Yes, but given the economy and general disgust with GWB, Obama should have a strong double digit lead. So at this point who knows what voters will emphasize ...

NO - the past few days you know who else has been a face for Obama - Richardson. That might be a good choice, since the majority of Cuban-Americans are having a hard time with Obama...

.. but more important, he has the international skills, he also has been Governor so has had to work with budget and money. I'm not sure how Richardson's Mexican heritage would play into it, but I think it gives the ticket a decent balance.

I like Biden, too - but he's in the Senate, that might be a good place to leave him.

why?
Most Americans who watch Fox don't know mccain is bad
So why would they be, when noone knows who McCain is, and people actually think mccain is that maverick, just like Bush was a compassionate conservative

And another strawman is saying the lead should be bigger. The lead is NEVER bigger this time in August...you can look it up.

the question is

WHY IS MCCAIN NOT WINNING BIG TIME? That is the question to ask

What?

McCain should have a double digit lead in an election year with a Republican president with an approval rating as low as any president, a sagging economy, endless wars being fought, and a ton of issues which need to be addressed by the next President -- and you think McCain should have a double digit lead?

Why not?

After all he is Mr.Troop Mr. POW Mr. War Hero
Mr.America

why wouldn't you want this nice Christian boy who is white?

Why isn't McCain leading by 20?

Because of the Iraq war
Bin Laden is still loose
The economy
And Bush is very unpopular

AND McCain is a lousy candidate. He has a compelling life story, but he does not talk well, he does not have any new ideas, he does not have any money, he has a weak campaign organization, he was not united the party behind him --- etc. etc. etc.

The question is not why McCain does not have a big advantage its why doesn't Obama?

McCain was the best choice of a lousy slate of Republicans candidates...go to the consideraiton of McCain thread if you want an answer...

McCain, AS I SAID A YEAR AGO, is the strongest general election candidate due to perception
aFter all, Kerry asked McCain to be his VP, remember. (McCain finally admitted it was true).

So why isn't McCain leading by 20?Why has he never pulled into the lead? 239 polls in a roll, Obama leads. What does that tell you?

This means that there are undecideds...and the question is do they break for Obama or McCain --- I think if your numbers added up -- the race would have McCain slightly leading Obama, but polls show Obama slightly in the lead or dead even --- when they do choose I would expect them to split --- 10-15% for McCain -- 10-15% for Obama...

But Marine what you ignore is the appeal of Obama to religious voters.

Bush got 80% of these folks -- McCain is having trouble getting 70%. This is at least a 10% swing to Obama...which could decide the election...

I gave you a list of reasons Graham and there is a whole thread where tons of info has been posted...

McCain was the best candidate out of a lousy slate of Republicans...this is the bottom line...

If this was not the case McCain would not have almost gone bankrupt in the primary...

He was a default choice because there was noone else...

McCain was a bad republican choice because he is not immediatelythought of a bushie

However, in the general, they could not have come up with a better candidate

It isn't even close

obama would lead by 20 over any other candidate


and soon as the people learn mccain is a bushie, he will drop

I'll second that... I agree re: Richardson.

Richardson would bring a lot of positives to the ticket and I believe he has a high "likeability" factor... which does play a big role.

In a straight up man vs man choice.

Obama has the GOP record to run against but that is slightly negated by the fact that McCain plays the "anti-GOP" Republican maverick.

McCain has tried to distance himself from Bush and polls show he has had some success at it. I would certainly hammer the Bush connection if I were the Obama camp. They have been somewhat... but I would do so even more.

McCain is a weak candidate.

Romney/Huckabee or Crist would have been a stronger ticket IMHO.

Those two could tally the Republican base. McCain has not and will not. Without the Republican base, McCain will have to attract independents and Democrats to vote for his third Bush term -- something that they are unlikely to do.

Yes in a straight up man vs. man vote where we do the choosing in a vacuum away from any of the realities of the day -- maybe...

My prediction is Joe Biden, or Bill Richardson, who, of those being mentioned, are probably the two best choices. (I grant that Chet Edwards might be another, but I know very little about him.)

I like Richardson....and Biden...I probably Like Richardson better for VP....but either would be fine.

I think Richardson is better qualified than Biden but I don't think it would be politically
feasible to put two minority group men on the ticket.

