Richardson for Barack's VP

Given that Hillary is clearly not a leading contender to be Barack's choice for VP, my top preference would be Bill Richardson. Back in the early days of the primary season, he was my preference to be the Democratic presidential nominee. He has a lot of experience in government and by far the best foreign relations experience of any candidate now on the field, including a stint as UN ambassador and experience negotiating with other countries. Since Barack is weak in foreign relations, Richardson would give his ticket instant credibility on that front. He also has a lot of experience on the energy front, not least being a former Secretary of Energy. Being a state governor gives him a depth of experience that helps balance Barack's lack of executive experience. He also helps pull in the Hispanic vote. He seems like a win-win proposition to me. He's not charismatic, but Barack has that covered, so I think his hard-core energy and international experience trumps just about everything else.

As an American citizen, I feel that I could sleep better at night knowing that Bill Richardson was either actively tackling problems or at a minimum actively giving Barack great advice.

There is some expectation that Barack will announce his VP choice this week. I do not have any inside information, but I look forward to Bill Richardson's name being the one pulled out of the hat.

Bill is already scheduled to speak at the convention on Wednesday evening, the VP night, but I do not know if that automatically means he won't be the VP choice. I suspect that it does mean that he is out of the running, but I am not so sure. Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, and Jay Rockefeller are all also scheduled to speak on Wednesday on the same topic of "Securing America's Future" (national security.) I am not so sure that they are all automatically out of the running due to being scheduled as well.

The bottom line is that if Barack chooses Bill Richardson, I could actually get excited about his campaign. I honestly do not know who else he could choose that would get me excited (besides, Hillary, of course.)

I am also thinking that McCain will pick former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge as his VP.

-- Jack Krupansky

It sounds as if Hillary is semi-officially out of the running for VP

Although it was fairly clear that Hillary was not favored to be chosen as Barack's VP, the simple fact that she is now scheduled to speak on Tuesday evening of the convention strongly suggests that she won't be speaking Wednesday evening when the VP nominee would be speaking.

The fact that Bill is now scheduled to intro the VP speaking slot on Wednesday evening also suggests that he was chosen for that slot to help reinforce the impression that the Clinton's are on-board for a Barack/<whoever> ticket.

But with Hillary effectively acquiescing to go quietly into the night, you have to wonder what quid quo pro Barack has offered her in return for "being a good sport." My suspicion is that Barack will let her effectively take charge of crafting and shaping the health care reform package.

-- Jack Krupansky

Edwards

Edwards.

Enough said.

What's next?

There can't be much of a future for The Onion and The National Enquirer when the truth is stranger than fiction.

So, I wonder which politician will be "outed" next as being... a "narcissist."

I wonder if Barack will be forced to denounce, vilify, and otherwise politically crucify Edwards in order to retain his aura of impeccable moral scruples.

I wonder which reporter will be so bold as to be the first to ask Bill Clinton (or Hillary) to "comment" on the Edwards "affair." Or as The Economist and the Brits would put it, Edwards' "zipper problem."

Lucky for the Democrats, there are more than a few Republicans who would just as soon not have the question asked of themselves.

-- Jack Krupansky

Barack shifting to center on energy

I am glad to see that Barack Obama continues to shift towards a more centrist position on a number of issues, the latest being energy, where he declares that he is willing to concede to demands for more offshore oil drilling if that will gain passage of a more robust energy policy.

I applaud his willingness to be a key member of the so-called "Gang of Ten", five Democratic senators and five Republican senators, who are working very hard to craft a more credible and bipartisan energy policy.

I continue to believe that Barack is a lot more pragmatic and centrist-leaning than any of his supporters are willing to admit. Personally, I can be supportive of Barack (but not an outright supporter), but I can in no way be supportive of "The Progressives" and the rest of his left-wing "supporters."

-- Jack Krupansky