Was Joe Biden’s nomination for Vice President – a pick elicited first by the criticisms of Hillary Clinton, then
John McCain, for Barack Obama’s relative foreign policy inexperience – a shallow attempt to dispel the disparaging
‘naiveté’ narrative? Will Vice President Cheney, a man who has expanded the powers of the Office of the Vice President more than any VP in recent memory,
be succeeded by a wall moth? Survey says: Yes.

In all but confirmed leaks, Obama is set to name his national security team – Gates, Clinton, Jones – on Monday. Obama’s highly anticipated
announcement, notwithstanding any surprises, stands to seal the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman’s proverbial
foreign policy coffin, and not a moment too soon, I might add (see: This whole ‘time table’ thing is boring me.
Let’s partition Iraq!).

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After being dealt a serious blow today by the Minnesota state Canvassing board, who, much to the ire of Team Franken,
refused to re-examine rejected absentee ballots, Al Franken’s band of
merry men were forced to regroup, but vowed to continue their fight in a press conference.

According to Marc Elias, Franken’s lead recount attorney, the protracted legal battle for Norm Coleman’s senate seat will indefinitely continue.
Elias, whose comments were first reported by
Talking Points Memo’s Eric Kleefeld, signaled their readiness to take their fight to, of all places, the United States Senate:

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By night Augustina Mourelatos (seen to the right, sporting a not-so appealing midriff) is an adult entertainer, but by day
she’s a “committed” Franken observer and vote challenger in Stearns County, Minnesota.

Coincidence the stripper falls for the Playboy writer? I think not.

Evidently Ms. Mourelatos isn’t so, umm, giving in her day job, it seems. Acting on behalf of the Franken campaign, Mourelatos proceeded to make, what the Stearns County Auditor called, “frivolous” challenges where “voter intent is very clear.” Legally, Stearns County has until December 5^th
to complete the process but county officials aimed to finish yesterday, that is, before they encountered Mourelatos.

Exit question: Is the Franken campaign paying Mourelatos in single dollar bills for all the “frivolous” challenges she makes? If so, she may be able
to take an early retirement.

Cross-posted at Skepticians.com

From the diaries by Erick

John McCain’s loss ushered in broad and swift accusations of poor campaigning, poor messaging, and, in essence, taking too many pages
from Bob Dole’s failed ’96 campaign. Jilted staffers, now jockeying for jobs in the opposition, are hemorrhaging campaign secrets, and
yes, rumors at light speed pace (i.e., Q: Where’s “Africa,”
Sarah? A: Ohhh, don’t ya’ know I can’t see that country from my house, so I’m not sure. Can I call you Joe? [wink]) The classlessness exhibited by some
of my former colleagues is not surprising, nor unusual. After a loss of this magnitude (365 Obama – 173 McCain), petty leaks of this nature are to be
expected, as is the coming intra-Party mêlée.

The Republican Party is desperate to rebuild and find the Reagan incarnate.

And so, here we are. Social Conservatives are trying to pray the Libertarians out of the Party, National Security hawks will bomb the hell out of the
Fiscal Conservatives, and the Libertarians intend to ‘smoke it out’ and play Halo.

Every ‘leg of the stool’ has its candidate, in some cases 2, but who is best fit to lead the Party? Chris Cilizza’s
round up of the leading would-be candidates
for Chairman is worth a read, but here’s mine:

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Breaking from the conservative pack, I saw the Emanuel appointment as a (hopeful, though not definitive)
sign the Obama administration would operate in a centrist fashion. But, hope has its limits.

Ellen Moran, Executive Director of EMILY’s List, has
been tapped by Obama to serve as White House Communications Director, a largely behind-the-scenes position, but one which invariably sets the tone for
the Press shop. Look no further than Moran’s current and former employers as an indication of what to expect from the new White House communications office. EMILY’s
List is a progressive organization working to elect pro-choice Democratic women who, under Moran’s guidance, has been
instrumental in electing 78 pro-choice Congresswomen,
15 Senators, and 9 Governors. Adding insult to injury, Moran worked for the AFL-CIO, coordinating “Wal-Mart corporate
accountability activities.”

So, we have a virulent abortion rights activist who favors strict “corporate accountability” measures on our hands. Great.

Obama’s new Communications Director could not be more partisan. President-elect Obama ran a campaign of fresh faces and supposed “new ideas,” but his
transition team and Administration resemble a hyper-partisan Clinton reunion. Moderates and Washington outsiders need not apply.

