Welcome back for more speculation! Today we'll continue the final elimination series of possibilities for Obama's v.p.

This series began with the bottom 14 names, and eliminates the bottom vote-getter(s) and replaces them with new name(s) from just up the list, reaveraging as we go (so each thread's bottom vote-getter[s] may not be the ones cut--who's cut will be determined by the new averages generated from this series's votes only). I'm hoping we'll have five or six candidates left when Obama picks and see if the DKos wisdom of crowds is. It should take about 14 threads to get all of the top candidates in the poll again, out of the 28 or so total threads. Fmr. Gov. Ray Mabus (MS) was eliminated in the previous round, and Gov. Tim Kaine (VA) rotated in to replace him this time. Sen. Jack Reed (RI) made his Shermanesque statement, so Fmr. Vice President Al Gore rotated in to replace him.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The most correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments. "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

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In no particular order, starting with Senator John McCain's choices.

Welcome back for more speculation! Today we'll continue the final elimination series of possibilities for Obama's v.p.

This series began with the bottom 14 names, and eliminates the bottom vote-getter(s) and replaces them with new name(s) from just up the list, reaveraging as we go (so each thread's bottom vote-getter[s] may not be the ones cut--who's cut will be determined by the new averages generated from this series's votes only). I hope that'll be complicated enough to dissatisfy and confuse everyone equally. I'm hoping we'll have five or six candidates left when Obama picks and see if the DKos wisdom of crowds is. It should take about 14 threads to get all of the top candidates in the poll again, out of the 28 or so total threads. Sen. Bill Nelson (FL) was eliminated in the previous round, and Rep. Robert Wexler (FL) rotated in to replace him this time.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The most correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments. "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

(continued below the fold)

Welcome back for more speculation! Today we'll continue the final elimination series of possibilities for Obama's v.p.

This series began with the bottom 14 names, and eliminates the bottom vote-getter(s) and replaces them with new name(s) from just up the list, reaveraging as we go (so each thread's bottom vote-getter[s] may not be the ones cut--who's cut will be determined by the new averages generated from this series's votes only). I hope that'll be complicated enough to dissatisfy and confuse everyone equally. I'm hoping we'll have five or six candidates left when Obama picks and see if the DKos wisdom of crowds is. It should take about 14 threads to get all of the top candidates in the poll again, out of the 28 or so total threads. Fmr. Sen. Max Cleland (GA) and Rep. Chet Edwards (TX) were eliminated in the previous round, and Sen. Russ Feingold (WI) and Fmr. Sen. Sam Nunn (GA) rotated in to replace them this time.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The most correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments. "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

(continued below the fold)

Welcome back for more speculation! Today we'll continue the final elimination thread of possibilities for Obama's v.p.

This elimination series began with the bottom 14 names, and eliminates the bottom vote-getter(s) and replaces them with new name(s) from just up the list, reaveraging as we go (so each thread's bottom vote-getter[s] may not be the ones cut--who's cut will be determined by the new averages generated from this series's votes only). I hope that'll be complicated enough to dissatisfy and confuse everyone equally. I'm hoping we'll have five or six candidates left when Obama picks and see if the DKos wisdom of crowds is. It should take about 14 threads to get all of the top candidates in the poll again, out of the 28 or so total threads. Fmr. Sen. Bob Graham (FL) was eliminated in the previous round, and Sen. Claire McCaskill (MO) rotated in to replace him this time.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The most correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments, in which case please include them. "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

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Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP

McCain got an op-ed rejected by the New York Times. McCain's commentary was in response to one in the same paper by Barack Obama.

Here's what David Shipley, op-ed editor of the New York Times, instructed the McCain team to change via e-mail:

the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq. It would also have to lay out a clear plan for achieving victory — with troops levels, timetables and measures for compelling the Iraqis to cooperate. And it would need to describe the senator’s Afghanistan strategy, spelling out
how it meshes with his Iraq plan

Welcome back for more speculation! Today we'll continue the final elimination thread of possibilities for Obama's v.p.

This elimination series began with the bottom 14 names, and eliminates the bottom vote-getter(s) and replaces them with new name(s) from just up the list, reaveraging as we go (so each thread's bottom vote-getter[s] may not be the ones cut--who's cut will be determined by the new averages generated from this series's votes only). I hope that'll be complicated enough to dissatisfy and confuse everyone equally. I'm hoping we'll have five or six candidates left when Obama picks and see if the DKos wisdom of crowds is. It should take about 14 threads to get all of the top candidates in the poll again, out of the 28 or so total threads. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (NM) was eliminated in the previous round, and Fmr. Sen. Bob Graham (FL) rotated in to replace him this time.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The most correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments, in which case please include them. "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

(continued below the fold)

Welcome back for more speculation! Today we'll continue the final elimination thread of possibilities for Obama's v.p.