I hate to say it (especially as my wife would love to see a Hispanic on the ticket, even one of Mexican background!) but I think your political assessment of Richardson is likely to be right.

I think you are right - but maybe its time this nation started acting like adults instead of the children that they have been acting like for the last 200 or so years -- where domestic xenophobia has frightened them for so many years...

My two cents...

Tuesday AM it seems

and I won't be online but with Mr. Obama when he says its Obama/Graham

he will be in Florida- hmmm

Obama's VP staff is already in place for the coming (tomorrow morning???) announcement

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/20...ml?hpid=topnews
you're one of those political junkies who can hardly bear the anxiety of waiting for Barack Obama to choose his vice presidential running mate, think of how David Wade and Chris Mather feel.

They're among a handful of Democratic political aides from Washington who have packed their bags and moved to Obama's campaign headquarters in Chicago to work for... well, they don't know yet. (Though we expect they'll find out this week, and certainly before next Wednesday, when the Democratic vice presidential nominee is scheduled to speak at the party's convention in Denver.)

Wade, a longtime aide to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), was hired last month to be the traveling press secretary for the eventual vice presidential running mate. Mather, who most recently served as political director of the labor union coalition Change to Win, will assume the same position for the spouse of Obama's mysterious No. 2. (Mather, it should be noted, is also president of Steak Club, which boasts a roster of nerdy Washington insiders.)

Wade and Mather and others were hired by Patti Solis Doyle, who was ousted as campaign manager of Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign and later joined the Obama team to head up the presumptive nominee's vice presidential effort. Others who have been hired to work for the as-yet unnamed Democratic running mate include:

- Ricki Seidman, a battle-tested veteran who ran Bill Clinton's 1992 War Room and worked in the Clinton White House; She'll be the communications director for the veep pick.

- Kathleen McGlynn, who was chief of staff to former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) during his 2008 presidential run; She will be the No. 2's deputy chief of staff. (McGlynn's father is mayor of Medford, Mass.)

- Leslie Miller, who was the Obama campaign's spokeswoman in New Hampshire; She'll be communications director for the vice presidential nominee's spouse.

Now all they need is a boss.

Their hiring - before Obama has even chosen his running mate - underscores the Obama campaign's highly disciplined, tightly controlled approach to message. (And this way, the Obama campaign hopes to stave off the kind of tension that developed between the Kerry and Edwards staffs in 2004, when Edwards brought most of his key aides with him to the campaign.)

And it sounds as if the Mystery No. 2's staff-in-waiting really has no clue yet who they'll be working for. As our colleague David Broder wrote in his Sunday column, Doyle is "flying blind."

Wade tells the Sleuth this cart-before-the-horse arrangement really isn't as weird as it may seem. "For eight years we've had a vice president who stayed in undisclosed locations. Trust me, it's already change we can believe in -- it's just the next vice president's identity that's undisclosed."

Biden, Sebelius, Kaine or Richardson

Bayh or Richardson...

Obama-Bayh? Speculation Swirls Among Party Leaders, Experts
Dems Say Nomination Would Help Party; GOP Not So Sure

POSTED: 5:12 pm EDT August 18, 2008
UPDATED: 7:01 pm EDT August 18, 2008


Indiana Senator Evan Bayh's office was mum Monday on the possibility Bayh could be days away from being announced as Barack Obama's running mate.

While no official timeline has been set, the general consensus in Washington is that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee will announce his choice by the middle of the week, so that he and his running mate will have several days to campaign before the convention begins, 6News' Norman Cox reported.

Aides at Bayh's office Monday said he was working in Washington, but that he did not have any public events scheduled and that he would not discuss the vice presidential speculation.

The same wasn't true for state party leaders and Democratic candidates, who told Cox they're excited about a potential Obama-Bayh team.

"If he's on the ticket, he will help every Democrat in the state of Indiana, just as he always has," said Rep. Dennie Oxley, who's running alongside Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson.

Republican leaders said Bayh would make the presidential race in Indiana closer, but they said Obama still couldn't win the state, and that Bayh's name on the ticket wouldn't make a difference in the race for governor.

