Some time in the next two weeks, we're going to know the ticket.  And you know as well as I do that strategists read dKos because we're a bunch of political geeks who have way more interest in the day-to-day than the average American.

So this is it.  

Here's your chance to tell the strategists what you think and why.  Choose 3 candidates, rank them your first, second and third choice, and tell everybody why your choice should be VP.

And see if you can't way that short-list committee to give your person one last look!

Last week, I said that it was time to talk to people in terms they can understand... like that Republican Tax Cuts Aren't Really Tax Cuts, they are SUBSIDY CHECKS FOR BILLIONAIRES

Well, today, we get gas prices

Oh, gas is so expensive.  Yessirree, gas is expensive!  Boy, did I mention that GAS IS EXPENSIVE?

Well, that's great.  But it's not.

Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts

McCain wants to make tax cuts permanent

Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts

Gee, doesn't that sound like McCain wants to put money into the average person's pockets?  Sure it does!  It's meant to.  

The problem is, it couldn't be farther from the truth.

And it's up to us to say it.

Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts

McCain wants to make tax cuts permanent

Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts

Gee, doesn't that sound like McCain wants to put money into the average person's pockets?  Sure it does!  It's meant to.  

The problem is, it couldn't be farther from the truth.

And it's up to us to say it.

I don't give to presidential candidates.  I give to Congressional candidates.  And not just any Congressional candidates.  Nosir.  I don't have the kind of money I'd need to give to all the candidates I want to support.  I am one of those people who gets buffeted by the harsh winds of the economy.  When the economy goes down, it gets harder for me to keep my store open and my employees employed.  And when you're thinking about life in those terms, you get to be tight with your money, and you want your money to have the greatest effect possible.  So.  Where I stick my money is in State Houses and State Senate races where the balance of power is one Democratic vote away, and the cost of media is generally radio and yard signs.

Sometimes, I throw some money at people like Gary Trauner, who, I think, would benefit from the pittance I can afford to give, because Wyoming's media is so cheap.  Or where I perceive the race will be so close that ten extra yard signs might just make the difference between a D and an R.

If you were around in 2006, you might have seen my Taking Back the House State-by-State series.  Well, this year, I've gotten a bit more ambitious.  Anyway, take a jump with me, and let's just see...

ALABAMA!

JUMP!

If you were around in 2006, you might have seen my Taking Back the House State-by-State series.  Well, this year, I've gotten a bit more ambitious.  Anyway, take a jump with me, and let's just see...

ALABAMA!

If you were around in 2006, you might have seen my Taking Back the House State-by-State series.  Well, this year, I've gotten a bit more ambitious.  Anyway, take a jump with me, and let's just see...

ALABAMA!

Hey there Friends!

As you may know, I am a long-time Kossack (UID 3725) and one of the owners of Eclecticity, Chicago's Snazziest Store, and really, one of the bluest stores I know of: we advertise on Air America, we host benefits for blue candidates and blue causes.  We're blue through and through.  

We've been having a hard time in this sudden turn of the economy, and are now looking for your help to keep our heads above water.  

I'm not terribly comfortable coming here and asking for help, but I remember what Gary Trauner told me at the Daily Kos Convention in Chicago.  People came up to him after the election and told him if they knew how close it was, they would have come out and vote, or volunteer, or helped out in various different ways.  

We're a blue community, and we help our own.  

So, in that spirit, let me tell you how you can help us and be the coolest kid on the block doing it

OK, he's not a governor and he's not a general.  But, a solid progressive liberal with strong finance and foreign affairs cred.  From the Florida 19th, a strong blue district of Jewish wealthy people including Coral Springs and Boca Raton, will help Obama with the Jewish community, a community that is 92% Democratic yet oddly leery of Obama.  Also, it couldn't hurt to have a strong Floridian on the ballot.

I like Sebelius.  I like Richardson.  I like Clark.  But, more and more, I'm coming to like Wexler.  I know Congressmen don't often go into the Number 2 spot, but, really, why not?

What do you think?

Hey there Friends!

As you may know, I am a long-time Kossack (UID 3725) and one of the owners of Eclecticity, Chicago's Snazziest Store, and really, one of the bluest stores I know of: we advertise on Air America, we host benefits for blue candidates and blue causes.  We're blue through and through.  

We've been having a hard time in this sudden turn of the economy, and are now looking for your help to keep our heads above water.  

I'm not terribly comfortable coming here and asking for help, but I remember what Gary Trauner told me at the Daily Kos Convention in Chicago.  People came up to him after the election and told him if they knew how close it was, they would have come out and vote, or volunteer, or helped out in various different ways.  

We're a blue community, and we help our own.  

So, in that spirit, let me tell you how you can help us and be the coolest kid on the block doing it

Hey there Friends!

As you may know, I am a long-time Kossack (UID 3725) and one of the owners of Eclecticity, Chicago's Snazziest Store, and really, one of the bluest stores I know of: we advertise on Air America, we host benefits for blue candidates and blue causes.  We're blue through and through.  

We've been having a hard time in this sudden turn of the economy, and are now looking for your help to keep our heads above water.  

I'm not terribly comfortable coming here and asking for help, but I remember what Gary Trauner told me at the Daily Kos Convention in Chicago.  People came up to him after the election and told him if they knew how close it was, they would have come out and vote, or volunteer, or helped out in various different ways.  

