Pawlenty Good

It seems pretty certain that Tim Pawlenty will be the choice for McCain's running mate. On one level this will be great news, as it will mean Lieberman and Romney, both of whom would have been a disaster, will have been passed over.

Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, taking his turn in Denver today to bash Democratic nominee Barack Obama, hammered home the Republican message that the staging of Obama's acceptance speech reveals his arrogance and vanity.

I have been hoping, however, for a game changer. A Condi Rice, Sarah Palin or some other game changer - a woman would be great - would have put team Obama into a fresh tailspin.

The backdrop for the stage at Invesco Field features faux-Greek columns made of plywood. Republicans are dubbing it the "Temple of Obama," and Pawlenty, believed to be among the finalists for Republican John McCain's running mate, piled on.

One of the difficulties for McCain in picking a VP is the experience factor. Condi has no electoral experience, and Palin is in her first term as Governor of Alaska.

"It looks like they are getting ready for the emperor to arrive," Pawlenty said on Fox News Network. "The facade is metaphor for production purposes, but there’s not much behind it. It’s the perfect metaphor for Barack Obama’s readiness to be president of the United States."

With McCain's advanced years, his VP will face experience scrutiny that's probably more rigorous than Barack.

On ABC, Pawlenty said, "This Roman-like facade, a facade with Roman columns, is a perfect metaphor or icon for the point that it's an interesting production, but behind it there's not much there."

But Pawlenty is in his second term as Governor of Minnesota, and at age 47 (same as Obama) is just about old enough for a VP.

He added, "My goodness, it's amazing that we're three days into the Democratic convention and 60 or so days from the actual election and they're still trying to plead with the American people and convince us that Barack Obama is ready to be president. The fact of the matter, he is not."

While not a game changer, Pawlenty is plenty good enough. A fresh face, a popular governor, and someone who compensates well for McCain's age. Not only that, he adds executive experience. Nice to have a VP who is more qualified than the Democrats man at the top of the ticket.

The McCain Choice

John McCain is teasing now on his VP choice, trying to steal back some attention.

Senator John McCain has decided on his running mate, two Republican strategists in contact with McCain's campaign said Wednesday. He is expected to reveal his choice at a rally at a basketball arena in Dayton, Ohio, at 11 a.m. Friday.

McCain has the chance to turn this race upside down - but that won't happen if he does what is expected.

McCain's decision is known only to his small inner circle of advisers, no more than three or four people, who have refused all public discussion on the matter. Republicans close to the campaign said that the top contenders remained the same three men who have been the source of speculation for weeks: former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and, possibly, Senator Joseph Lieberman, independent of Connecticut.

I know the arguments about mormons in Colorado, but I think that Mitt Romney would be a major mistake - he's too slick, insincere, and too vulnerable to attack for 1) what he said about McCain during the primaries and 2) for his lack of leadership in Massachusetts. I suspect Mitt's high level of visability this week was part of a ruse to keep people assuming that he's the nominee.

Joe Lieberman, while supposedly favored by McCain, would also be crazy. The message is too confusing. Is he a conservative? Is he a Democrat? Didn't he run with Al Gore?

Pawlenty looks like a good choice, but not a game changer. I see a game changer coming. A woman makes the most sense, to continue to drive the wedge between Hillary supporters and Barack supporters. Someone like Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would be great, but she's not experienced enough to go on the ticket with a 72 year old president, I'm afraid.

Kay Bailey Hutchinson, the Texas Senator is a possiblity, but she strikes me as so old school that her personna would undo that advantages that a woman would bring.

BTW - Great speech by Joe Biden. He made this feel like a convention for the first time. And Barack joined him on stage. Finally, some energy from these folks.

Sister Maya

I forgot all about Barack's sister, Maya Soetoro. Did you see her?

Up with America

Dennis Kucinich gave a lively speech at the Denver convention. He looks like a bit of a dope, but at least there's some fire.

Barack OBlunder

Susan Estrich writes today about the blunder that the convention has been, thus far, for Barack.

Democrats might not be united behind Barack Obama, but they are certainly united in what they think about George Bush and the GOP. What Obama needed in this convention was an effective assault on George Bush and John McCain, an argument, repeated over and over again — the way negative ads have to be in order to work — about why McCain was wrong, why he was tied to the high gas prices and faltering economy and failing war and mounting foreclosures and ridiculous health care bills that the majority of Americans are most concerned with.