SURVEY
Do you think Sen. Evan Bayh will be Barack Obama's choice for VP?
A: Yes
B: No

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"If you look back to 1988 when Dan Quayle was on the ticket, you know, a familiar name, a guy named Evan Bayh, you know, won the governor's office as a Democrat. So, you know, it's not unheard of, and it's not an automatic that a Hoosier vice presidential candidate will mean big things for the rest of the slate," said Jay Kenworthy, spokesman for the Indiana Republican Party.

Local experts are also closely analyzing Bayh's chances. Ball State political science professor Joe Losco said Bayh has executive experience and foreign policy credentials that Obama doesn't, but that he also voted against the party on two hot-button issues: the war and partial-birth abortion.

"It may affect the kind of support and the kind of energy that the left has in going out to work for the ticket," Losco said. "Now, having said that, the left is probably so ready for a change in Washington, that it probably would not adversely affect things that badly."

Bayh campaigned with Obama last week in Elkhart, but neither would comment then on the possibility of a joint ticket. Obama called Bayh "one of the finest U.S. senators that we have."
http://www.theindychannel.com/politics/17224946/detail.html

Kaine hasn't the gravitas --- Warner would be the better choice -- he at least has served for 4 years as Gov...

Sibelius too new -- has not served a full term as Gov -- no foreign policy expertise and would send Clinton supporters over the edge against Obama...

didn't you post the same mistakes on the other thread?

wrong wrong wrong

you lost. like Hillary did. get over it.

August 15th, 2008 12:14 PM Eastern
Warner On Keynote Speech, VP Speculation
by Aaron Bruns

Mark Warner

Former Virginia Governor and current Senate candidate Mark Warner tells Fox News that, contrary to recent reports that he received a last-minute request for documents from the Obama campaign, he is not being vetted for a Vice Presidential role - and says he hopes he can live up to the high standard the current Democratic nominee set in his keynote convention address four years ago.

Speaking after a joint fundraiser for the Virginia Democratic Party with current governor and VP hopeful Tim Kaine, Warner repeated that he’s taken himself out of the running for the number 2 spot. “I made very clear to the campaign that my decision was to run for the United States Senate,” he said. Asked directly if he’s being vetted, Warner said simply “no.”

In fact, in his remarks to donors gathered at the Museum of Science in Richmond, Warner endorsed Kaine for VP. “While i would hate to lose Gov Kaine, i tell you this much: I could not imagine someone that would be better served and better suited to be the next Vice President of the United States than our friend Tim Kaine,” Warner said. “It’d be kind of cool, we’d have a Tuesday night/Wednesday Night Virginia Extravaganza a few weeks from now.”

Warner was referring to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, which he keynotes on Tuesday - the day before the Vice Presidential nominee addresses the party. Warner said he was contacted about serving as keynote speaker by the Obama campaign about 10 days before the announcement, calling it “a great honor.”

Warner plans to focus his speech on bipartisanship and share a little of what he calls the Virginia Story — “how we got Republicans and Democrats to work together from budget to expanding economic opportunities in rural communities.”

Four years ago, Barack Obama used the keynote address as a launching pad onto the national stage. Warner said he’s just hoping to give a good speech.

“He set a pretty high bar, but on the other hand I was trying to remember back to some of the other keynote speakers, and they either seemed to hit real high or they’re eminently forgettable. So I hope I tend to the latter.”
http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/08/15...vp-speculation/

Graham and Taz, one of you is going to look foolish soon. The person who invested the most in this is going to look more foolish if they are wrong.

I predict Biden or Richardson, but I am being very casual about it.

I only lose if Obama loses in November my friend.

Unlike you, I am a loyal Democrat who will support the party's nominee, Barack Obama no matter who he chooses.

Unlike you, I trust Barack Obama's judgment.

Unlike you, I want to win in November.

I would think you feel the same way.

But instead you are lost in your delusions with preconditions for support based on if this VP or that VP is chosen.

It seems you are like Bush in that regard with all your preconditions...

I did not want Edwards Arne -- on the Kerry forum I was a strong adocate for Clark or Zinni because security was the issue.

But I said I would abide by whoever the candidate chose.

I feel you have to trust the candidate.

He may be choosing our Vice President, but its his campaign. I trust him.

If he chooses Biden he'll come with the weaknesses that I outlined, but I will strongly support he and Obama.

