• It is a dance filled with drama and false leads  that is being played out by Dem nominee Obama and  prospective Veep Hillary.  She is out of the race but certainly not out of  the picture, as she  again drops subtle hints about her willingness to accept the second slot on the ticket and Obama ditches the media for an uber-private chat with HRC in person at the Washington home of Dianne Feinstein last night. Obama had delayed Hillary’s desired face-to-face after her non-withdrawal on Tuesday. But now with her official concession, the pressure was on to schedule the sit-down so desired by HRC.  After a rather fanciful media chase through D.C. to ascertain where Obama’s motorcade was headed, the two former (?) rivals met for a brief discussion. Being top secret, no revelations about what the two discussed was made public. Instead, a bland statement was released late last night: - “Senator Clinton and Senator Obama met tonight and had a productive discussion about the important work that needs to be done to succeed in November.” - Did he offer up the VP slot? Did Hillary grill him over what she wants from him policy-wise, or did she let loose about her having the “most votes” in primary history? Expect some developments as early as this weekend.
  • Credit the Obama campaign with not shying away from their candidate’s glaring weakness this early in the general campaign: For his first major campaign swing across the country after winning the nomination, Obama made high-profile stops in the foothills of Appalachian Virginia yesterday, addressing a surprisingly large and enthusiastic crowd in in the NASCAR town of Bristol. No major disruptions by angry ex-Hillary supporters and a white-heavy turnout gave the campaign hope that Obama’s white problem could fade as he coalesces the party around his nomination and as HRC finally gives in and hunts for VP. Obama talked at length about health care in this hotly contested swing state; made such by Obama’s substantial win in the primary and by the large influx of well-off transplants in the metroplex around D.C. But, given Obama’s reception yesterday,  are the mountains also in play?
  • With Hillary and Obama ready to reconcile and talk of back-up VP choices centering around other white females, John Edwards is rightly ticked off. He was seen for months as Obama’s easy pick for the ticket, way back when Hillary hadn’t whipped up her fan base into a November-threatening frenzy and the South was the main focus of any Obama general campaign. No longer. Hillary has the leverage and can use it to anoint herself or, even if she declines VP, force Obama to appease women everywhere by picking a Sibelius or Napolitano. So it was that in Spain yesterday, on some unnamed mission, Edwards seemingly pulled himself out of the losing race for Veep and declared that he was done being #2 on a Dem ticket.  - “I already had the privilege of running for vice president in 2004, and I won’t do it again.”
  • Fallout from McCain’s legendarily bad Tuesday night speech from NoLa is still being felt, with Republican strategists and insiders continuing to shudder at the thought of JMac’s next speech…and the speech after that, etc. Everything from the campaign’s chosen pea green backdrop (”Kermit the Frog”) to the bizarre location (in the well-to-do NoLa suburbs right after a routine private fundraiser) were panned. And his performance got the worst shredding. The failure has the McCain campaign holding their breath and banking on these ten town halls with Obama that they have proposed. But there is no indication that the Obama camp will agree to even one. Speech lessons?
  • It’s just been a bad week for McCain. First the speech; now some major gaffes while campaigning in the swing state of Florida, a state thought to be wrapped up with JMac backer Charlie Crist in Tallahassee. McCain was faced with tough questions involving his staunch opposition to two very important government projects benefiting Florida: Restoration of the Everglades and the creation of a national catastrophe fund in hurricane-prone FLA. McCain has made his oppo to these two “pork” projects very clear in the past - before he was running for the White House. Now he’s backing off (somewhat) on the Everglades, but is still quiet on the emergency fund.  - “I am in favor of doing whatever’s necessary to save the Everglades,” McCain said. “I will not vote for bills that have projects and other things on them that have not gone through the proper scrutiny.” -
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