Sorry thin skinners, but Momma raised me to call it like I see it.

I just watched NBC evening "News" and Andrea Mitchell just "reported" on the upcoming democratic convention. FLIP

The Obama campaign has been pretty successful at being leak-free on the running mate front. Only two or three people outside of the candidate have a clue as to his thinking, and they aren't talking. That doesn't mean people like me can't have a little fun, and make idle speculation about the person who Obama will choose to run for Vice President. Here are the top twelve, as I see them:

I just got a response back from Senator Casey about why he voted for FISA.  It's just a copy/paste job, but it still made me laugh.  Here's the short version: "I hated this bill, but I still voted for it"

Here's the funniest part:

I was pleased that the legislation enshrines the principle that the FISA statute is the exclusive authority for electronic surveillance and that the President must obey the FISA statute. It also restores the principle of basic judicial oversight over all surveillance activities and re-establishes the principal of accountability by requiring a comprehensive Inspector General's report on the President's warrantless surveillance program within a year.

Right.  You gave this President immunity for his wrongdoings, but I'm supposed to believe that you'll hold the next guy accountable?  Sure.

UPDATE: Oh, and also, there's this ... keep in mind that he wrote this in an email.

If you have access to the Internet, I encourage you to visit my web site...

If you have access to the internet, read the rest of his insipid email below the fold.

No matter what the Clinton campaign may have said during the primary season,  they knew that the
Democratic Nomination would undoubtedly mean the presidency.  All the numbers from the past few weeks
have shown this to be the case, although I think the freshness of Obama was always more appealing than a Clinton restoration.

The floods in the Midwest have continued and I include some information where I can in the Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin sections. Best of luck to all readers in the hard hit areas.

This week I return to an issue I discussed before: Republican cronies litterally killing our troops with no government oversight. This week Democratic Sentor Bob Casey is demanding an investigation of the electrocutions due to bad wiring that have been plaguing our military bases managed by a Hallibruton subsidiary. More below.

A Choice - More of the Same or Something Different

On November 4th, voters will have a choice to make, not only in the race for President between Senator John McCain (More of the Same) and Senator Barack Obama (Something Different), but also in each of the contested races for seats in the US Congress.  

Voters have to look no further than two recent congressional roll call votes to see a contrast between the Democratic and Republican parties.  On May 21st, with solid Democratic support, HR 6049 passed on a 263 for / 160 against vote.   HR 6049 provides energy, business and personal tax breaks totaling $55.5 billion to spur the production of non-fossil fuels, promote energy conservation, stimulate business activity and help homeowners and the working poor.  In order to offset the costs of HR 6049, the bill tightens accounting rules on multinational corporations and eliminates certain offshore tax shelters and loopholes utilized by some US hedge fund managers.  Most important, HR 6049 does not add any additional burden to the national debt.

Everybody knows that there were protesters outside the DNC meeting. But mose of them weren't from Florida or Michigan. They were from places like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and New York. This is more proof that yesterday wasn't about Florida and Michigan.

Democrats introduce a common-sense bill to compensate service members affected by the President's excessive use of the "stop loss" policy:

Service members whose military careers are involuntarily extended by stop-loss orders would be compensated $1,500 a month for each additional month of service under a bill introduced Friday in the Senate.

The bill, S 3060, would not only affect the estimated 4,000 soldiers now affected by stop-loss, but also would retroactively apply to the more than 58,000 people whose retirements have been delayed or whose enlistments have been extended because the services decided they were needed on active duty.

The $1,500 payment would be paid for serving even one day of a month beyond the period when service was supposed to end.

The average stop-loss has forced service members to remain on active duty for an additional 6.6 months, which means that the bill, if it were to become law, would result in average payments of $10,500 to those whose lives have been changed by the policy.

The bill is being introduced by Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ), and is cosponsored by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Bob Casey (D-PA).

In 2004, when John Kerry was calling out President Bush on his abuse of the military's stop-loss policy, John McCain joined Kerry in calling the process a "backdoor draft." Stop-loss, McCain said, "a terrible thing for morale." Meanwhile, in this election season, John McCain's military advisor, Ralph Peters, has claimed that stop-loss is "a myth of the left."

So how will the "new" John McCain vote on this bill, if he shows up to vote at all (let us remember that McCain failed to even show up for the vote on the Senator Webb's GI Bill). Given his track record, a "yes" vote from McCain on this would be a pleasant surprise. As Matthew Yglesias notes:

It's worth noting that not only did John McCain oppose Jim Webb's bill expanding educational benefits for veterans, but he has a long track record of fairly stingy behavior on veterans' issues. As Hilzoy puts it "McCain has supported basic appropriations for vets. However, when there are two competing proposals, he generally chooses the cheaper one, and often, when only one proposal to increase benefits is available, he opposes it."

Washington Post, 11/7/06:

The popular senator from Illinois, who has barnstormed the country on behalf of Democratic gubernatorial and congressional candidates, is one of the A-list political celebrities of the 2006 campaign season...  Obama may be the biggest attraction [of them all]. Despite his brief two years on the national stage, Obama has generated rapturous enthusiasm among Democrats, and he has said he is considering a presidential run. His success on the campaign trail in recent weeks has added to his cachet.

Obama campaigning for Claire McCaskill in Missouri:

It's hard to feel too sorry for someone who, while trumpeting unity, acceptance, and hope, had his twenty-year close relationship with a hate-spewing racist pastor blow up in his face, but you have to feel sorry for Barack Obama.  It's stunning how all of those high-level supporters who were so eager to appear everywhere just weeks ago have suddenly jumped down their holes and left Barack Obama swinging in the wind.

