Today John McCain announced that he has picked a Spork to be his Vice President.  "This will show that I am a centrist" said McCain "favoring neither fork nor spoon.  For too long, the fork has been on the left side of the plate, and the spoon on the right.  We need a fork and spoon that can work together as one, and end partisan gridlock in Washington."

Originally reporters thought they heard "Bork" not "Spork."  This would indicate Judge Robert Bork, who would not only be a favorite with conservatives, but at age 81 he would make McCain look young in comparison.  However, it's not Bork, it's a Spork.

When incredulous reporters asked a McCain spokesman why he picked a piece of plastic cutlery to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, the spokesman angrily retorted "John McCain spent 5 years in a P.O.W. camp where they didn't have any cutlery at all!'

he'd be dead.

sort of like the 18,000 Americans, who die each year because they are uninsured... (as estimated by the Institutes of Medicine in 2004.)

On June 12, John McCain called for an investigation into oil speculation, apparently due more to his total lack of understanding of commodity markets than to any actual indignation.  This is what he said:

I believe there needs to be a thorough and complete investigation of speculators to find out whether speculation has been going on and, if so, how much it has affected the price of a barrel of oil.

Investigate speculators to find out if there's speculation going on?  Next, we can go to the gas station and see if they're selling gas.

Now, usually when a politician calls for an investigation, that means they don't actually want to do anything about a problem, and hope by putting it off they can avoid dealing with it all together.

But don't worry Mr. McCain, the results are in- no need for that investigation!

Crossposted at Sandstorm.

Breaking via Politico:

John McCain made his VP selection earlier this week, but did not inform reporters of his choice; historically, it has been a typical move for a nominee to build suspense before their decision is announced, but in the case of McCain, it has presented a unique set of liabilities.  Namely, the strength of such a suspense building move in previous elections has rested heavily on one key assumption: that the nominee will remember the choice they have made.

McCain had reportedly invited his runningmate to one of his homes yesterday to inform him of the choice, but when pressed today, the GOP nominee directed questions about exactly which home to his staff.  Campaign sources speaking off the record painted a grim picture: that McCain cannot remember who the pick was or where he left them, and that the announcement deadline tomorrow is quickly approaching.

Complicating matters is the fact that McCain does not trust any of his top staff, each with their own motivations, not to substitute their own pick and claim it was them from the start.  McCain has reportedly also voiced concerns that Joe Lieberman, stowing away at one of his houses, would swear he was the pick all along.

Observers see this as a sign of vulnerability for Obama.

I'm not a politico.  But certain themes have been emerging lately in John McCain's campaign strategy that need a spotlight.

John likes to think that he's his own man.  Mr. Straight Talk.  Well, he tried the same campaign he ran in 2000, using the bus, his "integrity capital" and some really lousy campaign advisers.  The result?  



Mr. Cottage Cheese On A Bed Of Lettuce

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Seventy-five year old Inocencia Coto in South Florida who has always supported Republican candidates in a district of predominantly Cuban Americans who usually vote 90% Republican in national elections won’t be supporting the Republican in her district this year.  She’s actively working for the Democratic challenger, Raul Martinez, who is within four percentage points of eight term Republican incumbent, Mario Diaz-Balart.

I'm a frequent DK commenter, but I tend to stay away from diaries unless I have some insight that I feel is obvious, but I think everyone on the site has stepped over. Since the posters and diarists here are um... really friggin smart, this rarely happens. Since I've heard a lot of handwringing based on the recent ad that has Hillary's "lifetime of experience" jab, coupled with frequent suggestions that Haillary should be doing something to counter it, I figured I'd point out why that hasn't happened yet.

There were reports after the Georgia situation blew up that indicated the US had trained Georgian troops a few weeks before Georgia took action against the northern areas sympathetic to Russia.  Now Russian leader Vladimir Putin has laid it out for the world:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the US of provoking the conflict in Georgia, possibly for domestic election purposes.
Mr Putin told CNN US citizens were "in the area" during the conflict over South Ossetia and were "taking direct orders from their leaders".
He said his defence officials had told him the provocation was to benefit one of the US presidential candidates.

via BBC

http://www.cnn.com/...

SOCHI, Russia (CNN) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to benefit one of its presidential election candidates.
Russian PM Vladimir Putin has accused the U.S. of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia.

