Well, it's official that John McCain wins biggest asshole of the 2008 campaign. He won't announce his VP tonight, but he will "leak" it to the media late tonight. Keeps getting more desperate, huh? First we hear that he might wait to announce until after the DNC convention to kill the Dems' bounce. Then we hear that he will announce it the morning after. Now he's leaking it the day of Obama's speech.

Fine.

It's now OUR job to find out who it is and beat the hell out of this story to get it noticed. I'm sure other reporters are on the job, but most of them are probably in Denver. If anybody hears anything, let's pound the drum until we get heard.

One person at Kos thinks it's Rob Portman based on speaking locations, but I think we can infer from Obama's schedule that that doesn't mean anything. Someone at Kos said that their uncle told them that his security company was notified to expect Secret Service backup for Ms. Hutchison. I have to admit, I give McCain credit for actually picking a woman. It's a complete and total pander, of course, but kudos to him if it's true. Anyone near that area? Anyone wanna help me call CNN to ask where the house cameras are?

Quick question: Would older female voters vote for McCain, who opposes women's rights in most forms, simply because he picked a 65 year old female VP that he knows full well probably has no chance of ever making it to President? I suppose anything's possible, but I'd actually like to hear from the Obama haters on this one. I'd like to see them justify that stance.

EDIT: Thinking about it, if anyone is in a position to do so, why not float that it's the pick anyway? At worst, it just puts McCain on defense and makes him look worse if he picks Pawlenty or Portman.

There isn't an Open Thread on here (yet), so I thought I'd start something.

It's really pathetic to watch Dennis Kucinich deliver one of the most passionate speeches we've seen thus far, an insanely entertaining and strong speech. And the news orgs keep jabbering away about the same old crap.

Now, thanks to CNN, you can watch the goings-on at Joe Biden's and Evan Bayh's house. Well, you can watch actual people doing stuff at Joe Biden's house and watch Evan Bayh's garage door. Just like their residents, Biden's more interesting than Bayh.

One thing that a number of us have been upset at the Obama campaign about has been an inability or unwillingness to go negative when the situation would merit it. But the truth is, Obama's camp HAS gone negative on a number of occasions. Including multiple times when it was very satisfying. And yet it never seems to last. For whatever reason, the strategy of the Obama campaign has rang hollow for most of us.

And I might know why. Obama needs to follow the example of Elizabeth Edwards and confront the liars directly.

While I was driving for about eight hours today and hearing more about the awful Georgia/Russia situation and hearing John McCain's super-hawkish reaction to the whole thing, it made me realize that the time may be right for an ultimate October ad that would radically define something very scary about a John McCain presidency.

I'm sure we almost all know about the very first negative campaign ad, one that was supremely effective for Lyndon Johnson:

While the public is by no means eager to drop the ball on national security, it may be perhaps the time to remind everyone what exactly pugnacity and braggadocio can ultimately deliver. McCain's angry, volatile stance towards Russia can mean a renewed Cold War. Granted, it wouldn't take much pushing for Russia to welcome such tactics, but McCain has already made himself a great enemy of Vladimir Putin and would not necessarily have an international community behind him.

I think it is well worth considering this kind of tactic. Obama has been very steadfastly mentioning the importance of nuclear disarmament. This could drive home that point. We want to be safe, that is certain. But so far our war has been "over there". If Russia has good reason to attack us, it could come "over here" in a heartbeat. War can only keep us safe when it isn't happening here. That hasn't happened since Pearl Harbor (I refuse to call 9/11 anything but a criminal act). Let's remind people of that fact.

From Ben Smith @ Politico:

Also in Berea, Obama (defended his remark about inflating tires, a first response to the favorite Republican attack of the moment, which he'd ignored for a few days as the GOP mailed gas gauges to reporters. (One apparently reached my home in Brooklyn today, producing some puzzlement.)

"They're lying about what my energy plan is," he says. And "they're making fun of a step that every expert says would reduce our oil consumption by 3 to 4 percent. It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant."

THIS is possibly one of the most cutting remarks I've seen this cycle. Obama still appears to be the grownup, because compared to McCain's inane "celebrity" meme, this is far more civil and appropriate. It's also much, much more incisive. My only regret is that most of the people Obama will send out to defend this remark aren't as silver-tongued.

Ben Smith today wrote:

With all the usual caveats -- this was a single polling call, reported by a single source -- a Democratic activist in eastern Iowa I know fairly well got an interesting call last night.

He e-mails:

    I got polled today about my views as "An Iowa Democratic Activist." on Joe Biden ... They asked:

   Did I have a positive or negative view of Biden?

   Does he have the expereince to be VP?

   Would he make you more or less likely to vote for the "Democratic Ticket"? weird word choice.

He didn't catch the name of the pollster. Anybody else getting calls like that?

I don't put too much stock in that, but I'd like to think it's true, because Obama could use Joe Biden. We all keep talking about Obama not attacking, well, Joe Biden could attack and get away with it. He's a senior senator to McCain, has far more reformer status under his belt, and the only reason he isn't the nominee is that he's got a bit of a big mouth. Perfect.

Edwards. Clinton. Biden. Those were my choices. SLIGHTLY warming to Sebelius, but only if (as seems likely) Clinton is totally out.

This is pretty awful to do and some news we really shouldn't have. A student took Obama's note from the Wailing Wall in Israel and gave it to a paper, who then published it. That's really an invasion of privacy and borderline sacrilegious, but regardless, the note is kinda nice. I wonder if THIS will ever hit a viral email:

Lord -- Protect my family and me,' the Democratic presidential candidate wrote in the note published in the Maariv daily. 'Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will.

I know there are a lot of people on here who don't like a President who cares about religion, but speaking as someone who was a devout Baptist for the first 15 years of their life and a hopeless cynic ever since, that made me smile.