Yeah, I'm really blown away by that, especially considering how late he's waited and how much anticipation there is. The NYT says he's been "mainly focused" on Bayh, Biden and Kaine, and that indications are that he's going to make a "safe" choice -- that honestly makes me wonder if the reverse is true, given how tight-lipped it's been so far.
I was actually joking. If I lighten up more I would be writing LOL and putting in a bunch of these . I generally avoid that type of display. I just found it amusing to hold the posts side by side. The second didn't and still doesn't seem to make sense after the first. But if it makes sense to you, I guess that's all that matters. <-- (inserted so that you see my levity)
Well, we've been told (many times here) the NYTs isn't worth the paper it's printed on so you may be right!
Is Hagel really out of the running? As much as Obama may not care about an experience choice, I also get the feeling he doesn't care about ruffling the faithful in order to show his true colors. And my impression is that he takes this uniting message very, very seriously.
I think Obama still has work to do with the base. If Obama had steamrolled and been a sort of "inevitable" and everyone on the Dem side was behind him, I think he'd seriously look at Hagel. But with a still sorta-fractured Democratic party, I think he goes with someone that will consolidate the base. I still see Hagel as Sec Def. I see Biden as Sec State, if he's not picked as VP. Interesting to note that Biden was asked by the Georgian President to visit - Bush's surrogates were already there (C. Rice), as were McCain's (Lieberman). But Georgia wanted Biden, which I thought was odd. But it does give him a lot of foreign policy toughness and credibility. Also, it was a quick trip - Biden's already on his way back. May be a sign of things to come in the next day or two - who really knows, though.
Obama's people are absolutely brilliant with this. here's the NYTs article With just the release of the story of his pick, Obama will suck the political wind out of the whole week.
I doubt Hagel was ever in the running. If Obama would have somehow chosen a Republican, it would have to be someone more centrist than Hagel.
Not sure the validity of this: http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?threadid=754211 But according to it, the Obama campaign goofed up and sent the email early to about 400 people - and the pick was Evan Bayh. If true, I will be disappointed. He's the worst of the bunch, in my opinion. He brings somewhere between little and nothing to the table compared to the others, and he doesn't really excite/unify the base.
Whoops - hit send too early. The flipside is that it's hard to believe that no one else caught this. According to the post, it was on the CNN website several hours ago, which means Drudge and others should have caught wind of it by now.
I'm confused -- if CNN had the story, why would they take it down? Unless there's something I'm missing, that wouldn't make sense. (Not saying it couldn't be Bayh -- obviously he, Biden and Kaine are the most likely candidates. But this is a little strange.)
I think Obama should pick Hillary. It's just the smartest pick to make. After that, I don't think Biden, or any of these other guys will help him much. Hillary would show a lot. If he picked her, it would not appear that he simply caved in to demands - that he took his time and went through his own process, but it would unite the democratic party. No brainer in my eyes.
He has not been ruled out as McCain's VP. I find the fact that McCain won't rule Craig out to be telling. Explosive sucking here, folks.
I'm sure it's not Hillary (if it's an off-the-wall choice, my gut instinct says it would be Kerry before Hillary), but obviously I'd love it -- and it would be funny as hell to watch too. McCain and the Republicans have spent so much energy the last 2.5 months praising her and trying to woo her supporters that they would honestly look like complete flip-floppers if they tried to attack. It'd be an awkward position for them.
I agree, but I would be stunned if he wanted it. If "SHOCKER!!!" is what Barack is looking for, and the name isn't Hillary Clinton, Al Gore would be a home run, right out of the park. I would be thrilled! Impeach Bush/Cheney.
