Barack Obama - August 28, 2008

John McCain - September 4, 2008

No.

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) has taken himself out of the running to be Barack Obama’s running mate. This comes as a surprise to many DC-types who have longed surmised that Senator Webb would be an effective number two on the Democratic ticket.

This now moves Governor Tim Kaine (also of Virginia) into the top spot in the Matthew J. Slutsky veepstakes.

UPDATE: Marc Ambinder reports that Webb was a finalist on Senator Obama’s short list but refused to participate in the process further when he was asked to submit to a background check.

The nomination…in eight minutes…

My brother was on MSNBC a few minutes ago discussing the final hours of the nomination fight between Obama and Clinton. I think he did a good job, but what do I know…I just work here.

Please enjoy this guest post by a FOD (Friend of DoubleSpeak):

The National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournaments require a team to win six games over several weeks. The Democratic National Committee requires a candidate to win 2,025 delegates over a period of many months. In basketball, there is no set number of points a team must score, they simply must score more than their opponent. In the Democratic nominating contest, however, until a candidate gets to the magic number, the game must go on. This is the current situation: barring an unforeseen political gaffe of epic proportions, a scandal, or a tremendous moment of political brilliance, neither Senator Obama nor Senator Clinton is likely to secure the requisite number of delegates through the remaining nominating contests, creating a March Madness just for the Democrats.

Unlike the basketball March Madness, the political March Madness has no controlling body, like the NCAA, that sets clear rules and enforces them to run an efficient tournament. The Democratic National Committee’s Rules Committee effectively assured that Republican legislatures in states like Florida could wreak havoc on the legitimacy of the Democratic process. So instead of having selected a nominee with a finite number of contests left to decide the race, the Democrats are now embroiled in an intra-party squabble over which of a half a dozen metrics should be used to decide when the game is over. And instead of the DNC deciding, each team is putting forth their best argument for why the game should end or continue.

Keep reading for more. (more…)

Facing a tough re-election fight in Louisiana, Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) has decided not to seek a second term.

Associated Press reports:

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, whose popularity plummeted after two hurricanes devastated Louisiana during her term, announced Tuesday that she will not seek re-election.

Blanco has been burdened by the sluggish pace of recovery and by pressure within the Democratic Party, but she said she wanted to push through important initiatives without having to worry about political considerations.

“I am doing this so we can work without interference from election year politics,” she said in a televised appearance from the governor’s mansion Tuesday evening.

She had already broken the news in phone calls to legislative leaders, a meeting with her Cabinet secretaries and in a letter to her staff.

Just last week, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was publicly flirting with the idea of a run for the presidency.

The former first lady longs to return to the White House with husband Bill as consort. Only last week she told television viewers America would be led by a woman one day. “Stay tuned,” she said.

The Sunday Times quotes some Democratic insiders, including members of the Clinton team saying that she may forgo a White House bid and decide instead to become a member of the Senate leadership. This after Steve Clemons wrote much the same thing just a month ago.

Friends of Hillary Clinton have been whispering the unthinkable. Despite her status as the runaway frontrunner for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president, some of her closest advisers say she might opt out of the White House race and seek to lead her party in the Senate.

…

“I would not be surprised if she were to decide that the best contribution she can make to her country is to forget about being president and become a consensus-maker in the Senate,” said a leading Democratic party insider. “She believes there is no trust between the two political sides and that we can’t function as a democracy without it.”

Only Sen. Clinton knows what Sen. Clinton will decide to do. In November, she’ll have a big decision to make: Play it safe or go for the gold? Either way, she’s going to be re-elected to the U.S. Senate this fall and she will be well positioned, both financially and in terms of her rock-star status, to make a solid run for the Democratic nomination in ‘08. Stay tuned.

From Democratic Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI-14):

“Losing a campaign is tough. But for one who has carried the banner of the Democratic Party for thirty years, has been awarded the party’s nomination to the Senate three times, and has been chosen to fill a Presidential ticket, now it is time to abide the wishes of his electorate and show the same support that the party has shown him over the full course of his career. Senator Lieberman should reject the bitterness of losing and the politics of division and bring the party together for November.

When primaries are over and Democrats in a state have made their choice, all Democratic elected officials, everywhere, have an obligation to coalesce around that choice. Now, the choice is Senator Lieberman’s: will he do the right thing and respect the choice of his party or tarnish a respected career in public service?”

Couldn’t have said it better myself…

There are 100 days until this November’s election. What are you doing to help?

Today the Democractic Party launched a new project: 100 Actions, a website dedicated to electing Democrats in 2006 through an action that you can take every day.

Each day, a new action will appear that will help make that happen. Some actions may be as simple as writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Others may be things like volunteering for a campaign, organizing people for an event, or mailing postcards with the Democratic agenda printed on them. Whatever the action, meaningful activism through Election Day helps Democrats in every race in the country — from school board to U.S. Senate.

Today’s action is simple. Volunteer. We’ll be closely following this site and other tools that you can use as we approach the all-important November elections.