The key phrase in that paragraph is "over and over again." This has been a convention without a theme. Tonight that will change, presumably, when Joe Biden hits the stage and does the old "4 more years of Bush" routine on John McCain, but even that speech will follow Bill Clinton's address, which will surely get lots of coverage through the evening and for tomorrow's news cycle.

That message has been heard on occasion, but it has not been the message of this Convention. Not even close.

The story coming out of this Convention is not Obama v. McCain, much less the follies of McCain and Bush, but Clinton v. Obama.

That has been the story - and that story is likely to continue as we pick apart Bill's performance tonight and compare it to Hillary's.

That was inevitable once the schedule was set, probably inevitable once the Obama team decided they didn't have to take on Hillary's debt and didn't have to treat her with kid gloved respect with which winners usually treat losers who have a lot of delegates.

This convention is one of Barack's first big leadership challenges, as he's a man with no leadership experience. How did he screw up the whole thing with the Clintons?

They didn't reach out to her delegates and donors and make them feel like they were important. As late as a week before the Convention, Barack Obama himself was saying that they were dealing with Hillary's top staff, not her supporters. Big mistake. Almost as big as thinking you can control Bill Clinton. It is nothing short of unbelievable to me that they thought, until Monday, that they could tell Bill Clinton what to say. Why would he listen?

There's another big mistake, of course, and that is the decision to hold a coronation speech in front of 75,000 people tomorrow night. Barack as a rock star has been effectively devalued by the McCain campaign, and turned into a negative.

If Barack Obama could have moved his acceptance speech to a school auditorium or a factory floor, that would have been great. Turning it into a rock concert is not so great. He doesn't need to look like a guy who can hold a crowd of 70,000. Everyone knows that. The question is whether that's all he can do.

The McCain campaign is very good now at making Barack suffer for his mistakes, and surely he will be well mocked for the stadium speech, and for the mausoleum that he'll be speaking from.

The McCain people are spinning that Obama will come out of the Convention with a fifteen-point lead. They know full well that there is no chance of that. The only question is whether he'll come out with any significant lead at all, and how long it will take the Republicans who convene next week in the Twin Cities to slash into it.

Proud

Hillary is proud of many things at the start of her speech. She's a proud Democrat, a proud mother, etc. But guess who she leaves out?

The Next Election

Hillary played it beautifully last night - she did everything she could for Barack. As a result, Barack suffers. This was the delightful situation in which she found herself.

...last night she hit all the right notes, delivering a speech remarkably free of any sense of defeat, self-pity or what-might-have-beens. She thanked the 18 million Americans who supported her in the primaries, but then all but commanded them to put aside their displeasure with the outcome and get behind the Illinois senator as he leads the party into battle.

She couldn't do anything overt to sabotage Barack, or she would have likewise sabotaged her own presidential future.

...unlike many past losing candidates in both parties – notably Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1976, Sen. Edward Kennedy in 1980, Sen. Gary Hart in 1984 – she performed last night in a way that will make it difficult for anyone to blame her if the nominee loses in the fall.

By being poised, professional and graceful, she highlighted Barack's beginner status, and ignited nostalgia in supporters who hadn't even been missing her. Professionalism and experience are awfully nice qualities for a leader to have when you're going into battle.

Clinton's target was that 53 percent of her supporters thus far resistant to Obama's appeal. In the speech, she challenged them to rise above personal pique and focus on the greater good that could be done by an Obama presidency.

No one knows how those voters will react. But Obama should know that the burden now shifts to him. If he wants these voters, he has to win them over. Clinton can't do it for him.

There lies the irony. Everyone was looking for Hillary to give a great, rousing endorsement of Barack, as if that would then deliver her supporters. But she can't control her supporters. The best she good do was not try to tear them away, to not overtly attempt to instigate a movement against him.

By doing her part to help Barack, she may, in fact, have hurt him still... reminding Democrats of just how silly it was to fall for Hope, and leaving viewers with the clear image of an experienced performer against which to compare Barack.

Last night, Hillary did what any smart politician would do. When given a forum, they're using it to benefit their next campaign. Think of last night as Hillary's announcement speech for 2012, when she will seek to unseat John McCain.