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous region of South Ossetia.

Putin told CNN his defense officials had told him it was done to benefit a presidential candidate -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are competing to succeed George W. Bush -- although he presented no evidence to back it up.

No kidding, Vlad?
Think so?

It's quite obvious that someone gave Saakashvili the green light to make what has turned out to be a fool's errand for John McCain. Maybe Randy Scheuneman can provide some insight into the promises made to Saakashvili.  

In fact, as Barr's website reports, both McCain and Obama failed to file the necessary paperwork by the August 26 deadline to get their names on the Texas ballot. But Obama wasn't counting on winning Texas, and McCain most certainly was. Of course, there will probably be some state-level shenanigans which end with the law being twisted (or broken) to put McCain on the ballot, but what does it say about John McCain that he didn't even care enough to get his name put on in a legal, timely way?

As McCain's VP selection nears, Joe Lieberman has been consistently floated as a one of the top potential picks along with Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Robert Novak even came out of retirement to write a column urging McCain not to pick Lieberman. Last night we were treated to a Politico story about some supposed backstage intrigue regarding McCain's pick.

John McCain may have his own "Swiftboat" controversy.  

Yesterday the McCain campaign announced that Senator McCain had selected his running mate and that this decision would be announced tomorrow in Dayton, Ohio. They further stated that the Veep nominee would be notified today.

According to the Associated Press, Senator McCain did an interview this morning on KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh in which he stated that he had not yet decided who he would pick as a running mate.

When asked who the pick would be, Senator McCain replied:

"I haven't decided yet so I can't tell you,"

Biden, yesterday, on John McCain's service:

"These times require more than a good soldier. They require a wise leader."

And the McCain camp's weak tea response:

The McCain campaign immediately struck back at Biden last night, saying, "Joe Biden is right. We need more than a good soldier, we need a leader with the experience and judgment to serve as commander in chief from day one. That leader is John McCain."

Something's missing from this response...something doesn't read quite right...oh, that's right. No mention of McCain as prisoner of war.  

I guess when you're told that being in a prison for five and a half years does not qualify you to be president, you can't really reach out and play the POW card without looking, well, silly. Bravo to Biden for disarming McCain of his ubiquitous "POW defense."  Day 1 on the VP candidate job, and Biden is already demonstrating that Obama made a wise choice.

Ok, I get it.  I understand that at the end of this election, all the participants that didn't win get to go back to their respective corners and have to "get along" again.  They have to sit in committee meetings together, participate in state functions with drinks in their hands in talk circles with opponents across the aisle.  I understand that the public needs to be under the illusion that the bitter partisanship that we know is bubbling under the surface all goes away when the workday ends and these guys go on picnics together and hang out with each others families.  

But, let's not change a word we all hold very dear and very special.  Let's keep that one piece of our language on a higher plane.  

So, according to Scott Southworth, co-chair of Veterans for John McCain.

"Its very important when you're fighting wars on different fronts, that the commander in chief understands what its like to be in the military and serve his country.  Barack Obama chose not to serve his country.  John McCain chose to serve his country."

Can you believe this shit (pardon me, but this is too much)?

According to Politico, John McCain is going to run competing ads in battleground states, at the same time Obama is giving his acceptance speech tonight in Colorado.

According to Politico, and McCain spokesperson, Jill Hazelbacker

"Sen. McCain is going to have an ad that's going to air in battleground states around the time that Sen. Obama is speaking tonight," Hazelbaker said. "He's going to be talking directly to his opponent. So, I'm going to leave it there. But it's going be very exciting. I think that a lot of people are going to focus on it."

Wow! McCain's team, just seems to get more lowdown, dirty and crazy, anytime the feel Obama's going to get some good publicity. What are these scum up to now?

http://www.politico.com/...

Tonight, at, before or about the time Obama is to speak at Mile High Stadium, John McCain: POW, will reveal his EXCITING new ad. responding to Obama's convention highlights.
Hacks and shills agree that it will draw all of Obama's audience to catch this EXCITING campaign ad featuring their new "GodWarrior" Republican logo:
 
....um..... yea.... thanks for the warning... I'll be sure and tune in to C-SPAN. No commercials there.
Now back to your regularly scheduled bobble head hit jobs....