Based on this quote by Obama earlier (via Mark Assperan):

Says he's chosen someone "to challenge me so we have got a robust debate in the White House."

And from USA today:

In an interview in Chester, Va., the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said he's made up his mind, but he would not say whether he's informed that person yet. "I won't comment on anything else until I introduce our running mate to the world," he said. "That's all you're going to get out of me."

Obama said it was a difficult decision. "We had some great choices."

Obama said he wanted somebody who is "prepared to be president" and who will be "a partner with me in strengthening this economy for the middle class and working families."

He said he was looking for not just a partner but a sparring partner. "I want somebody who's independent, somebody who can push against my preconceived notions and challenge me so we have got a robust debate in the White House."

People need to get a grip.

Russ Feingold is a great senator in the best of the midwest labor populist progressive tradition.  

Feingold is reliably progressive on foreign policy.  Feingold is reliably progressive on domestic policy.  He was the ONLY Senator to vote against the USA PATRIOT Act, i.e., to vote in support of the first and fourth amendments.

If we weren't a nation of lingering religious prejudice and sexual hypocracy (OMG!  He's divorced 2 x!), Feingold would be an acknowledged future presidential prospect and on any Democrat's vice presidential short list.

Jeremiah Wright = McCain's affair/affairs (my prediction is that neither side will bite on either of these)

other pastors = Hagee/the other crazy pastor

Rezko = Keating 5/other sleazy lobbyists

Ayers = McCain's ties to mobsters and G. Gordon Liddy

Argula/bitter = $500 loafers/not knowing how many homes you own

Race card = POW card

Anything else?

I am sure Obama will not pick Hillary. Sadly this will likely cost him the election. Virtually every other pick from mid to small state governors to senators are unlikely to light a match under this unraveling campaign.

Obama has been making it look like amateur hour for the better part of a month. Trailing a befuddled 70+ yr old at this stage with an unpopular war, 4 buck gas and a housing and economic crisis does not bode well. Picking anyone other than Hillary will not galvanize the party.

Sorry but things do not look good and the ground game strategy that won him the nomination will not win him the presidency. He is looking more and more the indecisive, somewhat baffled intellectual. He is nuancing everything to death. He can scarcely give a straight answer for fear of offending someone. He strikes me a lot like a boxer who can float like a butterfly, but I sure haven't seen any sting!

I have had enough !

Do you know why the polls are closing ?  Do you know why this election is not a landslide ??

It is because you, dear progressive reader, make silly character assassinations on Sen. McCain.  And because Sen. Obama's campaign appears to be suffering from the spillover effects.  Rule #1 about character assassinations: do not make one unless you can make it stick.  

I am referring to the constant streams of "McSame" and "McBush", and "100 years of war with Islam" and "too old", and "he is mean to women", and "out of touch" etc. etc.  

Do you know why those accusations do not stick ?

(a) Because Sen. McCain is a war hero
(b) Because Sen. McCain is (perhaps) the most famous POW in history
(c) And because Sen. McCain chose a "black" daughter... of his own free will!

The New York Times Gets It Right A week after the the Washington Post completely botched their assessment of a second stimulus package, the New York Times turns around and nails it.

Their editorial entitled "No End in Site" lays out perfectly what the next few steps should be to help the economy whether this current storm. They begin by stating the obvious:

Lawmakers need to start crafting the next stimulus bill — without repeating the mistakes of the last one. Composed mainly of tax rebates, as the White House wanted, the first stimulus was too broad to deliver a powerful punch.

Amen. It is clear that the first round of stimulus checks didn't work. The editorial then confirms what many experts have been saying is a real potentially relief-filled measure that Congress needs to take with the second stimulus package:

The next package has to focus on actions that are known to yield big economic benefits: bolstered food stamps, which rapidly boost consumption; and aid to states and cities so they can continue to provide essential services.

Lawmakers should also invest in infrastructure projects, like repairing bridges and roads. If not, projects that are already under way may have to be canceled, creating more unemployment.

Thank you. The fact that state and city governments are not asking for money to continue radical spending on pet projects, but instead to protect essential services like education and health care seems to be lost on the minds of those who are not in favor of including state aid in a second stimulus package. Every week there are stories upon storiesof states being forced to slash budgets, pay, and jobs. They are a linch pin of the economy and no one seems to notice. And investing in infrastructure will ensure that we don't add thousands of workers who make their living off of said infrastructure projects. The construction industry has been hit hard enough as is.

The editorial also touches on a response to the home foreclosure crisis:

Congress also needs to ensure that a $4 billion grant to states and cities to buy up vacant properties is quickly and efficiently distributed. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is developing the formula for allocating the money, and early indications suggest it is on top of the process. But the White House is contemptuous of the grant, calling it a gift to speculators when it is actually a lifeline for ailing communities.

If you aren't a Bush republican who just hates any sort of aid not aimed at the highest income bracket, then the main criticism of this effort is that is simply not enough to have an impact on the housing market. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, but it is still $4 billion to help turn foreclosed properties that the states with said properties currently do not have. In that regard it is a stabilizing factor, even if it is not the stabilizing factor that ultimately turns the foreclosure crisis around. As the editorial says, it is a lifeline for ailing communities who simply do not have the money do to anything with these foreclosed homes.

The time for action is now, but because Congress is in recess the time for action will actually be September. The article suggests the difficulty with creating a second stimulus package in an election year, but brings up the most important point of them all:

Millions of Americans are already suffering. And we fear millions more will be hurt before this crisis ends. They cannot wait until after the election for help.

A very valid point. It's hard to care about battleground polls, attack ads, and town halls when you're losing your job and your home.

Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley has been given a speaking slot" at the Democratic Convention! On Wednesday night, Jeff will be one of four Senate candidates in the middle of highly contested races addressing the crowd. The other Senate candidates who will be speaking at the convention are Jeanne Shaheen, Tom Allen and Tom Udall. More below the fold....

Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

(cross posted at kickin it with cg and Clintonistas for Obama)

Politico is reporting that a new conservative group has produced a television ad attacking Barack Obama for his relationship with former Weather Underground bomber Bill Ayers.

"How much do your really know about Barack Obama? What does he really believe?" asks the ad, which then cites the failed attack on the Capitol on 9/11, and links it to the Weather Underground attack on the Capitol decades earlier.

The group says it will spend $2.8 million airing the ad in Ohio and Michigan -- which would be the largest single third-party expenditure this cycle.

"Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol and is proud of it?" asks the narrator. "Do you know enough to elect Barack Obama?"

The group, the American Issues Project, is part of a group that isn't required to disclose its donors and is a product of a coalition of conservative groups, including Iowans for Tax Relief. Its president is Ed Martin, a Missouri conservative. Another official, Ed Failor, Jr., is a former McCain aide in Iowa who left after the campaign's shakeup last summer.

The use of 9/11 imagery links Ayers, and Obama, to the American conflict Islamic terror, which is the subject of many viral emails attacking Obama.  The group's spokesman, Christian Pinkston, called the suggestion that the group is making any link with Islam "unfair."

"The idea here was to talk about the fact that his friends hate America, and that's who he's aligning himself with," he said.

It's spokesman, Christian Pinkston, is a former aide to presidential candidate Jack Kemp, and went on to run the conservative group Empower America.  Pinkston says the ad will launch later this afternoon.