Obama readies for national fight, Hillary bows out and Russert waves goodbye

One smooth cat coasts to the nomination.

It was a long strange trip, but we finally have the main event (ok, it's still not official). Brooks assesses the matchup.

JMac has been prepping his attack plan for months. Expect more elitist accusations. Yawn. The jedi floats a new website to deflect the insults. In the age of arugula, the site is unfortunately necessary.

The old man also likes it town hall style, even on the first date. Why? It allows him to connect with voters on an intimate level. Let's just hope it's an unscripted format. The more the scribes write and advisers prep him, the stiffer he looks. Play to your strengths, JMac.

Now that Hillary is out of the spotlight, the number one topic is who will be number two? The media is, shall we say, caught in a Webb of speculation. Others think there's Nunn other like him.

To offset national security inexperience concerns, Webb is the smart bet. His Senate tenure is short, but, well, so was is prospective boss's. Other names you'll hear often over the next few weeks along with their strengths and weaknesses in parentheses:

Joe Biden (Strengths: experience, foreign relations committee. Weaknesses: long-winded, no military experience)


Chris Dodd (Strengths: Senate experience, nice head of white hair, Angus loves him. Weaknesses: despite experience, still not really a household name, no military experience, from affluent East coast state)

John Edwards (Strengths: left-leaning populist, connects with most blue collar voters, great hair. Weaknesses: already failed once, owns huge fucking house, performs poorly in debates)

Hillary Clinton (Strengths: more blue collar appeal (somehow), lures female voters, in-house adviser in husband. Weaknesses: in-house adviser in husband, rivalry is too fresh, hated by large portions of population (somehow).

Claire McCaskill (Strengths: red state appeal, brief gubernatorial experience, friendly. Weaknesses: little experience on the national stage, not-yet-a-household name syndrome, Rams fan).

WVPC will cover the GOP's VP search tomorrow in our 50th blog!

In a Sunday NY Times must read, we get some insight into JMac's time as a POW.

Finally, Wevoteprocat salutes Tim Russert. Sunday morning coffee will never be the same. Thanks, Russ. Go Bills!

Romney says Suckabee

Hi everybody! Hi, Dr. Nick. Wevoteprocat had to take last week off, and we're glad to be back. Iowa is just around the corner, and Wevoteprocat will announce its inaugural Iowa endorsements before year's end. Stay tuned!

In other and, let's face it, far less important endorsement news, The Des Moines Register has announced its endorsements: Hillary and McCain. The Hillary endorsement isn't much of surprise, but the McCain superscription puts him back in this thing. Good luck, John. Please transport your 2000 self to the podium.

On the Democratic side, the Iowa marquee says it's about change versus experience. Quite frankly, I'm a little sick of these vague, nondescript buzz words. Anyone will present a change over Bush. The Democratic candidates are Democrats, which makes them members of a different party. The GOP candidates speak in complete sentences.

Edwards performed decently on This Week with George Stephanopolus. Even if he didn't land the Register nod, he'll get some good exposure on the cover of this week's Newsweek. They call him "The Sleeper." In that case, we're peacefully dozing here at Wevoteprocat and Edwards is in our dreams.

On Meet the Press, Tim Russert took up Romney on that "Ask Mitt Anything" offer. It was Russert at his best. Tim is seldom biased, but he sure knows absurdity when he sees it. If Romney wins the nomination, no one is paying attention.

PBS profiled the Ron Paul Internet phenomenon. Paul supporters like the government out of their lives, and good taste out of their wardrobes.