Hillary Video

Here's the video shown last night to introduce Hillary. A proper video, unlike the Obama piece the night before, filled with inspiration, history and purpose.

It places Hillary at the head of the movement for equality for women, taking her ambition and wrapping it in the attractive paper of serving others. On a smaller level, it makes Hillary a cog in a family wheel, each generation working to empower the next - in this case, launching the intriguing sub-plot of Chelsea as Hillary's successor.


Hats off to the producers of this piece. While not of Oscar quality, in contrast to the Ken Burns piece from Monday night, this was genius. Of course, the Hillary production team had the advantage of working for a candidate who has experience to sift mine.

Democrats Making Sense

Here are the Democrats with insight in Denver - the ones who realize that Barack Obama is no more an anti-war candidate than is John McCain.

Don't you find it isnpiring the way Barack has brought so many fine young people into the process?

Welcome to Denver!

Even

It is convention eve, and the latest Gallup tracking poll shows the presidential race as a tie.

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update finds a precise tie between John McCain and Barack Obama, with 45% of nationwide registered voters currently supporting each candidate for president.

The initial polling results on Joe Biden show very little impact.

Barack Obama's selection of U.S. Sen. and former presidential candidate Joe Biden as his running mate is not generating a momentous immediate reaction from the nation's voters. Just 14% of registered voters interviewed in a new USA Today/Gallup poll say Biden makes them more likely to vote for Obama in November and 7% say less likely while 72% say he will not have much effect on their vote.

And while Democrats continue to have a 10% advantage in registration, Barack continues to struggle to get Democrats to support him.

Whereas 84% of Republicans polled from Aug. 11-17 say they will vote for McCain in November, only 79% of Democrats say they will vote for Obama. A similar gap in party loyalty has been seen each week since Obama clinched the Democratic nomination in early June. Over this period, Obama's Democratic support has ranged from 78% to 82% while McCain's Republican support has ranged from 83% to 85%.

Compassion Party

I have to admit it - I'm a cynic, and I never really believed that Democrats were the more compassionate of our political parties. But now there's proof!

The City of Denver has been working to make sure everything is in tip-top shape for all the visitors coming to town for the Democratic National Convention, and now a local salon is helping in that effort.

Democrats care so much about Denver's homeless that they're going to give them all free haircuts!

It seems to be a first -- don't move the homeless, clean them up. That was the work of one salon and the recipients didn't even seem to care if the Democrats were coming to town. Sly's Salon at 17th and Grant was offering free haircuts to the homeless Monday.

Colorado Democrats are just oozing compassion!

"To give them haircuts and make them all spiffed up for the Democratic National Convention, because they are part of our community as well," said Ghandia Gohnson, co-owner of Sly's Salon.

Hopefully, the only haircuts offered will be crew-cuts, because as much as Democrats like to put people on permanent charity, these haircuts are only a one-time thing.

Rusty Johnson hasn't had a haircut in three-to-four months. He said his appearance during the convention made no difference to him.

"I just want to look good and feel good for myself, that's all," Johnson said.

Apparently, Democrats, having found religion with Barack, asked themselves what Jesus would do, as their largess this convention season isn't only skin deep.

Free medical checks were provided and a bit of food to make the day even better.

Heartwarming, isn't it?

It makes the homeless people feel better and those giving the haircuts as well.

"It's a heart-felt reward to give to the community and get it back," Kohfahl said.

I'm not sure what Democrats have in mind for the homeless in the rest of the country, but they must be working on legislation to make the program national and permanent. After all, isn't being properly groomed a basic human right?

The free haircut coupons were distributed through Denver Human Services.

Hillary in Charge?

Has Barack's convention been kidnapped by the Clintons? CNN's Jack Cafferty says yes.

The Democratic National Convention is shaping into quite some party for Hillary Clinton.

Her name will be placed into nomination. She'll give a prime-time address, introduced by her daughter Chelsea. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will get his own plum speaking slot on a separate night. She will also have her own production team to create the introductory video that precedes her speech – the same people who produced Bill Clinton's biography video "The Man from Hope" in 1992.

Dick Morris can't understand why Barack has allowed this to happen.

