Veepstakes reaching fever pitch. Focus seems to be on Biden.

Numerous reports tonight that Bayh and Kaine are out:

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine have been told by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign they will not be his vice presidential choice, NBC News reported on Friday quoting sources.

Speculation about Obama's choice has centered on Bayh, Kaine and Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden. Other names in the mix include Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Texas Rep. Chet Edwards

Jake Tapper reports the Secret Service has sent a crew to start protecting Biden:

The United States Secret Service has dispatched a protective detail to assume the immediate protection of Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., a source tells ABC News, indicating in all likelihood that Biden has been officially notified that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, has selected him to be his running mate.

I guess we'll be getting our text messages early tomorrow. If you haven't signed up yet, text VP to 62262.

UPDATE: CNN says cross Hillary off the list, too. Read More......

"the DNC/Obama folks were downright RNC-esque in their organized effort to amplify this gaffe."

From First Read, one of the highest compliments about the response to McCain's failure to know how many houses he owns:

"...the DNC/Obama folks were downright RNC-esque in their organized effort to amplify this gaffe."

The McCain campaign has been in freakout mode. They've been knocked off their game. Keep it up. Read More......

A reader suggests an ad Obama should run

A reader writes:

There's a pretty easy way for Obama to knock McCain back on his heels with this patriotism schtick he's been playing. Separate and apart from the doddering, lying, confused old man part, which will never stick so long as McCain has a supplicant press covering for him, you can hit him hard -- very hard -- but make it not look below the belt. A simple ad that puts it in a way everyone can really understand. It has to be a minute-long, serious, nearly mournful in tone. scolding. Goes something like this:

"John McCain says he loves this country (stop giving him that free pass)...and I take him at his word... But even if he didn't have Bush's boys running his campaign it's his bad and reckless judgments that have cost OUR country dearly. cost us all, really. you've had your chance and look what you and Bush have done. record foreclosures...an economy in shambles...wages falling...bad judgments that had placed America alone in the world -- weaker...thousands dead in iraq. Bin Laden, free...and an Afghan war McCain ignored, on the brink... we're on the wrong track and McCain helped put us there. It is his bad judgment, supporting Bush 100% along the way, that has. hurt. us. all. But we can change that. Thanks John, but we'll take it from here."

It will drive McCain insane. What's to refute there? Oh sure they'll whine but let them (and why hasn't the Obama campaign hung Phil Gramm around his neck like a millstone: "McCain's out whining and dining with Phil again....") In this game the best offense is not defense, it's a kick in the teeth.

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We just can't afford more of the same

New Obama ad hits hard:
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Why wasn't McCain prepared for the "house" question?

The brouhaha over Cindy McCain not being able to recall how many homes she owns started months ago. The blogs have written about it repeatedly. It's difficult to be that the McCain campaign wasn't aware that the number of McCain's homes was going to be an issue. Why wasn't McCain briefed on the issue and given a number? Or was he briefed and he couldn't remember, just as he hasn't been able to remember a lot of things of late? Read More......

Let's not forget McCain's support for the draft. The McCain plan "equals the draft" according to VoteVets.

Yesterday, John McCain intimated -- quite strongly -- that he supports the draft. Jed edited the video to the salient part. Sure sounds like McCain thinks we need a draft.

But why believe what McCain says? According to Marc Ambinder that comment gave us liberals a "conniption." See, Marc Ambinder, who knows John McCain, claims John McCain doesn't support the draft. Unlike the rest of us, Marc Ambinder gets to see McCain in person and he's heard it for himself. So, even when McCain says things about supporting the draft, like McCain did Wednesday, Marc Ambinder knows McCain doesn't mean it.

Now, the reality is that McCain hasn't been as clear as Marc Ambinder claims. While the reporters who have gotten to know John McCain might not grasp this, just because McCain said something, doesn't mean it's true. He changes his positions and says different things to different audiences. Last night, despite Ambinder and McCain's campaign's claims to the contrary, Olbermann said McCain has been "anything but clear or consistent in opposing the draft." And, when it comes to this issue, I'll trust Jon Soltz from VoteVets who said McCain's plan "equals the draft":

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Wash Post: Take the McCain House tour!

The McCain house gaffe story is officially out of control. The Washington Post has a front-page style section piece letting you take a walking tour of the McMansions. Read More......

Is McCain really worried about his family budget, paying more for gas and food and paying tuition? Really?

McCain has a new ad out today, which, of course trashes Obama. It's actually quite mock-worthy. I'm not linking to a McCain ad, but here are the first couple lines:

ANNCR: Celebrities don't have to worry about family budgets, but we sure do.

We're paying more for food and gas, making it harder to save for college, retirement.

I bolded the use of the word "WE" because I find it very curious. Is McCain trying to include himself in that "WE"? Because, I think the political reporters and pundits need to ask McCain when was the last time he had to worry about a family budget. When was the last time he paid for gas? What is the interest rate on his kids' student loans?

