Actually, I didn't quite say THAT! I was just lamenting Senator Obama's rhetoric on Iraq -

"...it is the disingenuousness demonstrated by Senator Obama on Iraq - in particular, the October 2002 resolution authorizing the use of US military force in Iraq - that has prevented me from enthusiastic support for his candidacy. He will redeem himself, in my book, if he asks Senator Biden to be his running mate."

http://www.chrisweigant.com/index.php/2008/07/17/defining-post-partisan/

Let me say that I have definitely have a new-found respect for Barack Obama and I can now very enthusiastically support him and do whatever I possibly can to spread the word about Obama/Biden and that this ticket represents change you can believe in AND the capacity to make that change happen.

I'll tell you what, though...if I were to go around knocking on neighbours' doors and explaining to them why it is essential to support Obama/Biden, far from driving THEM nuts, they would think I was the one who had finally gone off the deep end!

You see, that sort of behavior just wouldn't go over very well in southern Ontario...Canada. Oh, would that we were the 51st state and that I could vote for Obama/Biden and drive EVERYONE - within earshot - nuts 'til they saw the light and pledged to vote in favour of their own interests, instead of against them.

I am wondering about that great video - do you know if that student is the same person who put together some very good videos on Senator Biden during the campaign before the Iowa caucuses.

A month ago or so you said something to the effect of "I will vote for Obama but I won't enthusiastically support him unless he picks Biden for VP" or something similar.

I'm going to hold you to that! I expect you to be calling all your friends and family driving them nuts till they vote for Obama/Biden, and knocking on neighbors' doors too! ;)

With the MSM still constantly picking the scab that is the Clintons we're going to need all the help we can get to get Barack and Joe into the White House.

I'm trying to post that video of Obama/Biden everywhere and have even forward it to the Obama campaign in hopes they'll obtain rights to run it from the student that made it. I've also contacted the student to get that incredible graphic of Obama/Biden in the video. He's going to post all the graphics he's made so far online. I'll post here when I get the link

When the best argument the GOP can come up with against Biden is, he has Washington experience and therefore he is not for "change," I know Barack has made a good pick.

If he had chosen Kaine or Bayh they would have hit them w/ the inexperience card. And Biden just genuinely seems like a fighter.

So I'm looking forward to the upcoming race. And also hoping that people will be so disgusted with the media that they just turn off their sets and resort to browsing real journalism on the web.

(Ok. A guy can hope, can't he?)

David

Thanks so much for the vote of confidence and for your kind words and astute reporting throughout this long campaign. As for winning this thing “without even breathing hard”, I would say that Joe Biden will demonstrate that he can attract the kind of deep and wide swath of support throughout the country, and across all party lines, that most people can’t even begin to contemplate - especially within the media, present site and resident journalist excepted...absolutely, positively, unequivocally!

And, here’s a big salute right back at you, CW! You can count yourself among a very select group of journalists who really care about democracy, the political process, and your role in protecting and defending both. If more journalists understood, as you do, their duty and responsibility to uphold their end of the bargain of a free press, then the promise of America and the democratic process would not be in the threatened positions they are both in today...that is a fact!

For a very long time now, I have hoped against hope that Joe Biden would finally be in a position to make a difference in reversing US policy in Iraq and in implementing a political solution there...the number one issue that affects ALL others, I might add. Despite having a slightly different notion of how that might come about, I am thrilled by Senator Obama’s eagerly anticipated VP selection, to say the least.

It sure seems like another lifetime ago when Joe Biden first made his intentions known that he was considering a second run for President - around the time that Bush’s war in Iraq began to circle the drain, not long after the “major combat operations have ended...” declaration by the President in mid-2003. Senator Biden soon concluded, however, that the bulk of his time and energy needed to be devoted to helping in the effort to save the President and the country from a failing policy in Iraq. This left no time to prepare for a presidential campaign and Senator Kerry became the Democratic nominee.

By 2005, Senator Biden had once again publically entertained thoughts about the possibility of running for president, if he could determine that he had the prerequisite support to start a campaign. The situation in Iraq had since worsened and Biden had begun to develop a comprehensive strategy to promote a political solution. Whenever he was asked by the “big feet” in the media about his intentions to run, he was always candid and straightforward about the fact that he was working on the assumption that he would indeed run.

I can remember thinking back then that this was a great strategy...announce early and deter other and lesser qualified candidates from even entering the race. Joe Biden, the leader among Democrats on foreign policy, national security and the judiciary, would be the de facto Democratic nominee by acclamation, for God’s sake!...or, so I pondered. The rest of the story is history, as they say.