This elimination series began with the bottom 14 names, and eliminates the bottom vote-getter(s) and replaces them with new name(s) from just up the list, reaveraging as we go (so each thread's bottom vote-getter[s] may not be the ones cut--who's cut will be determined by the new averages generated from this series's votes only). I hope that'll be complicated enough to dissatisfy and confuse everyone equally. I'm hoping we'll have five or six candidates left when Obama picks and see if the DKos wisdom of crowds is. It should take about 14 threads to get all of the top candidates in the poll again, out of the 28 or so total threads. Gov. Brad Henry (OK) was eliminated in the previous round, and Fmr. Gov. Howard Dean (VT) rotated in to replace him this time.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The most correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments, in which case please include them. "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

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http://www.creators.com/...

One of the most often talked-about issues around the selection of a Vice Presidential candidate is the cost-benefit analysis of what the party stands to lose if they vacate their current elected office (if any; Mitt Romney over on the Republican side doesn’t have one, for example; on the other hand, if McCain picked Bobby Jindal and they won, it would hand the Louisiana Governorship over to Democrat Mitch Landrieu).

So here is, to the best of my knowledge, what a successful VP bid would mean for the various individuals that are speculated about for the Democratic nomination.

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:

(This is actually a repost from some months ago, but I put so much time into hunting down the appropriate photos, I decided to repost it; besides, I'm depressed about not being able to make it to NN this year, so I wanted to post something light to cheer myself--and perhaps others--up a bit)

Several months back, Canadian Noise posted an Oscar-themed diary which speculated on the casting for a filmed version of the 2008 Presidential race.

Unfortunately, the diary didn’t get much notice, but I thought it was such a fun idea that I ran with it, and came up with the following. The only rule I made for myself is to take it seriously—no cartoon characters, no dead actors; all of the choices have to be current, professional film or TV actors. Feel free to toss your own ideas into the ring; I know that I’m way off on at least some of my choices, but what the hell...

Welcome back for more speculation! Today we'll poll the second-tier possibilities for Obama's v.p., from my new slimmed-down field of 28.

This elimination series will begin with the bottom 14 names, then eliminate the bottom vote-getter(s) and replace them with new names from just up the list for the next thread, reaveraging as we go (so each thread's bottom vote-getter(s) may not be the ones cut for the next--who's cut will be determined by the new averages generated from this elimination series's votes). I hope that'll be complicated enough to dissatisfy and confuse everyone equally. I'm hoping we'll have five or six candidates left when Obama picks and see if the DKos wisdom of crowds is. It should take about 14 threads to get all of the top candidates in the poll again, out of the 28 or so total threads.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The most correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments, in which case, "I believe _ _ should be Obama's v.p. running mate because..." "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

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This is not about the game show, although that's the anecdote.
The contestant was asked (for $100,000), which of the following presidential candidates
is a 4-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee?
Mitt Romney
Barack Obama
Dennis Kucinich
Bill Richardson

The contestant didn't know and took the 50/50 lifeline (so-called because it eliminates 50%=2 of the wrong answers, leaving you to make a 50/50 guess between the remaining 2).  Romney and Obama were eliminated, to the relief of the contestant, who had been leaning Romney.  That left Kucinich and Richardson.

Welcome back for more speculation! Today we'll poll the top 13 average vote-getting possibilities for Obama's v.p. in average votes over all of these threads' polls, plus Sen. Jeff Bingaman (NM), who I think needs another round of voting to get a good average before I cut the field down.

Next thread I'm going to narrow the field from three to two tiers of 14--if Obama hasn't decided by then. I'll reset the averages then, too, and run a single-elimination poll each day going through the two remaining tiers, so maybe we'll have five or six candidates left when Obama picks and see if the DKos wisdom of crowds is. It should take about 14 threads to get all of the top candidates in the poll again of the 28 or so total threads in this elimination series.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The most correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments, in which case, "I believe _ _ should be Obama's v.p. running mate because..." "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

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Welcome back for more speculation! Today we'll poll the the top gubernatorial possibilities for Obama's v.p. in average votes over all of these threads' polls. I decided to include Wesley Clark, Max Cleland, Al Gore, Joe Sestak and Anthony Zinni as well, since they have also had top-level executive experience in some governmental role (and to fill out the poll!).

I'm going to do one more thread polling the top candidates' overall before cutting names to narrow the field to two tiers of 14--if Obama hasn't decided by then. I'll reset the averages then, too, and run a single-elimination poll each day going through the two remaining tiers, so maybe we'll have five or six candidates left when Obama picks and see if the DKos wisdom of crowds is.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The most correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments, in which case, "I believe _ _ should be Obama's v.p. running mate because..." "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

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I love their smiles.

Welcome back for more speculation! Today we'll poll the the top 12 possibilities for Obama's v.p. in average votes over all of these threads' polls. 12 instead of 14 because of a three-way tie for thirteenth place, and because I want to work in Sen. Jeff Bingaman (NM), the most plausible candidate I haven't polled yet.

I'll alternate "break-out" polls with the top average vote-getting candidates for two more threads after this. I'm going to do the top governors/former governors and one more top candidates' thread before cutting 14 names to narrow the field to two tiers of 14--if Obama hasn't decided by then. I'll reset the averages then, too, and run a single-elimination poll each day going through the two remaining tiers, so maybe we'll have five or six candidates left when Obama picks and see if the DKos wisdom of crowds is.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The most correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments, in which case, "I believe _ _ should be Obama's v.p. running mate because..." "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

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