McCain is very, very, very rich. If we learned nothing from the past couple days, we know that.

This is actually hysterical the more I think about it. John McCain doesn't know how many houses he has. He wears Ferragamo shoes. His family has a private jet. Does anyone think he and Cindy really worry about their family budget? Really?

When you leave your compound in a nine car motorcade to get a large cappuccino, you're not really worrying about food, gas and college tuition. (If McCain is worried about money, Suze Orman would tell him to stop buying those cappuccinos.)

In reality, McCain isn't one of the "we" who are worried. This is more like it:



UPDATE: In a move that even we couldn't make up, Robin Leach (yes, the one from "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famouse) has come to McCain's defense. Read More......

Olbermann on McCain's house gaffe, and the overplay of the POW card

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Elitist? McCain drove in a nine-car motorcade from his compound to get a large cappuccino

Since the McCain campaign wants to talk about elitists, there's this from today's LA Times:

McCain, who huddled with advisors at his desert compound in Sedona, Ariz., said nothing in public. A nine-car motorcade took him to a nearby Starbucks early in the morning, where he ordered a large cappuccino. McCain otherwise avoided reporters.

Hat tip, AppHouse50. Read More......

TIME: "The McCain campaign's constant invocation of the candidate's POW past is weird bordering on irrational"

Ana Marie Cox for TIME:

The McCain campaign's constant invocation of the candidate's POW past is weird bordering on irrational: yesterday, Nicolle Wallace used it as evidence that McCain didn't "cheat" at Saddleback. By a VERY generous interpretation, she could have meant that POWs don't cheat. Or that once you've been a POW, you've been through so much you're above cheating. Or maybe you can't accuse a POW of cheating unless you're a POW.

Today, spokesman Brian Rogers took the same tack against the "housing crisis" they currently face: "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison." So is he arguing that we shouldn't begrudge McCain his multiple house because he once lived in an awful prison? Is he saying POWs deserve multiple houses (and you thought Obama was pro-nanny-state!)? Or maybe he's saying that McCain's several houses are really just prisons... of the soul. Man is entombed by his possessions, it's true.

It's a head-spinning non sequitur, designed to distract us from something mildly troubling with the assertion of something impressive.

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USA Today: McCain has a dozen properties. So, he's up to 12 houses

The total keeps rising:

McCain's campaign says the Arizona senator has four residences: condos in Phoenix, Arlington, Va., and Coronado, Calif., and a house in Sedona, Ariz. All are owned by his wife, Cindy, and their children, who also own eight other residential properties. Those include four other houses at the 15-acre Sedona spread and four more condos, according to real estate records and the senator's financial disclosure reports. The dozen properties are worth more than $10 million, current assessments show.

And, this paragraph is priceless -- and should probably be turned into an ad:

McCain, who has portrayed Obama as an elitist, is the son and grandson of admirals. The Associated Press estimates his wife, a beer heiress, is worth $100 million. Obama was raised by a single mother who relied at times on food stamps, and went to top schools on scholarships and loans. His income has increased from book sales since he spoke at the 2004 Democratic convention.

No wonder Cindy won't release her tax returns. Who knows what else she's trying to hide. Read More......

9 Key Rings: A brilliant idea for the Dem Convention

This guy is brilliant. He suggests that the folks running the Democratic convention go out and get thousands and thousands of key rings, pronto (you know, those little circular things that dangle from your extra set of keys, and you can write "home" on them or whatever). He suggests handing 9 (or 7, whatever) of these to each attendee, we can attach our own keys to them, one to each ring, and dangle them for the cameras throughout the convention. Even better, he recommends writing "House #1" to House #9" on the rings, but so long as we get rings that have some area to write on, we can add the numbers ourselves.

Remember what they did to John Kerry with the band-aids? This is brilliant. It's also a hell of a lot classier than the attacks on American vets that John McCain's buddies launched in 2004.

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Okay. Yesterday was a very fun day on the campaign. That is how it should be.

McCain made a HUGE mistake. HUGE.

Everybody jumped on it. Everybody -- the campaign, the DNC, the surrogates, the blogs -- did what they had to do. And, did it well. This line, in today's Washington Post, is a testament:

Obama's campaign and the Democratic National Committee pounced with remarkable speed.

Exactly. Great work.

Now, we have to keep it up. Today should be day two of McMansion-gate. When we screw up, the Republicans milk the controversy for a good week, if not the entire campaign. We far too often embrace their screw-ups for a day, then declare victory and move on. We're on a roll here, folks. Keep it up. And let's have 74 more days like yesterday.

Thread the news. Read More......

SacBee: More than 60 current or former telecom lobbyists work on McCain's campaign

60. You can't make this stuff up.

More than 60 present and former telecom lobbyists work for McCain's campaign as staffers and volunteers, some in high-echelon posts while on leave from their firms.

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