Fast forward to a bright August day in Springfield, Ill. and the introduction of the Obama/Biden ticket. Who’d have thunk it? But, what a brilliant partnership it is! I must admit that, on that day, I gained a new-found respect for Senator Obama and for his superior judgement. I don’t think we know yet what all of the factors were that weighed in on this decision and maybe we never will. But, just knowing that Obama is wise enough, and truly confident enough, to choose Joe Biden as his running mate is all I need to know that there can be few tickets through the years that can claim to have been as strong as this one definitely is. I may even begin to pay very close attention to the polls, not to mention your outstanding charts! :)

This article from the Chicago Sun-Times -- http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/353829,CST-NWS-rez23.article -- is a pretty concise account of the Tony Rezko business. It involve Chicago politics, so put your rubber wellies on before you wade in.

Rezko has been an operator out here for years. He's specialized in: (a) making generous campaign contributions to anybody he gets close to, and (b) tinkering up low-income housing schemes with the city (developments which have a bad habit of falling apart and going into bankruptcy) with the help of politicians he has helped. And he has helped Obama (according to the article, to the tune of $50,000 between Rezko and his business partner and their wives). Mind you, there's nothing in Obama's history that shows he personally represented Rezko in court, but as a junior at his law firm he did his share of scutwork drawing up documents and such.

The specific story McCain has jumped on is Obama's home on the South Side. From the article:

Two years ago, Obama bought a mansion on the South Side, in the Kenwood neighborhood, from a doctor. On the same day, Rezko's wife, Rita Rezko, bought the vacant lot next door from the same seller. The doctor had listed the properties for sale together. He sold the house to Obama for $300,000 below the asking price. The doctor got his asking price on the lot from Rezko's wife.

Last year, Rita Rezko sold a strip of that vacant lot to Obama for $104,500 -- a deal Obama later apologized for, acknowledging that people might think he got a favor from Rezko. Obama called the episode "boneheaded'' and a "mistake.''

So, yeah, there's some stink in all this, and McCain's Rover Boys will run as far as they can with it.

As for kevinem2, I offer a sincere welcome to the site. My secret plan is to draw all the thinking people over from HuffPost here, in order to have a rational debate about the issues of the day. Ahem.

You will have noticed the evolution (there's a scary word for Republicans) of the FTP column if you read them all. I am coming up on the 1-year anniversary of the column, but haven't decided what to do to mark the auspicious occasion. So, having recently read them all, your suggestions are appreciated... and you are welcome to the daily columns here, which are always posted in a convenient place, unswayed by fickle "Featured" mentions on HuffPost....

As you mentioned, I too cannot think of a higher compliment than to be compared to "Fear and Loathing On the Campaign Trail" by the immortal HST. This is the first time anyone has dared to put me in such a pantheon of greatness, and I humbly thank you for the honor while at the same time decry "I am not worthy!" in my best Wayne-n-Garth imitation.

Yes, for the most part, I do take weekends off. But check here every weekday for another installation of my own personal vendetta against the system.

As for quoting the greats, I always defer to the incomparable Robert A. Heinlein, who in "Double Star" wrote:

"Brother, until you've been in politics, you haven't been alive."

"But you said --"

"I know what I said. It's rough, and sometimes it's dirty and it's always hard work and tedious details. But it's the only sport for grownups. All other games are for kids. All of 'em."

Heh heh. Couldn't agree more.

-CW

Oh, man...thanks for that clip! If that wasn't a sight for sore and tired eyes, I don't know what is.

Despite all the media coverage surrounding Biden tonight, I still don't think the media get it. Forget about a governable majority - an Obama/Biden combo would have the potential for a real and dramatic landslide.

This selection would say quite a lot about the kind of leader Senator Obama is and I would have a new found and high level of respect for the man.

Well...it looks like it's official now - that's it for me tonight...I shall sleep like a baby tonight with not a care in the world...not to mention a smile on my face, after watching that video...thanks again for that!

You missed that McCain said in an interview last year that he didn't know what kind of car he drove and had to ask a staff member.

So.... I have this picture in my head of Elizabeth Miller watching her cell phone, email, CNN, etc all day waiting for them to confirm it's Biden, eventually reaching late evening getting all worked up yelling at the TV "Tell me already!" ;)

I'm to the point that it's 99% Biden, 1% Al Gore.

Oh... Elizabeth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPev5sEdTjg

Obama needs to copy that ad and run it over and over!

I saw that, too, but it kind of snuck under the radar since it's a local issue.

There are several of these local issues that McCain is on the wrong side of, in very critical states that are polling very close.

Colorado - the water issue you point out.

Nevada - McCain's in favor of Yucca Mtn., not exactly a popular issue here.

Florida - McCain wants offshore drilling, which will make Floridians think twice.

-CW

“I don’t think there’s any doubt the major, major issue is water and can be as important as oil. So the compact that is in effect, obviously, needs to be renegotiated over time amongst the interested parties. I think that there’s a movement amongst the governors to try, if not, quote, renegotiate, certainly adjust to the new realities of high growth, of greater demands on a scarcer resource.”

Translation: take more of the Colorado river water from Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming and give it to Arizona, California and Nevada.

You don't mess with western states water lightly. Remember Chinatown? Should push Colorado to Obama's camp if they can use it well, the convention in Denver and just a few days away and all.