Sally Quinn would like to live in a simple, binary world where the choices between good and evil or right and wrong are easy to make. That's John McCain's world. Unfortunately, she lives in the real world, where nuance matters. That's also Barack Obama's world.

That kind of nuance is hard to understand sometimes -- it's unclear, complicated. Obama's world can be scarier. It's multicultural. It's realistic (yes, there is evil on the streets of this country as well as in other places, and a lot of evil has been perpetrated in the name of good). It's honest.

McCain's message is easier to convey. Binary messages always are. Is there a lesson in that for Obama? [more ...]

With friends like Leon Panetta, Barack Obama is not going to need many enemies:

"There is a sense of entitlement that almost seems to be inbred. They are convinced Hillary is the one who should be assuming the mantle and it's tough to crack that."

Everyone knows I think PUMA's are um, wrongheaded, to put it nicely, but then again I am not a high profile Democrat. Here's the thing, Panetta seems to think Obama is entitled to the support of these folks. The sense of entitlement seems to be his. That is the attitude Obama must absolutely avoid now.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

After the Obama campaign tossed General Wes Clark under the bus for stating the obvious, that getting shot down in an airplane is not command experience, they better get used to this

[McCain spokeperson] Nicolle Wallace: ""The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous."

Sure it's stupid, but stupid works when you don't push back.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

In response to my post on PPP's Ohio poll, I was sent an e-mail telling me to relax:

I am an Obama fellow here in Ohio and am close to the campaign director for the state. They are about 4 points ahead in Ohio and expect Ohio to be close. . . . Their ground game here is phenomenal and unlike John Kerry and Al Gore, we are all over the southern part of Ohio which is where Obama has to not get swamped to win in the state. . . . Relax.

Ok. Tell it to Paul Krugman:

Why isn’t the Obama campaign getting more traction on economic issues? . . . [T]he problem isn’t lack of specifics — it’s lack of passion. When it comes to the economy, Mr. Obama’s campaign seems oddly lethargic.

[Obama] seemed to go out of his way to avoid scoring political points. “Back in the 1990s,” he declared, “your incomes grew by $6,000, and over the last several years, they’ve actually fallen by nearly $1,000.” Um, not quite: real median household income didn’t rise $6,000 during “the 1990s,” it did so during the Clinton years, after falling under the first Bush administration. Income hasn’t fallen $1,000 in “recent years,” it’s fallen under George Bush, with all of the decline taking place before 2005.

Krugman then does the unpardonable, he touts Bill Clinton's political approach on economic matters:

Earlier, Big Tent Democrat made another case for Hillary as Vice President. I'll make another case against Sen. Joe Biden. My specific arguments are contained in these posts:

• Report: Kaine, Biden, Bayh at Top of Obama's Veep List
• Joe Biden is No Progressive on Crime Issues.
• Joe Biden Feels a Draft
• Delaware's Shame: Prison AIDS Crisis

Check out these Joe Biden quotes below:

You know how after the fact now everyone wonders how in the hell we plunged into the Iraq Debacle? How in hindsight it was so obviously boneheaded that we wonder where all the "experts" were yelling "are you crazy?" That is how I feel about the fact that Barack Obama is not going to pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Honestly, I have never seen a bigger no brainer in my life for this. But you have read it all before from me as to why this is so. But do not take my word for it, ask Obamabot numbers man Poblano:

Clinton -- Boy, would this be dramatic. And perhaps exceptionally smart. I think Obama might get an immediate 10-15 point bounce if he named her. But I don't know how well she'd hold up after coming under attack in September and October -- remember, she hasn't really been the subject of a negative campaign since late February, when the Obama folks decided they had the nomination locked up and started to play it safe. It's a crazy scenario, but the whole Obama veepstakes has been crazy enough that I wouldn't rule it out.

(Emphasis supplied for sheer incredulity. How would Hillary hold up under negative attacks? Are you freaking kidding me? This is an open question for Poblano? Sheesh.)

