Typically, we don't care what the knuckle-dragging right-wing blogs think. And we don't even particularly care what they think in this case. But, blogs can often be a leading indicator of popular off-line trends.

There's a blogswarm developing on the right-wing blogs over the stage from which Obama will deliver his Acceptance Speech on Thursday.

ABC News seems to have been the first TradMed outlet to report on it.

Drudge is flogging it pretty hard, too. In fact, he has taken the trouble to post a photo, swell guy that he is (/sarcasm).

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My plan for tomorrow is to sleep in 'til noon. I'm sure I will have missed the Most Important Text Message in American History once I have woken.

Nonetheless, I want to say congrats to Joe Biden. He's been an important force in the Senate for many years, and his accomplishments have often gone unrecognized by the national political audience. When he dropped out of the 1988 Presidential contest, he did it with a certain faith that he would in the future have a chance to redeem his name and to live up to his potential to serve America in a national capacity.

It's always good for people to have their faith rewarded.

We're a long way from Senator X. And a large step closer to a new era in America.
 

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Courtesy of Marc Ambinder:

Fun With Local TV News Stations: Obama-Bayh Stickers?

22 Aug 2008 05:45 pm
I doubt the following story.... the bumper sticker is just too ugly to be official.

From KMBC in Lexena:

   After weeks of speculation and days of intense rumors, the answer to who Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would name as his running mate may have come down to a bumper sticker printed in Lenexa.KMBC's Micheal Mahoney reported that the company, which specializes in political literature, has been printing Obama-Bayh material. That's Bayh as in U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana. Word leaked out about the material as it was being printed up by Gill Studios of Lenexa. The Obama campaign had said it would make the announcement by text message on Friday.

http://www.kmbc.com/politics/17267009/de tail.html

Don't take this too seriously gang....I think it's going to be Biden.

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Sorry, guys, this was just too good to pass up:

As he left his house for the second time today, he had a load of wood in the back of his pickup and told the assembled reporters, "Don't get hit (by the traffic), guys, I'm just going to the dump."

Upon his return from disposing of the logs, Biden pulled up in his pickup, saying he had nothing to report, but "I had a successful dump."

"I had a successful dump. I dropped everything at the dump. It all worked out and by the way I got a second load, guys, coming and if anyone wants to help me unload let me know, those stumps weigh about 150 pounds."

Yes, I'm still laughing. No, my sense of humor has not progressed beyond that of your average 12-year-old boy.

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Steve Clemons has sources. Deep behind friendly lines in occupied Chicago. They say: No VP for Evan Bayh, Tom Daschle, Jack Reed, or Wesley Clark.

A sampling:

But sources close to Obama report to me that after the "surge of concern" on the net about Evan Bayh, he has not been selected as Obama's VP running mate.

I have been informed that the decision has been made, and I don't know who that person is.

I also have been told that Tom Daschle is not the running mate. I also happen to know that it is not Wesley Clark.

I just received word that it is not Senator Jack Reed either, though Obama thought very highly of him.

In my estimation, that leaves Joseph Biden, Chuck Hagel, and Sibelius. I don't think that Tim Kaine would be the nominee given the elevation of Mark Warner as the keynote speaker at the Dem convention.

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I don't mean to interrupt the mass suicide that's being threatened should Barack Obama select the WORST HUMAN BEING OF ALL TIME, aka Evan Bayh, as his running mate, but Lynn Sweet is reporting:

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Seemsliketheblogosphereisatthe early stages of what will be an epic meltdown if Senator Obama chooses fellow Senator Evan Bayh as his running mate.

Frankly, I think that much of this is overblown. Evan Bayh just ain't that bad. For one, he's pretty much genetically incapable of being extreme in any light. Sure that rules out "extremely good" but it also rules out "extremely bad," too. In fact, a strong case could be made that Evan Bayh is Goldilocks.

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Typically, one of the biggest attention-getters of the Democratic National Convention is the keynote address. Recently, a tradition has emerged where the keynote speech opportunity is given (although, not always) to one of the Party's rising stars -- a relatively young politician who has generated buzz within party circles but has not yet been introduced to a national audience. Recent keynoters (* denotes "rising star"-types):

• 2004 -- Illinois State Senator Barack Obama*
  
• 2000 -- Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr*
  
• 1996 -- Indiana Governor Evan Bayh*
  
• 1992 -- Former Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan
  
• 1988 -- Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards*
  
• 1984 -- New York Governor Mario Cuomo*
  
• 1980 -- Arizona Congressman Mo Udall
  
• 1976 -- Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan*
  
• 1972 -- Florida Governor Ruebin Askew*
  
• 1968 -- Hawaii Senator Dan Inouye*
  

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I don't want to belabor or be gratuitous about this, but I think it's important to defend Wes Clark's right to challenge McCain's service record insofar as it is being used as a Commander-In-Chief credential.

To be clear, on a personal level, I have the greatest possible reverence for John McCain's wartime sacrifice and his overall service record. McCain and his fellow brothers-in-arms who survived the Hanoi Hilton hell-hole are heroes in every sense and remain to this day inspiring profiles in human courage.

Because of this, very few people have the moral and experiential standing to comment on McCain's service record. I would go so far to say that not everyone who has simply worn an armed forces uniform has standing to comment. It requires a peer record of combat service. Wes Clark has such a record.

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With 99% of precincts reporting, the current tally for the Indiana Democratic Gubernatorial Primary is:

Governor Dem - Primary

5,214 of 5,230 precincts - 99 percent

Jill Long Thompson 564,936 - 50 percent

Jim Schellinger 559,475 - 50 percent

As of Monday, SurveyUSA had the race at a dead-heat 43% JLT, 41% Schellinger.

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