We're a blue community, and we help our own.  

So, in that spirit, let me tell you how you can help us and be the coolest kid on the block doing it

Hey there Friends!

As you may know, I am a long-time Kossack (UID 3725) and one of the owners of Eclecticity, Chicago's Snazziest Store, and really, one of the bluest stores I know of: we advertise on Air America, we host benefits for blue candidates and blue causes.  We're blue through and through.  

We've been having a hard time in this sudden turn of the economy, and are now looking for your help to keep our heads above water.  

I've never done this before, and I'm not terribly comfortable doing it now, but I remember what Gary Trauner told me at the Daily Kos Convention in Chicago.  People came up to him after the election and told him if they knew how close it was, they would have come out and vote, or volunteer, or helped out in various different ways.  

We're a blue community, and we help our own.  

So, in that spirit, let me tell you how you can help us and be the coolest kid on the block doing it.

OK.  McCain first.  

Hey, John, wanna wrap up the election right now?  I've got the secret for you.  Ready?  Sitting down?  Got the digitalis ready?

MCCAIN/CLINTON - Yes, that's right, get those 18 million voters.  Sure, you'll piss off some Republicans, but, John, they don't like you anyway.  And, Hillary, if you want to be VP, here's your ticket... you were a lot more supportive of a McCain presidency than an Obama presidency from the beginning.  You want a ticket that passes the Commander-in-Chief test, here it is.  I hope you guys are happy together.

And on the other side of the fence...

Ready to show you're serious about Change?

Obama/Clooney '08.  Yes, you heard me.  Sure, there are lots of Hollywoodians who would be good on the ticket, but he's already come out about the drugs and the women, and, face it, he's really really good looking.  And nice lefty porgressive values, he's got em.  Plus, this shows he's not hostile to white men.  Especially those trying to save Darfur.

Seriously... think outside the box... who do you think the candidates should pick for VP?  Really?

Yes, there are people out there, people of both genders, btw, who say that, if (when) Obama is our candidate, they, Hillary supporters that they are, will vote for McCain, not vote, or encourage Hillary to run third party.

And that's bad and wrong.  Of course it is.  The people who will vote for someone who opposes your candidate 95% of the time, rather than someone who agrees with your candidate 95% of the time, or encourage the like-minded candidate's loss in favor of the opposing candidate's victory, is sheer idiocy.  And the stakes are awfully high.

But.

Am I the only one who remembers the LEGION of Obama supporters who said that they would vote for the opposition, or sit out the election, if Hillary was the nominee?

And that was supposed to be OK?

Come on.  It shouldn't matter whose ox is being GOREd.  We're all Democrats, and it's time to kiss and make up.  No matter WHO the nominee is... even if SHE does pull off a miracle... or even if HE does coast to the nomination.

Let's stop saying bad things about Hillary, and those people who would rather vote for her that anyone else.  We are all Democrats after all.

Obama is an incredible phenomenon.  And Clinton is, too.  In many ways, Clinton is the more impressive.  After all, when this thing was hers to lose, knowing that whoever goes negative first loses, Clinton starts a series of bizarre attacks designed, primarily, to shoot herself in the foot.  She then has her husband load up, and shoot her in the foot.  Then, whilst hopping around, she has her surrogates, one by one, line up, and shoot her in the foot.  And, when it becomes clear that she really has no chance whatsoever to salvage what was once a shoo-in, she continues hiphopping around, shooting herself in the foot.  Oh, to be sure, Obama got some shrapnel as collateral damage as he was often in close proximity to the foot-shootin, but really, he's come out of this sparkling.

I love these things!  I loved when, just after Mark Warner declared that he was running for Virginia's Senate seat, CQ Politics was referring to the current senator (a Republican) as Senator John Warner (D).  Yeah.  We're gonna take that seat.  

But today, I was looking for news on "superdelegates" and what headline pops up?  From Las Cruces - El Paso - Juarez...

Link
Bill Clinton woes Cal. superdelegates
KDBC, TX - 24 minutes ago
He went to a California state Democratic convention there today to woo superdelegate support for his wife. The former president told the convention that ...

Woos?  Woes?  What's the difference when it comes to Clinton?  Hahahhahaha!

Well, that's it, isn't it?  Have sex with a hooker, and, if you're a Democrat, you can be impeached.  If you're a Republican, well, it's ok.  Because they're the party of VALUES.

But torture is ok.  And an illegal war is fine.  And warrantless wiretapping is good too.

But, boy, if you're a Democrat, you'd better watch your zipper, cuz it'll get you impeached faster than you can say RECOUNT.

Maybe it's time for the Dems in Congress to wake up and learn a thing or two from the minority party.  Good God, they have like a zillion seat disadvantage in New York, but watch 'em squawk!

And the reddies in the Senate gum up the works left and right too.

But when we were in the minority, we played nice.  Hell, we're in the majority, and we're playing nice.

How bout this?

You try to impeach Spitzer and we try to impeach Bush.  Quid pro quo.

Or maybe y'all are just spineless wimps and you like Republicans kicking your ass up and down the map, and it just doesn't matter if they're a massive majority or a teensyweensy minority?

Well, what are ye?