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Are you worrying yet? Steve Soto is. I'm getting there. And here is another reason why -- PPP (PDF) says its tied in Ohio (PPP had Obama up 8 last month):

John McCain has pulled even with Barack Obama in Ohio, according to the newest survey from Public Policy Polling. Obama had led in PPP’s June and July polls of the state. It’s 45-45 with 10% undecided. One factor causing Obama problems is that he’s not doing as good a job as McCain of getting folks in his party to vote for him. While McCain leads 89-7 among Republicans, Obama’s lead is a narrower 75-17 among Democrats. Obama has the 45-28 edge with independent voters.

The Democrats neglecting to choose Obama are disproportionately white, female, and middle aged, an indication that it could be former supporters of Hillary Clinton who are holding out.

(Emphasis supplied.) Yep. Not considering Hillary for VP is brilliant. If Obama loses without picking Hillary, he and his team will have some serious splainin' to do.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Rick Warren has made transcripts of last night's faith forum available here. CNN has video links to some questions and answers. Ryan Corsaro observes that John McCain repeatedly violated Warren's admonition not to answer with his stump speech, a tactic that served McCain well. James Fallows doesn't expect McCain to do as well when under pressure in a debate. Adele Stan compares the candidates' approaches to (and definitions of) evil.

On the topic of abortion, it's interesting to note the wording of Warren's question: [more ...]

Tom Ridge, in an interview today, was asked whether the Republican Party would accept a vice president who is pro-choice (like, for instance, Tom Ridge):

Question: Given its long pro-life history, do you really think that the Republican Party would accept a pro-choice running mate?

RIDGE: My friend of 25 years is passionately pro-life. He is also passionately a believer that the Republican Party must have a big tent. And I think, frankly, what he was just saying to the rest of the world is that we need to accept both points of view. He's not judgmental about me or my belief. He just disagrees with me. ...

WALLACE: And to answer my question specifically, do you think the Republican Party would accept a pro-choice running mate?

RIDGE: Well, I think that would be up to — first of all, to John to decide whether he wants a pro-choice running mate, and then we would have to see how the Republican Party would rally around it. At the end of the day, I think the Republican Party will be comfortable with whatever John makes.

Really? Is the shrinking Republican tent likely to grow if McCain selects a pro-choice running mate, or will the tent collapse altogether?

Our earlier thread on this is full. Here's a news article with a recap of Senators Barack Obama and John McCain's answers at tonight's faith forum.

Pastor Rick Warren* is interviewing Barack Obama and John McCain this evening, asking each candidate roughly the same set of questions for an hour each. Obama first. One of Warren's questions asked about the contrast between the investment America makes in its educational system and the investment it makes in its "we're number one!" prison system. Disappointingly, Obama gave a fine (to me) answer on education while ignoring the "prison nation" aspect of the question entirely. I expect John McCain to do the same (although McCain's take on education may be less reasonable).

Here's a place to weigh in for those of you who have nothing better to do on a Saturday night than to watch the candidates chat with Rick Warren. Follow the rules please, particularly with regard to insults.

Update: McCain, when asked the same question, praised "choice and competition," home schooling, and charter schools. Like Obama, McCain ducked the part of the question that quietly damned the American imprisonment rate. McCain channeled his answers to well rehearsed excerpts from stump speeches, complete with frequent insertions of "my friends" into his answers. He played well to the crowd. Obama held his own, I think, but McCain's performance was the crowd favorite, my friends. [more ...]

Joe Biden left for Georgia today to meet with its President.

Either Obama is not naming his VP candidate Monday or on a more hopeful note, it's not Biden.

I'm wondering if Bill Richardson could be back in the running, even though he has a speaker slot at the convention. Obama will be in New Mexico Monday, and New Mexico is one of those states (with its five electoral votes) Obama is trying hard to win but he faces a lot of resistance among Hispanic voters in the southern half of the state.