase domestic production of oil.

He also remarks that "the clamor for ethanol, gasified coal, biofuels, solar and wind power comes almost exclusively from special interests that stand to gain from tax provisions and are otherwise economically unworkable," a clear, Cheneyian "fuck yourself" to poor Ed Begley, Jr.

Novak: Large number of Dem insiders believe Obama will be '08 nominee

Nuggets from Bob Novak's takes on the recent Democratic and Republican debates in New Hampshire:

* Sen. Hillary Clinton, whom Novak accidentally identifies as a Republican, "never looked better physically," he writes.  "She is slow-walking her way toward the nomination, which is often a path leading to defeat."

* Why defeat?  Because Novak reveals that "[t]here are a surprisingly large number of Democratic insiders who now believe [Sen. Barack] Obama will be the nominee."  He says Limbaugh's Magic Negro is "still a little rough around the edges, but getting better."

* On Gov. Bill Richardson, Novak has less than stellar things to say.  Oh, who'm I kidding, he rips him a new one.  To wit: "He appeared totally unprepared at the debate.  It was a continuation of his disastrous performance on NBC's 'Meet the Press' last Sunday -- perhaps the worst performance in the show's history."  Ouch.  There's more... "Longtime Richardson-watchers say he has been flying by the seat of his pants his whole career, and this time he crashed and burned."

* And that brings us to Novak's odds-on favorite to succeed King George, Sen. Fred Thompson.  Novak just can't gush enough about Uncle Hulka, despite the fact that Thompson wasn't at the debate since he hasn't even announced yet, and trails in most polls.  Looking into his crystal ball, Novak matter-of-factly asserts, "Thompson now leads in the futures markets, with Giuliani and Romney close behind and McCain a distant fourth place."  We could truncate that sentence to simply, "Thompson now leads ... with Giuliani," because as I mentioned before, that will be the 2008 GOP ticket if Karl Rove has his way, and he's certainly already clued in his friend Bob.