And what leverage did the Clintons have to achieve all of this? None! Hillary could not have taken the convention by storm and any show of party disunity would marginalize her forever in the Democratic Party. Had she or her supporters tried to pull off distracting demonstrations or to recreate Lafayette Park in Chicago in 1968, she would have paid a permanent price among the party faithful for sabotaging Obama's candidacy.

Michael Barone disagrees.

Here's the problem the Obama campaign faces: Nearly half the delegates on the floor were picked by Hillary Clinton. There's a lot of anecdotal evidence that many of these Clinton supporters are unreconciled to the Obama candidacy. As are many Clinton voters: The recent Pew poll showed only 72 percent of them are supporting Obama against John McCain. A large mass of unreconciled delegates can be a problem for a presidential nominee.

Either way, Tony Harnden says this spells trouble for Barack.

Even the plan for the former First Lady to cast her own vote for her erstwhile rival and direct her delegates to swing behind the Illinois senator - being spun as a magnanimous gesture of unity - risks undermining Obama. Despite the closeness of the primary battle, he won the nomination; the image of Mrs. Clinton graciously anointing him is exactly what he does not need.

Michael Goodwin writes:

The substantive problem for Obama is that he is already underperforming against John McCain. He limped across the finish line in the primaries and, since Clinton conceded in June, his poll numbers have flat-lined.

In the face of that lackluster showing, his choices have been curious.

Virtually everyone writing on this subject concludes in a manner similar to Morris.

If he does so poorly in negotiating with the Clintons, how will he do with the Russians?

Work to Swoon

My friend Kevin Whalen, proprietor of the blog Pundit Review, is all bent out of shape over Barack's work-to-swoon program in Denver.

Want see Barack Obama’s big speech in Denver? For the privilege, his campaign is asking for six hours of volunteer work…to even be considered for admission. And then and only then, just maybe, they’ll let you in to see the Savior.

Six hours of forced labor for the opportunity to see Obama in the flesh? That’s change Stalin could believe in.

It just strikes me as further confirmation that we are, in fact, a nation of whiners.

"My whole reason why I'm so mad about it is because Democrats need to act like Democrats," said Heather Kreider, a working mother from Centennial.

"Democrats work for a living, and they have to work and take care of their families. And they say these are open to those in the community, so they shouldn't ask people to drop everything in their lives for this," Kreider said Tuesday.

"It's not fair. It's elitist. And they need to practice what they're preaching," she added.

Kevin and Heather both seem to be missing the point. First, Kevin, no one over the age of 21 will be attending Barack's pep rally. Anyone having dealings with college students knows that they'd best be worn down a bit before packing 70,000 of them into quarters tighter than a dorm room, so six hours of volunteer work isn't a bad idea for a campaign wishing to put off post-speech news coverage of street fights, public urination and sidewalk sex until November 4, at least.

Second, Heather has to realize that Barack is an elitist. Now that she can see it for herself it might be a good idea for her to move on to a candidate who is a better match for her tastes.

People asked to volunteer are those in line for "all star" tickets that will put them closer to the stage and are being contacted first, said Stephanie Mueller, campaign spokeswoman.

She also has to remember that if she's a woman of color, she won't be allowed to sit close enough to Obama to see him lest she wind up inconveniently in "the shot," so she might as well stay home and watch her own big screen in the comfort of her own home.

Doing the volunteer work only makes someone eligible for a ticket and doesn't guarantee one, according to the phone message from the campaign.

Supporters should be proud of this, as it demonstrates Barack's brilliance at branding. After all, he is the candidate of the bait and switch.

Matt Chandler, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said the only people who were asked to volunteer were those who said on their applications that they were willing to do the work... But Kreider said she is certain she didn't hit the "volunteer" box on the online application.

What's one more trick played on the ideologues who, after having been conned into giving him the nomination because he was the anti-war candidate, got an Iraq enema courtesy of Barack. Now, they can sweep some floors and then grovel in awe as The Messiah gives them a broom stick chaser. Think of it as "health care for all," Obama style.

Still, Kreider got a message telling her that she had to do six hours of volunteer work by Friday if she wanted a chance at a ticket. Kreider said she will not do the work.

"Absolutely not," she said. "Now it's pure principal. I was a Hillary Clinton supporter, and this is literally my first touch with the Obama campaign. And it's just disappointing."

Principal? Now Heather, that's not a good thing to bring along to a party hosted by Barack Obama. Or the Democratic National Committee for that matter.