Gaspard’s and Moran’s appointments signal the start of a new parlor game in the upper echelon of Democratic politics, one leaving moderates and
centrists in the dust. The Obama Administration promises to be a sordid sampling of the most unsavory Clinton figures (i.e. Greg Craig, Eric Holder),
including even those who Teflon Bill couldn’t stomach.

Strap in for a long, divisive four years, my friends.

Cross-posted at Skepticians.com

Per the AP, British
health experts have begun lobbying Parliament to explore a possible ban on happy hours – designated times for discounted drinks in bars –
to stem the growing “epidemic” of liver disease.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a government spokesman said the ban will be evaluated when an independent study on binge drinking and
alcohol-related illnesses is published in the coming weeks. Health Advocacy groups have also successfully lobbied the government to spend $10 million
pounds, $15 million American, on a “public awareness” campaign, and wants stricter enforcement of underage drinking laws.

Of course, low price alcohol facilitates drinking in a casual setting, but the implied suggestion that two hours of discounted prices can account
for, and even encourage, binge drinking and alcohol-related deaths on a large scale is pure poppycock. While pillorying a successful business practice
may be the makings of a Rob Reiner wet-dream, it’s not the answer. Britain should promote a culture of moderation and self-reliance.
Then again, we are talking about
the UK…

At least the Irish embrace their inner-drunkard.

Cross-posted at Skepticians.com

Townhall’s Amanda Carpenter is reporting Barack and Michelle Obama
have selected Sidwell Friends – the same school Chelsea Clinton attended – for their two girls, Sasha and Malia.

Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, currently attend University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, one of Chicago’s premier private schools, but will
make the transition to the Washington-area private Quaker school in January. The Obama’s will be following in the footsteps of the Nixons, Clintons,
Gores, and Vice-President Elect Joe Biden’s granddaughter.

Mayor Adrian Fenty (D-DC), who was hopeful the Obama’s would consider enrolling their daughters in a DC public school, is reportedly
perturbed with President-elect Obama’s choice of Sidwell Friends. Fenty attempted to pitch DC’s schools – not only to Obama, but all “new families” –
as a serious option, but DC’s reputation failed to comfort Michelle, who currently serves on her daughters’ school board.

Amy Carter, son of peanut farmer and handyman Jimmy Carter, was the last First-kid to attend a
public school.

Q: Fenty’s feigned outrage is politics, to be sure, but who plays politics with children? A: Democrats wanting re-election. The decision of where
to send your children is an extremely personal one, i.e. not a publicity stunt for Fenty to raise the public profile of DC’s Compton-like school system.
I seriously doubt the Obama’s would voluntarily send their children to a school system where students carry clear backpacks for fear of weapons.

I’m not sure what is more troublesome for the First-couple: The

triple-stabbing that occurred at Anacostia High School four days ago, the lax curriculum, or the fact that Fenty, having full-knowledge of these
security failures and sub-par academics, tried selling them such an underperforming school system.

If this Mayor gig doesn’t pan out, Fenty, there’s always used car sales. You seem pretty good at pulling the wool over folks’ eyes already.

Cross-posted at Skepticians.com

The easily excitable, awkwardly blonde Chris Matthews admitted today, on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” what those of us from the McCain and Clinton campaigns understood quite well: He’s “partial” to Obama.

While Matthews’ comments today may be the first “on the record” admission of his budding bromance, he was often caught swooning over the young Illinois senator during the campaign.

In the context of discussing the news Obama’s general awesomeness, Matthews delivered, what is perhaps, the most notorious media commentary – regularly cited by the McCain campaign as evidence of a media “love affair” – of the cycle when he opined, “I felt this thrill going up my leg” while listening to Obama (clip above thanks to our friends at NewsBusters). And more recently, Matthews appeared on a Tuesday edition of “Morning Joe” to discuss the forthcoming Obama transition. In the course of his discussion with Joe “Did I just say f*ck on live tv?” Scarborough, Matthews said it’s not his responsibility as a journalist to question the motives of Rahm Emanuel – and, by proxy, Obama. Adding, “I want to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new Presidency work.”

Objectivity in journalism is so passé. Matthews was never an “analyst” – he was always a liberal commentator, and in some instances even a campaign surrogate (see: Any interview with Senator Clinton).

His preference for Obama certainly made my job much harder the last 6 months, but it stands to make the next four years “thrill”-filled.

**Cross posted at Skepticians.com**.