The 2008 Democratic Convention starts one week from today.  Obama will announce his VP this week, so let's take a look at his schedule.

Monday - Albuquerque, New Mexico

Tuesday - Raleigh, North Carolina

Wednesday - Martinsville, Virginia

Thursday - Richmond, Virginia

Will he tap Bill Richardson today?  Probably not.  He could select Governor Mike Easley on Tuesday, but that's unlikely.  Then we go to Virginia, where Obama has an invitation-only event with Mark Warner on Wednesday night before heading to Richmond on Thursday.

Tim Kaine was mayor of Richmond and practiced law there for 17 years.

[Crossposted at my blog]

So, a few days ago, Obama and McCain participated in a forum with Evangelical preacher Rick Warren, to test them on issues that the Evangelical voting bloc will focus on.  Sen. Obama went first, while Sen. McCain was supposedly kept in a "Cone of Silence" to keep him from having time to prepare for an almost identical round of questions.  Now it comes to light that McCain had not been in the building at the time, and therefore could theoretically overheard the questions on the radio.  Of course, the McCain campaign denies this, and frankly I don't really care either way, but one comment by a McCain spokeswoman caught my attention:

Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions.

"The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous," Ms. Wallace said.

By Timran from Eyes on Obama:

The past few weeks have belonged to McCain, largely because he has been on the attack. Obama has been stuck in a reactive stance. The merits of McCain's attacks are irrelevant – if he is allowed to define the terms of the election, he will win.

It was my daughter’s fault. Before she left, I asked her, "Are you sure that you want to wear that." It was a red tank top. Nothing immodest about it, but she was on her way to serve at a surprise party that her mother was hosting for a friend.  My daughter is sixteen and just a little too  - well - outspoken. She was heading into McCain land. This time she was wearing her feelings, her "Got hope?" tank top. I was both proud of her "in your face" courage and fearful that it might cause some discomfort for her mother who firmly believes, regardless of the evidence, that Obama refuses to say the pledge of allegiance, thus, must be the anti-Christ (my interpretation, not hers). When her mother saw the tank top she questioned its appropriateness but when she saw that Obama’s name was in small print, she decided it was okay. Everything was fine until someone finally read the small print. To make a short story its appropriate length, one of the guests brought up the "experience" issue. Having been asked to try not to argue, she just let the tank top do the talking.

Yes, John McCain has a lifetime of experience.

Remember that comment from Hillary during the primaries?  How she has a lifetime of experience; Mccain has a lifetime of experience; Obama has a speech.

Pissed you off royally at the time, didn't it?  Not only for the untruth of it, the snarky nastiness of it; but also, and more importantly, because you knew, you just knew, even then that the Republicans would use it against Obama.

And now they have.

Why military command experience does not translate into Commander-in-Chief judgment.

When running for public office few things lift a candidate’s standing in public perception as military experience. This is not unique to Republicans or Democrats, both parties tout military veterans as experienced leaders. So, the question can be asked if military experience translates to being Command-in-Chief?

Today, I got an email from my uncle, a forwarded one of course, attempting to detail and compare Barack's executive experience to John McCain's.  The two columns of comparison were years in Congress and years in the military.

It was along the lines of McCain: Congress-26 years, Military-22 years...Obama: Congress-143 days, Military-0.

Here was my response.

So there's this job--President of the United States. It's kind of important, and we've got two applicants to choose from.

Let's see how their resumés stack up, shall we?

[cross-posted from my brand new blorg]

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius would be a great VP choice. Often, there are naysayers who claim that she "lacks experience". The following is a list of President and VP nominees with equal or less experience than KS when they first hit the national stage:

John F Kennedy (1960)
Barry Goldwater and William Miller (1964)
Spiro Agnew (1968),
George McGovern and Sargent Shriver (1972)
Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale (1976)...

Progressives need to engage directly the argument that John McCain has some kind of "experience" that somehow outweighs Senator Obama's.  This is the only argument he has that seems to have much traction outside the narrow world of the Republican faithful and the Republican Party's corporate sponsors.

Fortunately, it's easy to do.

Persons are underestimating Senator Obama's political skills.  Progressives are also projecting upon him their own agendae.

Since I work for a county organization in a highly Republican area, my most passionate political discussions tend to be with like-minded coworkers. Though I rarely let a chance go by without some comment, I tend to be diplomatic and emphasize the hole we're in, rather than who put us there.

I let people draw their own conclusions.

A friend of mine has been genuinely conflicted over her choices this Presidential campaign season. She liked Clinton, especially since she is our NY State Senator and has done good things for the area.

But Barack Obama... she said, "There's something about him I just can't feel comfortable with."

(It would not be diplomatic at this point to discuss any racial issues. I don't think she is racist, at all. But we're one of those areas where the African American segment is like 1%.) I explained why I liked Obama, and suggested she see what he says on his website, especially listening to his speeches.

But it wasn't what Obama did that let her make up her mind. It's what McCain did.

To the Flipmobile!

I'm a regular follower of Electoral-Vote.com. While their actual polling analysis methodology isn't as good as FiveThirtyEight's, I rather enjoy the accompanying semi-off-topic analysis. One in particular is worth checking out in full:

http://www.electoral-vote.com/...

Suppose you had to choose between two Presidential candidates, one of whom had spent 20 years in Congress plus had considerable other relevant experience and the other of whom had about half a dozen years in the Illinois state legislature and 2 years in Congress. Which one do you think would make a better President? If you chose #1, congratulations, you picked James Buchanan over Abraham Lincoln. Your pick disagrees with that of most historians, who see Lincoln as the greatest President ever and Buchanan as the second worst ever, better only than Warren "Teapot Dome" Harding. Both served in what was probably the most difficult period in American history, where slavery and secession tore the nation asunder.

Admit it. You thought twice about the timing of the operation to free the hostages in Colombia. McCain. Trailing in the polls. Goes to speak about Free Trade in Colombia. The week a CNN poll found that 51% of Americans now 'feel threatened by free trade.' As President Bush continues to try to push through a new Free Trade agreement with Colombia before leaving office. The Republican Presidential nominee. And one-time prisoner of war. Is briefed about the rescue operation prior to its execution. The raid is a success. Cable news headlines like "McCain Knew" and "McCain met with Colombians prior to Hostage Rescue" and "Colombian Hostages Free" are read by millions of Americans watching muted TVs in bars, gyms, and noisy households across America. Heading into the Fourth of July weekend. When those Americans will stand around the grill and say, perhaps jokingly, but with the same predictable effect:

I have not seen this posted but thought it relevant to the whole Gen. Clark dust-up. I have watched as pundit after pundit has attacked Gen Clark for "attacking McCain's military service" or when they don't use that canard they talk about how McCain NEVER talks about his military service. Well, this Meet The Press interview shows quite the opposite. http://www.youtube.com/...

By Jwilkes from Eyes on Obama:

For certain, Wesley Clark's now-infamous commentscriticizing the military experience of John McCain firmly solidified his status on Barack Obama's list- but the question is, which one: his short list for VP, or the list of candidates he's already eliminated?

The argument this week is once again about qualifications to be the Commander-In-Chief, with one side arguing that military experience may not have much weight towards that particular job.  The other side argues that any questioning of the qualifications of a "war hero" is a direct insult to all veterans and somehow degrades the service of that "war hero".  Below is my observation of the validity of the "war hero" President argument.