Other than that, I don't know what he brings to the ticket. Maybe one of you can tell me.

Ummm? enormous eyebrows?

OK, I admit it, I got nothin'.

John Mccain Called his wife WHAT??

Well, he is a viable southern white democrat who could be seen to "balance" the ticket, especially with the ever elusive white male vote.  No V.P. candidate who would appeal to those who fell in love with Obama would provide much help to broaden his appeal.  Should Virginia go blue Pennsylvania and Ohio are less critical.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

Nate at 538 gives it a try.... Seems everyone has the same source  on a slow news week - Chuck Todd MSNBC is reading the tea leaves:

Speaking of veepstakes, did Obama during his Meet the Press interview give a hint whom he WOULDN'T pick? Check out this line:

"I'm going to want somebody with integrity; I'm going to want somebody with independence, who's willing to tell me where he thinks or she thinks I'm wrong; and I'm, I'm going to want somebody who shares a vision of the country where we need to go, that we've got to fundamentally change not only our policies, but how our politics works, how business is done in Washington."

Did he just rule out that he would pick a sitting Democratic US senator? Try and use that description Obama gave with Bayh, Biden, Clinton, or Reed? Now, try using it with Kaine, Sebelius, Nunn, or Hagel? Just sayin'... If Obama picks someone from the first group, he's going to have a tough time making the case that this person has shown a history of changing the way business is done in Washington. Frankly, it's tough naming any Washington player using that standard.

Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"

I am still of the mind that any male VP candidate Obama can pick, or any non-Hillary female candidate, will be played up "as a direct insult to Hillary voters".

Well, at least that's what the Village Concern Trolls will say.

For like, four years.

More at Zandar vs. The Stupid.

The folks at Shakespeare's Sister don't like him much. He has a record in Virginia as anti-gay, and has pro-life leanings.

http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2008/07/you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me.html

for what it's worth.

He's white; he's southern and he doesn't threaten to upstage the Obama star machine.

Plus, he has a dick.

Cain't be havin' no dickless wonders one bullet away from the Presidency.

No ma'am!!

Face it., folks. No matter how talented and intelligent Obama may be, he is running as a celebrity, not as a politician. This may well be evidence of his intelligence, because it appears to be the only route to the Presidency in todays media-drenched-and-shallow-as-a-mud-puddle political world.

However...every superhero must have both a sidekick and an arch-villain. (Already provided by BushCo Inc., of course.)

And girls are just a sideline.

So it goes here in 21st Century Omertica.

So it goes.

Lois Lane/Hillary Clinton...eat your heart out.

So it goes.

AG

Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.-Mae West

We certainly are getting all this "reading of tea leaves", parsing of Obama's words and figurative "peeking through windows" by reporters.

Does it almost seem sometimes like the political beat reporter's equivalent of covering rumors on the street about "How soon will Angelina Jolie have another baby after the twins?"

The corporate media types all want to be able to say, "AHA! See, I told you he/she was Obama's first choice!"

Watching their prognostications, rumor-mongering and attempts to shove their way to the front of the headlines is sometimes quite amusing.  They all want to be "THE ONE" who gets it right.

I just hope that, in the end, it's Obama that gets it right.

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"

This balloon points out that Kaine hasn't yet talked with Caroline Kennedy...perhaps Kaine is in the bended knee position rather than inner circle.

This is pro and con from a more progressive point of view.

Pros: Kansan/midwestern roots. Catholic. Southern state. FIL former Republican gov. of VA, which may appeal to disaffected repubs. Similar background which meshes well w/ Obama's (took time during Harvard Law to do missionary work in Honduras; civil rights lawyer who fought housing discrimination; taught at Univ. of Richmond's law school). Fluent Spanish. Smart growth advocate. Faith-based opposition to the death penalty. First to endorse Obama outside of Illinois. They seem to have great chemistry--bodes well for their working together.

Cons: Faith-based opposition to abortion and opts for abstinence education but pledges to uphold the law. He does support birth control and not criminalizing other reproductive health issues; recent examples include backing HPV vaccine for 6th graders. (For a more complete view, please read here) Backward idiots in state legislature have given him fits on transportation issues which are still relatively unsolved.

Cons that the wingnut-ignorant-MSM will cite: No foreign policy experience. The Mario Cuomo-like stands on death penalty and abortion won't be enough for some; I expect some Bishop to rant on and on that he's not anti-choice enough. His choice stance will invite media blowhards to harp on "Hillary supporters" because of his stance. Unknown outside of Virginia.

Can't hear ya, Peach!

"The real question is whether this leak was approved by the Obama camp, or is merely something Kaine did on his own initiative."

Or maybe it's just a leak from a low-level aide?  Just raising the idea...

Sometimes William of Occam is your friend...

Ecological collapse is already happening. Your resentment of the word doesn't change the fact that it is occurring.

Would Obama really pick a VP whose name would make the ticket sound like "ObaMcCain"?

I sure hope not....

"...better than Biden or Bayh..."

You can have Bayh.  Really.  He gives boring a bad name.

But Biden is another story.  In Iowa, he was incredible on the stump.  Then why did he lose, you may ask?  Because he ran a really terrible campaign, or his sister did, which amounts to the same thing.  He had no money.  Most of his campaign staff came from Delaware and fired anyone who knew anything about Iowa.  His field organization was really thin, although he had some good people.  Obama's campaign wouldn't give most of those folks a job doing anything.  Including Biden's sister.

But.  He was quick on his feet and witty in the debates.  He has deep knowledge of foreign policy/national security issues, and has personal relationships with leaders around the world.  He teaches constitutional law, and understands the issues that come with Supreme Court nomination hearings.  He has spent 30 years learning about every other issue that the Senate has considered, so does not have a learning curve.  He is a Catholic and perceived as more moderate than I think he really is, based on his voting record.  I think he could get some red-state white men comfortable with Obama.

Kaine.  Why?  I have no idea.