August 22, 2008, Cuba si, Nixon no
One must hand it to the Obama campaign, which is evidently printing several versions of bumper stickers with different veep candidate names, just to keep things stirred up, and the feckless press interested in something besides celebrity obsession. We may know... tomorrow? Notwithstanding my own extensive experience in both the private and public sectors (including experience in the executive, legislative and judicial branches), and for federal, state and local governments, and being in Barack's college class (and IIRC getting a better grade than he did in political theory)... and most importantly, demonstrating my ubiquitous knowledge of everything with this blog... it seems it's not going to be me.
Who is it going to be? You know, you'd think Barack might have told me... but you'd be wrong. Might be (Hillary supporter and Iraq war yea-voter) Evan Bayh of Indiana; might be (plagiarist/windbag/Iraq war yea-voter) Joe Biden; might be (neo-civil-liberties hero/Iraq war yea-voter) Chris Dodd; might be (most incompetent campaigner ever/Iraq war yea-voter) Hillary Clinton. Do you'all see a pattern here? Honestly: I think they've all disqualified themselves because, well... you know. Yes, that means Govs. Sebelius, Richardson, Kaine or even Schweitzer or... Edwards? (Congressman Chet Edwards, not that other guy who isn't Rielle's baby's daddy) might work out, but...
Look: just let it be Al Gore, so that Barack and Al can set about cleaning up the God damned mess that we have. We will need both competence and integrity in unmatched degrees. We're past even blaming the Bush Administration, which will surely spend the next 4 months 29 days it has f*cking things up more, and as fast as possible, knowing that they may have tarnished their party's brand name so much that even a Black man can get elected in this country.
So, whatever. Barack, ask Al. Al, say yes. [TD... wake up!!!]
Update: (8/23/08) A rude awakening. It's Biden. All that wonderful build-up, and then such an uninspired, "safe" choice (as the Unseen Editor quips... was David Gergen unavailable?) Surely, David Broder will be happy. I mean, I'm going to vote for Obama and I urge you all to do the same (if nothing else, "it's the Supreme Court, stupid"), but a huge part of my enthusiasm has just been dampened. My greatest fear with Obama had been not the (racist) claptrap that he was some kind of radical Muslim Black power Manchurian candidate... my fear was that the slogan of change and hope was, in fact, just a slogan, particularly as there was little evidence he means any of it. Well, the choice of a longtime Beltway insider who voted yea on the Iraq war and bankruptcy reform and was a member of the Gang of 14 and other atrocities is about as Establishment as it gets. Maybe Barack likes the idea of someone who thinks he's "so clean"? Well. Color me disappointed, and not merely mildly so.