McCain Picks Palin, Puts Electoral Prospects First

Sources confirm that John McCain has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. While Palin is popular among conservatives, she will almost certainly exacerbate concerns about McCain's age. Should something happen to McCain, the reins of the country would fall to an unknown and undistinguished one-term Governor with considerable ethical baggage.

Palin has been accused, inter alia, of dismissing Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, from his job as a state trooper. A panel of the GOP-controlled Alaska legislature has ordered an investigation into the matter. The Alaska Attorney General's office launched a separate investigation and has thus far discovered that 14 members of Palin's administration made calls to Department of Public Safety officials about Wooten.

McCain has clearly made a strategic decision to go after Clinton voters. However, the pick bellies McCain's central campaign message. By picking an unknown and ethically suspect individual with less than two years of relevant experience, McCain has made plain that this time around, it is his electoral prospects, and not his country, that comes first.

Conflicting Clues: Romney or Pawlenty?

While John McCain is set to announce his running mate tomorrow in Dayton, Ohio, experience dictates that his choice will leak within the next few hours. And McCain has already said he intends to inform that person today. So who is it? Well, there are conflicting clues coming from the two frontrunners.

Gov. Pawlenty arrived in Denver today to combat the Democratic message, but abruptly cancelled his afternoon interviews with reporters. Meanwhile, "sources with strong Michigan ties" have told David Drucker of Roll Call that the Secret Service conducted a security sweep of the home of Gov. Romney’s sister. The Secret Service denies the report. But as Drucker points out, a sweep wouldn't be dispositive of a Romney selection anyway.

[O]ne campaign operative familiar with the working of a presidential-level campaign cautioned that a sweep of such a location could have been conducted in advance of Romney appearing as a surrogate -- not the vice presidential nominee -- at an upcoming McCain campaign stop in Michigan.

Update (7:15pm): The tea leaves point to Pawlenty.  All of the scheduling for the Minnesota Governor has been turned over to the McCain campaign.

Please, No Greek Temple at Invesco

The GOP has been relentless in their attempts to paint Obama as a presumptuous celebrity who believes he has a lock on the presidency. Apart from the pseudo presidential seal introduced and, thankfully, thrown by the wasteside in June, Obama has succeeded in looking presidential without acting as if he is already president.

So let me put this mildly: the temple backdrop that the Obama camp is constructing at Invesco sends the wrong message. The GOP has already begun to call it the "Temple of Obama." Let's not turn it into a headline.

And whoever is responsible for bringing the Air Force One replica to Invesco needs to be fired immediately. Like right now.

Bob Casey With the Zinger!

CNN's talking heads are at the DNC and on pace once again to drown out the evening's speakers and overall message.  However, they did allow us to see and hear from Sen. Bob Casey.  While Casey is not known for his eloquence, he's delivered the best line of the night thus far:

"John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush 90 percent of the time.  That's not a maverick.  That's a sidekick."

Bill Just Can't Keep Quiet

Today Democrats celebrated a successful first night capped off by unifying messages from Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama. That is, of course, until Bill Clinton arrived. Just hours before Hillary is set to take the stage, Bill posed a hypothetical question in which he seemed to imply that Democrats were choosing the wrong candidate.

"Suppose you're a voter, and you've got candidate X and candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything, but you don't think that candidate can deliver on anything at all. Candidate Y you agree with on about half the issues, but he can deliver. Which candidate are you going to vote for?"

Then, the oh-shit moment. And Bill proceeded to backpaddle. "This has nothing to do with what's going on now."

Breaking: Plot to Assassinate Obama Thwarted

CBS4 in Denver reports that at least four people are under arrest in connection with a plot to assassinate Sen. Obama on the night of his acceptance speech.  The men, whom had high-powered, scoped rifles and other equipment in their cars, confessed to federal authorities that they had come to Denver to kill Obama.  At least one of the apprehended men was wearing a ring with a swastika.  

CNN Talks Through First Night of Convention

I've been watching CNN's coverage of the first night of the Democratic Convention and I've been struck by how little of it I've actually been able to see and hear.  CNN's "Best Political Team on Television" won't let us see or hear from any of the speakers.  Instead, we've been served inordinate helpings of weak jokes and empty analysis.  Now, after hours of hearing themselves talk, Anderson Cooper and David Gergen have begun to criticize the first night's program as lacking a message.

Incredible.

Clinton Camp Still Trying to Sink Obama?

We've all heard the theory: sink Obama in 2008, coronate Hillary in 2012. I must confess that it seems all the more credible in light of statements by Clinton's top advisers and confidants; a sort of coordinated tumult that has followed Obama's selection of Biden as his running mate.