[From the Frog Pond]

These are my observations on the Pennsylvania primary.  

Obama did slightly less well in Philadelphia than expected.  He pulled in 65% of the vote and got a net of about 140,000 votes out of Philadelphia County.  I expected him to get closer to 70%.  His underperformance cost him about 20,000 votes.  In the greater scheme of things, this was not hugely significant, but it cost him a chance to narrow the margin.  

First of all, I would like to say that this is my first diary. I am a college student at University of Pittsburgh, and the excitement over Obama's candidacy in this state, in this city and on this campus is overwhelming. Originally, I had been a John Edwards fan and I was very disappointed when he dropped out of the race. I was not sure who I would rather have as the nominee, but after last night and hearing Senator Obama speak alongside his wife, Senator Bob Casey and Theresa Heinz Kerry, I decided that Obama is definitely ready to lead this country.

News of the Obama rally at the Petersen Events Center, located on the campus of University of Pittsburgh, spread like wildfire throughout the city and campus through the whole day. The doors would open at 7:30 PM and the speech would begin at 9:30. The line would eventually stretch around the entire campus, and the police were eventually needed to help direct traffic and direct the line.

The Petersen Events Center is a massive structure able to hold over 10,000 people, and while it was not filled last night, I would say that it was over 3/4 filled overall. The speech was excellent, and after hearing his plans for our country, I know he is "prepared to lead from day one."

Just putting this out there because maybe some of you might be thinking the same thing.  But if Obama doesn't need a Veep to strengthen him in some aspect such as foreign relations or economics (as I see it) but goes the Clinton Gore route in his choice.  Would he should he consider Bob Casey Jr.  And what does this bring him?  Catholics?  Pennsylvania on a platter in the Fall?  A peel of Pro Lifers from the Repubs?  A person who can hold his own against whomever McCain  chooses as his Veep?  It's just a thought and maybe worth a chew.  

Kennedy's endorsement was important. It marked Obama's accpetance by the party's establishment early in the campaign. But there's no other endorsement in this grueling, tiresome campaign from which Obama benefited more than that of Sen. Casey.

Without Casey, Obama faced a repetition of OH where Clinton had a powerful Gov. on her side, with no big time local politicians supporting Obama. Ed Rendell was ready to run over Obama with his PA machine. This is when Casey entered the fray, mainly neutralizing Rendell and giving Obama much needed credence with blue collar PA.

It was Casey who helped Obama to cut into Clinton's double-digit lead in the polls in a matter of a week. It was Casey traveling with Obama nearly every day. Finally, it was Casey whose support helped Obama to weather a potentially danagerous bitter-gate by vouching for him. Take you hats off to Sen. Casey.

Scranton is Hillary's "third" home, outside of Arkansas and New York, it's where her Grandfather is Buried.  The blue collar town of 72,000+ poured out Sunday night to see Caroline Kennedy, Bob Casey and Senator Barack Obama.  

Swampland pegs the crowd at 4,800, really quite a showing for a city widely suspected of potentially going 75%+ for Hillary...

Robert Gibbs told me earlier they’re looking to “draw votes.” Obama called the crowd “feisty” when they kept booing Hillary and they interrupted him a couple of times with chants of "Yes we can!"

With polls tightening in Pennsylvania, Clinton has more immediate concerns than winning the state: she has to make it to primary day. Just four months ago, Clinton held a commanding 106 person lead among superdelegates. In February, that lead fell to 87 superdelegates. Obama has since closed the gap to 30. In my view, freshman House Members and Senators are key to Clinton's survival. They constitute roughly one-third of outstanding superdelegates in Congress - and half of them remain uncommitted.

Hillary Clinton has made an issue of Barack Obama's relationship with a slumlord. Hillary's ties to a notorious slumlord are bone deep: they go directly to who she is. Her father's mother Hannah Jones Rodham of Scranton, Pa had a profound affect on her life. Hillary kicked off her Pa campaign in Scranton because she has a Living History in Scranton. Her father Hugh Rodham is cited in both Hillary Clinton's Living History and Carl Bernstein's biography of Hillary as a man who conducted a reign of terror psychologically and physically, being extremely cruel, menacing, sadistic, unpredictable, bullying. His wife Dorothy and children Hillary, Tony and Hugh suffered his relentless abuse and constant humilation.

Now it's the sins of Hillary's grandmother, Hannah Jones Rodham, which are being visited upon her. Since Hillary is so fond of accusing Senator Obama of having ties to slumlords and being utterly by apalled by the fact that Obama worked at a law firm that represented one property of Rezko's. Now it's time to revisit who Hannah Jones Rodham is and her role and effect on Hillary's life. In Living History, Hillary white washes the very subject that she herself raised and commented upon. Her less than authentic retelling of a big Living History story is taken up here today.

With polls fluctuating with Obama in an upward spiral--but still likely to fall below his eventual peak polling performances as a result of last minute Clinton attacks--the question remains whether Obama can win Pennsylvania.

Yes. He. Can.

Pennsylvania is really not one state, but many states.  Sections of Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Erie are like the District of Columbia.  Sections of Western Pennsylvania are like Ohio.  Parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania are an extension of West Virginia, while parts of Northwestern and Northeastern Pennsylvania are an extension of New York.  Much of rural Pennsylvania is similar to rural areas in Iowa and other states that Obama won.