Vice Presidential Material.

McCain Losing Steam. Duh.

Yes, it's still pretty darn early, but a lot of people are already proclaiming the death of McCain's presidential bid. And I'm one of them. The truth is, McCain just doesn't have a solid political base. He alienated the right by siding against the GOP establishment on issues like gun-control and campaign finance reform, and then proceeded to alienate the moderates by maintaining a hard-line stance on the war in Iraq. McCain has prided himself on being a "maverick" politician who says and does what he thinks is best, without considering what the political consequences may be. Unfortunately, as it turns out, in order to do well in politics, you actually have to consider the political consequences of your actions from time to time.

Still, there is a chance that McCain could reach the White House in '08, at least as the numero dos man in the Executive branch. A McCain Vice Presidency looks compelling on paper: he's got a lot of experience, his independent streak could attract some of the independent vote, and at 5'7" his presence wouldn't overshadow any of the possible Presidential candidates. And, to give a little McCain-esque "straight-talk", let's face it: McCain is very old. This is his last chance to make a bid for the presidency, and if he fails, a lot of people (myself included) will feel at least somewhat sorry for him. Even if the Republican party doesn't like McCain enough to anoint him as their new king, I don't think anyone would object to tossing him a consolation prize to comfort him during his last years of public service.





Powell-Obama '08? Fuhgeddaboutit.

Colin Powell made an appearance on Meet The Press this Sunday (subscribe to the vodcast NOW) and said a lot of things about a lot of things. The most notable things he said had to do with the situation in Iraq, which he constantly referred to as a "civil war", much to the chagrin of the Bush administration, and the Guantanamo bay military prison, which he believes should be closed immediately (also to the chagrin of the Bush administration). But then, near the end of the interview, he handed Tim Russert two tidbits of political information that can only be classified as intensely juicy: (1) Powell has met with Barack Obama, and (2) Powell isn't ruling out a possible return to public life (but not elected public life). He immediately played the Obama bit down, explaining that he would meet with any candidate running for President, and refusing to reveal which candidate (or party) he'll support in 2008. But he had already said too much.

Soon, despite the fact that Powell expressed disdain towards the idea of running for elected office, the question that was perched on the tip of just about everyone's tongue was whether an Obama-Powell ticket could be in store for voters in 2008. Personally, I find the notion a bit ridiculous. Obama's strongest selling point has been his consistent opposition to the war in Iraq (unlike Hillary and Edwards who voted for the war before they voted against it). And although Powell has distanced himself from the current administration and openly admitted that if he had known then what he knows now, he wouldn't have supported the invasion of Iraq, Colin Powell remains embedded in the collective-consciousness of the American people as the face of the Invasion of Iraq. I can't think of anything that would tick-off Obama's anti-war base more than the selection of Colin Powell as his running mate, and I don't think he's stupid enough to commit that kind of political suicide.