One anonymous Clinton adviser expressed "outrage" at the way in which the VP selection process was handled. "They thought her supporters were mad before? They are really mad now." Another suggested that Clinton "was deliberately snubbed." One called Biden's selection "a death wish." A couple of Clintonites went on record.

Within the past twenty-four hours, for example, Paul Begala and James Carville have both accused the Obama camp of "disrespecting" Clinton.

And last, but certainly not least, was Gov. Rendell's temper tantrum last night at a Shorenstein Center-sponsored panel discussion with NBC’s Tom Brokaw, ABC’s George Stephanopoulous and CBS’s Bob Schieffer.

"Ladies and gentleman, the coverage of Barack Obama was embarrassing. It was embarrassing," Rendell whined. Rendell was particularly critical of MSNBC, which he called "the official network of the Obama campaign." Their coverage was "absolutely embarrassing," Rendell said.

No sir, throwing a hissy fit about your candidate's loss on the eve your party's convention is embarrassing. The coverage was fine.

All in all, the evidence thus far seems to suggest that the Clinton camp is doing everything possible to step on Obama's convention message. And we've seen this game before: The principal takes the high road while the surrogates go to town. Can you say Hillary 2012?

Will John Kerry Take Over Foreign Relations Chair?

Sen. Obama's selection of Joe Biden as his running mate raises the question of whether Biden will retain his position as Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The second-ranking Democrat on the committee, Chris Dodd, chairs the Senate Banking Committee and is not likely to resign that post. This brings us to the third-ranking Democrat and most likely candidate: John Kerry.

Although Kerry chairs the Small Business Committee, he would almost certainly give up that job to claim a first-tier assignment. In addition, the word on the street is that Kerry is interested in being Obama's Secretary of State. If that is indeed the case, this is one bulletpoint that is sure to move his resume to top of the stack.

Chet, Not John

The Associated Press reports that Obama's shortlist includes another name: Edwards. And that's Chet, not John. Edwards, a powerful nine-term Congressman from Corpus Christi, is a favorite of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has on multiple occasions touted his "extraordinary credentials" and expressed publicly her hope that he is the veep nominee. His district includes President Bush's hometown of Crawford.

Edwards brings a particularly strong command of military and veterans issues, derived in part from his service as Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. In 2007, he authored the largest increase in veterans' funding in the 77-year history of the VA. In 2008 alone, he's received the American Legion Distinguished Public Service Award, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Congressional Award, and the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans Congressional Award.

House aides on both sides of the aisle tell me that Edwards is immensely popular with colleagues and would be invaluable in helping to shepard Obama's big initiatives through Congress.

Good News for National Journal: Biden Already Ranked Third Most Liberal Senator

It just occurred to me that the National Journal ranked Joe Biden as the third most liberal U.S. Senator in 2007. Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist, came in fourth. This is clearly good news for the Journal. If Biden is selected, they won't have to revise their formula to achieve their preferred outcome.

Obama Says He's Chosen His Running Mate

Sen. Obama confirmed to Kathy Kiely of USA Today that he has chosen his running mate. He would not reveal whether he's informed that person or say when he would notify supporters.

Obama did say that he sought someone who is "prepared to be president," who would be "a partner ... in strengthening this economy for the middle class and working families," and "somebody who's independent, somebody who can push against my preconceived notions and challenge me so we have got a robust debate in the White House."

McCain Unsure How Many Houses He Owns (Seriously)

Seriously? I didn't believe it at first. I mean confusing Sunnis and Shia is one thing, but not knowing how many houses you own? Holy shit. The question arose during an interview with the Politico, which presumably also included stumpers like "What's your favorite color?" and "Who are you?" In the end, McCain punted to his staff.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain said. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

As if it could get any worse, McCain's staff had to ballpark it. "At least four." Seven. You own seven houses, Sen. McCain. Naturally, the Obama camp jumped on this, releasing a new ad that is appropriately titled "Seven."

Obama Meets Privately With Kaine and His Staff

Sen. Obama met with Gov. Kaine and his staff this morning for 15 minutes at a Richmond hotel. Sure, the two were scheduled to hit the trail together. And yes, for weeks the media and blogosphere alike have tried in vain to divine a decision out of everything from Obama's scheduled stops to his use of personal pronouns. One more attempt won't kill you.

