Put Him Away

Given the structural demand for a Democratic victory, why hasn't Barack been able to shake McCain? Here's Howard Fineman's theory.

Why hasn’t Obama run away with this?

Because the country remains culturally divided. Because the more it looks like Democrats will score huge gains in Congress, the more worried “soft Republican” voters get. Because McCain has succeeded, in the minds of some of those voters, in raising the hoary specter of “tax-and-spend” liberals. Because Obama hails from a place (South Side Chicago) and background (the son of professional academics) more reminiscent of Democratic losers like Michael Dukakis, Al Gore and John Kerry than winners like LBJ, Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton. Because some voters remember the hate-filled sound bites of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

And, to a degree we cannot measure and may never fully know, because Obama is an African-American---and one with a Swahili name at that.

There is nothing that the staffers here in Chicago can do about any of that at this point. Up on the 11th floor of the office building here, staffers are hard at work. They aren’t thinking about those things. Their campaign manager, David Plouffe, won’t let them. “We expected this to tighten,” one of them said to me a few hours ago.

And so, it seems, it has.

The Texas Option

Reports this weekend indicate there's an unnoticed contender to be Barack's VP pick - Congressman Chet Edwards of Texas.

Edwards, 56, has been pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional Democrats who cite his work on veterans' affairs and nuclear nonproliferation, as well as his potential to attract Southern white blue-collar voters. Pelosi has called Edwards "one of the finest people I've ever served with." His stock rose further, one source said, after a meeting with Obama, though his low national profile remains a hurdle.

Scary, isn't it, to think that Pelosi might have that sort of swagger with Barack? But he does have a profile, after 18 years in Congress, that is unusual for a Democrat.

Congressman Edwards is known as a fiscal conservative who believes massive federal deficits and the $9 trillion national debt are harmful to our economy and morally wrong to pass on to our children and grand children. The non-partisan Concord Coalition has given him its "Deficit Hawk" Award.

As a lifelong person of faith, Chet has been honored by the Baptist Joint Committee and earned the Walter Cronkite Award from the Interfaith Alliance for his principled stand to keep government regulations out of our churches and houses of worship. Congressman Edwards has also been honored with the T.B. Maston Christian Ethics Award.

Newsweek reports that the campaign wanted to announce Barack's running mate before the Olympics, but has been unable to narrow things down. They're unhappy, apparently, with their options.

In fact, Obama aides have identified potential drawbacks to all the front runners. Biden brings foreign-policy expertise, but there are lingering concerns that his garrulous tendencies might knock the campaign off message. Bayh, who the sources say has been lobbying hard for the nod, brings solid centrist credentials. (An aide says Bayh is not "actively" pursuing the job.) But his wife serves on numerous corporate boards, and she also previously worked as a lawyer for drug giant Eli Lilly—an inconvenient link for a party committed to health-care reform. Kaine is seen as a "change" candidate, but he has no national-security experience. Clinton remains a possibility, but her chances are seen as remote, if only because of the near impossibility of vetting her husband's business affairs.