Why can't I be allowed to strongly voice my position until Thursday when the annoucement is made?

Why do I have to be foolish because I was an advocate for my candidate for VP because I felt that he was the best choice?

Were the Clinton supporters foolish because they advocated for HRC until the end?

I do not think so.

So why would I be?

It is not foolish to advocate. If you don't get who you want no one will (or should, if they are decent and mature) laugh at you no matter how passionate you were about it.

But making predictions is something else again. Of course I have seen people make predictions, quite confidently, and never acknowledge that they were wrong.

I think it will be Bayh.

Everything I read and see makes me think so knowing what I know of the candidate.

Could I be wrong?

Absolutely.

I predict it will be Bayh.

He makes the most sense politically speaking.

I think he is in the mold of LBJ. He would be loyal to Obama policy wise. He is qualified to be president. He is a person of good character. He has good judgment.

he's like LBJ?????

what the hell have you been smoking???

maybe he is like Ron Reagan (son of Ronald), (but that's an insult to Ron), but like LBJ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

is there a pot smoking smilie somewhere?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????


good judgement? He f''king supported HILLARY

Graham, it is not as though every liberal in 1960 was just swooning about LBJ. That was hardly the case at all.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=67248155229

100,000 Strong Against Evan Bayh for VPGlobalInformation
Basic Info
Type: Organizations - Political Organizations
Description: Obama's judgment about the war was the central tenet of one of the two best arguments for his earning the Democratic nomination. His offering a break from Old Washington was the other.

Choosing Evan Bayh, a career legacy politician who fell hook, line, and sinker for the administration's case for a disastrous war and dragged much of our party with him, would undermine both.

The Obama campaign will be deciding its VP in the next day or two - they may have already, but if they haven't, they are listening for feedback from people like us. This is a moment where we could really make a difference.

Let's grow this group to 100,000 in a day and send a clear message to the Obama campaign that Evan Bayh is not the right choice for Vice President.

can you picture LBJ in a boxing match with Bayh
Bayh would be running on tiptoes out of the ring so fast
LBJ would kick his butt

in the words of Lloyd Bentsen
Evan Bayh ain't NO LBJ

not one accomplishment in 50 years in his life...he is a journeyman, on the road to nowhere...just an average person not suited for the top or 2nd to top job

I like Sibelius, she's done a great job for her state. Remember when she gave the State of the Union address - what she said was good, but I had to poke myself to stay focused on what she was saying. I caught myself drifting off multiple times during her speech.

I just do not see her as what has traditionally been an 'attack dog' position for Obama.

LBJ would have picked Bayh up by the ears like he did Her (how appropriate)

Biden would be a good attack dog. He would have no problem making the point (and pass up a chance to talk?), make some pithy, but well-supported point. And the MSM would just report the soundbite and not his subsequent droning on.

They would have to monitor how long a speech he would give next week...

Perhaps a little shock bracelet for Biden.. a little 'nick' when it's time to wrap it up!

Yes, it's hard for me to believe that Sibelius is on any list at all, much less a short one, after that *dreadful* State of the Union response. It was lethally dull. I just can't imagine her being asked to give a major convention address as the VP nominee. Viewers would be nodding off.

you mean like they did in 1988 when Bill Clinton put the entire world asleep???

So - you are advocating that two wrongs make a right? Umm, no.

Well, I got Governor Sibelius to thank for getting me off my arse and returning to duty in the military. She made the speech after those tornados ravaging southern Kansas in 2007 and just couldn't avoid blaming her problems on the war in Iraq. Her problem is the citizens of Kansas ain't got the gumption to get off their backsides and volunteer to help their own state. She fits exactly what an old GySgt told me about 37 years ago when I'd not done my job well and was tryin to explain it away; "An excuse is like and A$$hole, everyone's got one".

I thought Sibileus did a great job it was Bush that put me to sleep

Hillary put me to sleep everytime she spoke, though it was like fingernails on a chalkboard jolting me awake, but I fell asleep anyhow

you would know

What have you done lately to follow the advice John F Kennedy gave us in his inaugural speech G4A? Delivering McCain yard signs don't count.

If people were still awake when he finally got to it...

Well my republican, voting for Obama husband just told me he believes Biden will be Obama's VP. He's usually right on these predictions....we both would like this.....