Here's what we know. First, the VP announcement will come before on or before Saturday, when Obama and his newly minted running mate are scheduled to attend a big rally at the former state capitol of Illinois, where Obama launched his White House bid nearly 19 months ago. And second, according to Howard Fineman the Obama camp has asked one or more of the prospective veeps how to get in touch with them on Thursday. Odds are, Obama's running mate is going to find out today.

One can assume that Obama would prefer to ask his choice to join the ticket in person -- after all, that's how its been done in the past. And the fact that Kaine's staff were also in on the meeting would make sense as they would undoubtedly have a hand in the rollout and/or Kaine's transition from the Governor's office to the campaign trail.

Is it Kaine? Your guess is as good as mine.

Don't Panic, Just Improve Your Aim

While troubled to see McCain ahead in the latest Reuters/Zogby poll, I was even more surprised at the media's reaction. First of all, this is not the latest nationwide poll. It was conducted August 14-16. The latest nationwide poll is LA Times/Bloomberg, conducted August 16-18 (with a larger sample size), which has Obama leading by 2.

Second, Reuters/Zogby is most likely an outlier. Although Obama is undoubtedly slipping in the polls, he's not 5 points behind. Unless, of course, you're willing to believe that he's lost the support of 12 percent of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 in the last week.

Far more worrisome than Obama's performance in recent national polls are the numbers coming out of battleground states, particularly Ohio. According to Rasmussen, Obama is as many as 10 points down in Missouri and 5 points down in Ohio. Yes, Ohio, the state where McCain and his campaign manager Rick Davis personally orchestrated a controversial DHL deal at the expense of at least 10,000 jobs. When all is said and done, McCain's deal is expected to yield a crippled regional economy and job losses in the 30,000 range.

When the story broke, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe called it "the most important development of the entire campaign this week." Wrong. It is thus far the most important development of the campaign, period. Each and every time Obama lands in Ohio, his first words ought to be, "McCain outsourced a quarter of your state to Germany. Oh, and hello." If Obama is ever 5 points behind in Ohio, it's because he and his campaign have stopped talking about the DHL deal and how representative it is of McCain's flawed approach to trade and utter incompetence on economic issues.

So yes, Obama needs to go on the offense. But he also needs to improve his aim.

Obama Hits Back on Taxes

Sen. Obama is finally hitting back on taxes with a new ad. Sen. McCain has been running a series of attack ads featuring blanket claims that Obama's election would mean "higher taxes." In fact, Obama's plan would yield three times greater tax relief to middle class families.

Not mentioned in the ad is the fact that Obama's plan is the more fiscally responsible one. Against current policy, Obama's proposals would bring in $300 billion more in revenues, an increase of 1 percent, whereas McCain's proposals would add another trillion -- or 3 percent -- to the federal deficit.

Drudge: Obama VP Announcement Likely Wednesday Morning

While Obama-beat reporter Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times caught wind of plans to roll-out the Illinois Senator's running mate via email Tuesday morning, a source close to Caroline Kennedy has since told Drudge that the announcement is more likely to come early Wednesday morning. So you can stop hate-refreshing your inbox, for now.

Kaine Golden on Meet the Press

On July 29, I took issue with the assessment of the Atlantic's Marc Ambinder that Gov. Kaine would not "do all that well at the VP debates" and is, therefore, not "a campaign choice." Well, yesterday on "Meet the Press," Kaine had his tryout. And I hate to say it, but I told you so.

Kaine dubbed McCain the "sole cheerleader" remaining for the failed strategy that distracted us from al Qaeda in Afghanistan and led us into a war without end in Iraq. When asked to respond to Karl Rove's criticism of his tenure as Governor, Kaine didn't miss a beat. Noting that Virginia had been named "top governed state in America" by Governing Magazine and voted best for business three years in row by Forbes, Kaine quipped "maybe Karl Rove and the Republicans don't care about business climate, that would explain why we're in the situation that we're in."

Chris Cillizza of the Fix, caught up in the Olympic spirit, awarded him the Sunday Talk Show gold medal. "If there were any lingering questions about whether Kaine is ready for the national stage," Cillizza writes, "they were erased during his virtuoso performance on the crown jewel of Sunday talk shows."

Deployed Troops Give 6:1 to Obama

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Sen. Obama has received nearly six times as much money from American troops deployed overseas as has Sen. McCain. When all military personnel (at home or abroad) are included, Obama's advantage holds at 57 percent.

These figures represent a staggering reversal of the trend in previous elections. In 2000, then Gov. Bush held a 2:1 fundraising advantage over Vice President Gore among military personnel. In 2004, Bush held a 1.5:1 advantage over Sen. Kerry.