Quotes From Around Yon Blogosphere

Among the mainstream media's major failings in the current speculation about who will be the vice presidential nominees is the crucial issue of how the names of the two people on the ticket will sound when said together. Attention to this detail might have prevented some significant running mate errors in the past. Bush-Quayle, for example, obviously sounds like a description of the quarry’s hiding place, along with the name of the quarry itself. Gore-Lieberman is a disaster because of the excessive weight on the second half of the ticket. A presidential candidate with a longer name might've been able to carry it off, but the three-syllable "Lieberman" is just too much for the one-syllable "Gore" to bear. (It also didn’t help that Republicans could so easily change the ticket to "Sore Loserman" during the 2000 election dispute.) So, without further ado, here’s my take on some possible running mate name aesthetics issues that Senator Obama might want to consider. . . .

-- DILLON

With the recent talk that Eric Cantor, the House Minority Deputy Whip from Virginia, is being seriously considered as McCain’s VP selection, it seems to me that it is a distinct advantage for Cantor that he engaged in scurrillous attacks on Obama’s position on Israel. If the last couple of weeks has shown anything, I would think it would have shown everyone that it is clear that the McCain campaign is going to be as unscrupulous as it has to be, and Cantor has already distinguished himself as an attack dog on McCain’s behalf. Far from being a liability, Cantor’s willingness to push the dishonest party line portaying Obama as anti-Israel is a feather in his cap in GOP circles.

-- DANIEL LARISON

Eve Fairbanks points out that on just about every metric that matters, Kathleen Sebelius is a far more impressive governor and VP pick than Tim Kaine. And two weeks ago, I'd have probably said that would be enough. But my hunch now is that it'll be Evan Bayh, if for no other reason than Evan Bayh is the single whitest man in America, and I have a feeling that the Obama campaign wants America's Whitest Man in some pictures these days.

-- EZRA KLEIN

Everyone knows that Barack Obama is not going to pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Given the acrimony of the primary contest it was never likely that Obama would tap Hillary, but any hope that he might was wiped out in the days before the last contests in Montana and South Dakota when Clinton said:

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," she said, dismissing calls to drop out.

To which, Michelle Obama responded:

“Send us good vibes. Pray for us. Think positive thoughts. But most of all, be vigilant. Be vigilant about stopping this kind of talk. It’s not funny. You don’t have to like Barack to dislike that kind of talk. Be vigilant about stopping that kind of talk.”

In other words, Michelle Obama took Clinton's words very, very personally. And that should really settle the issue of whether or not Hillary Clinton will share a ticket with Sen. Obama. She won't.

-- BOOMAN

With a little more luck, I might have been able to ask you to be my vice president.

-- JOHN McCAIN TO DICK CHENEY

Image courtesy of www.quirked.com