Wow, Frank Rich's Sunday NYT Op Ed column, It’s the Economic Stupidity, Stupid, just slams McCain! Despite a somewhat odd discussion towards the end about VP candidates, it's a thing of beauty, with this as the central point:

were voters forced to actually focus on Mr. McCain’s response to our spiraling economic crisis at home, the prospect of his ascension to the Oval Office could set off a panic that would make the IndyMac Bank bust in Pasadena look as merry as the Rose Bowl.

Is the MSM starting to get it?

(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...

Normally, this would be a pretty generic headline - something along the lines of '[politican's name here]'s Ambition Knows No Bounds' is pretty standard fare in American political discourse.  But anyone who read my diary on VP knows that I firmly believe that Mitt Romney was the Republican's best chance for victory this year and will probably be in 2012 (even more so with a VP nod under his belt).  I think he knows that, and the fact that there is no visible friction whatsoever within this man who has gone from annihilating McCain at every turn to giving him credit for things that a)he didn't invent and b)aren't all that great makes be very, very afraid.  I think we have to take him seriously.

For all the hype surrounding the prolonged primary battle on our side, there's been very little attention paid to what the Republican nomination process looked like in 2008.  Our bloated attempt to copy their get-a-nominee-as-soon-as-possible-and-commence-nuking-the-fuck-out-of-the-other-side (phew) system with Super Duper Tuesday fell flat on its stupid face, while McCain appeared to be a man on an island - with a party united behind him.  

Clearly, the Republicans had their act together in a way we didn't - they had gone in, grim faced, and pulled levers for a man they had all but burned in effigy over his illegal immigration compromise with Senator Kennedy because he was their best candidate for President, principles be damned.  Must not have mattered who McCain was running against.

Now, since this is the MSM's preferred storyline, I call bullshit as a sheer reflex reaction - then I see if said declaration of bullshit has legs.  A whole bunch of legs under the fold.

I'm posting this diary in the hopes that some of you will be better able to grab some information from the push polls that I suspect will be making their way to you within the next few days.

Maybe it is just me. Did anyone else wonder what transpired in early February causing Mitt Romney to suddenly suspend his presidential election campaign? Just as he enjoyed the near unanimous support of talk radio’s conservative elite and the secular right, He threw in the towel! When speaking before CPAC, he put aside his prepared speech which had been distributed to the press and he unexpectedly withdrew from the race. He is said to have spent $40 million dollars of his own money on the race. Why quit?

What was the Deal??

Who says the U.S. doesn't condone torture?

This still needs work... I'm sure you recall the mock schedule that was being circulated in 2004. I made a few edits, omissions, updates... but I'm sure it can be improved.
Any contributions would be appreciated.

The Political Newsline took a look to see who still has debt from the presidential primary and who is free and clear.

Democrats

   * Clinton        $22,523,860
   * Kucinich       $1,177,644
   * Biden          $1,170,869
   * Dodd           $386,991
   * Edwards        $354,719
   * Richardson     $285,418
   * Gravel         $136,565

Republicans

   * Romney         $44,600,000
   * Giuliani       $3,124,113
   * Hunter         $222,447
   * Huckabee       $121,109
   * Thompson       $83,648
   * Paul           $0  
   * Tancredo       $0

Yesterday's Politico had an article on Longshots in the veepstakes that raised some of the more interesting potential VP candidates.

 This is going to be a quick and dirty late night diary. It'll probably disappear without a trace in the early hours. FWIW this is a bit of therapy and a chance to pass on a few things that might be useful.

  My wife called me at work on Friday from her job, really upset. She'd gotten a call from Little Rock AFB to let us know that a member of our family who's currently in Iraq flying C-130 Hercules transports was NOT involved in a C-130 that had to make a forced landing, and that everyone who had been on the plane was okay. They didn't want us to be worried if we saw/heard anything on the news. Except we hadn't and still haven't seen anything. I did some googling tonight and finally tracked down the details, such as they are.

Not enemy action, so no big deal. The traditional media blackout on Iraq wasn't worth breaking for the story of a plane going down since everyone survived - and didn't end up on a mysterious island. And if there's any story beyond that, well we all know they're not looking. I did find a couple of other things of interest though. (more)

   Every once in awhile I see mass media blasted for being inattentive or sloppy or exhibiting a pack mentality (or exhibiting no mentality at all), and I recoil, just as you might if somebody trashed the entirety of your field.
   And then something happens that makes me think the criticism isn't merely justified - it's understated.
   Did anybody notice that Grover Norquist walked into the Washington bureau of The Los Angeles Times yesterday and dismissed Obama as "John Kerry with a tan?"

Of course I don't mean people here. I mean your average voters who watch some news and make attempts to educate themselves on the candidates. Do they know?

I mean it's all so incredible. A man who was himself tortured -- endorsing torture? It is unbelievable in the most literal sense of the word. And yet that's John McCain.

Earlier today when I was piecing this diary together, I asked the community whether people realize McCain is pro-torture. Kossack AnnCetera said that they do not, but added that accurate information might help people see the truth -- so long as it's palatable.

Unfortunately there's nothing palatable about the fact that torture is now a campaign issue in the year 2008 in the United States of America. But what is worse perhaps is people who are against torture voting for a man who is not.

This morning, failed Republican presidential candidate and former governor Mitt Romney was interviewed by CNN anchor John Roberts. During the interview, Mitt dutifully repeated the McCain campaign's latest anti-Obama smear, that he's "never been a part of a bipartisan group that came together to solve a controversial issue."

For Mittens, the interview went downhill from there.

Page Six:  A well-placed friend of mine in the Illinois Republican inner-circle told me on the not-so-hush-hush that the Illinois delegation is quite unhappy with McCain's performance in the general thus far.  Although Illinois Republicans are famous for running Alan Keyes against a future presidential contender, I think this is worthy of a look-see.  Unsubstantiated yes, uncorraborated [sic] yes, possibility yes ... but the word is that there may be a play for Romney at the convention in St. Paul.

In a nut shell, my friend said that if Romney is not offered or is offered and declines the VP slot, then everything is a go for a contentious fight at the convention.  My friend went even further to say that if Romney is not offered the VP slot, it is a sign that McCain knows about the play.

BTW.  Don't ask for verification or validation.  This is what it is.  

I'm writing today to pose a question to the community, and it's a question that I don't have an answer for myself. It's also a question that I think has a lot of meaning to the current battle for the White House going on between Barack Obama and John McCain.

The question is this: What happened in late 2007 and early 2008 that allowed John McCain to win the GOP primary?

In case there was any doubt that former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson is now performing the same role for the Republican Party on the Washington Post opinion pages, today's column should put it to rest.  Labeling former comedian turned Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken a "vulgarian," Gerson proclaimed the Democrat's satirical writing of the past the "Federalist Papers of lifestyle liberalism." As it turns out, Gerson not only has no sense of humor, he has no sense of balance: the legion of Republican vulgarians whose stench still taints Washington needless to say go unmentioned.

Something interesting from television.