_{WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's potential running mates ducked, dodged and semi-denied their way through a day of political intrigue Friday as the Democratic presidential contender readied a high-tech announcement of his pick for vice president.}

_{"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, nooooo," Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius told reporters who asked for her latest thoughts on the months-long search.}

_{Three days before Democrats open their convention in Denver, several officials said Rep. Chet Edwards, whose district includes President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, had made the roster of potential running mates. Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Evan Bayh of Indiana were also in the mix, as were Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Sebelius — and any unknown others Obama had managed to keep secret despite intense scrutiny.}

_{Hillary Rodham Clinton's prospects remained unlikely. Senior aides said the Obama campaign had never requested financial or other records from her.}

_{Officials said the Obama campaign had taken the trouble to print material bearing the names of several potential ticketmates — thereby minimizing the significance of a report that a printing company in Kansas was churning out signs bearing Bayh's name.}

_{Obama told reporters on Thursday he had made his choice, and aides used the prospect of a text-message announcement to try and attract additional supporters by soliciting their cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses.}

_{Even that became occasion for intrigue.}

_{Late Friday, several officials said the text message announcement would be distributed Saturday morning, a few hours before a scheduled rally at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., where the Democratic ticket would appear for the first time.}

_{Hundreds of miles to the west, carpenters, electricians, sound stage gurus and others transformed the Pepsi Center in Denver into a made-for-television convention venue.}

_{Tucked away in one corner were thousands of lightweight rolled cardboard tubes, ready-made handles for signs bearing the names of the Democratic ticket — once the identity of Obama's running mate was known.}

_{Edwards, whom Speaker Nancy Pelosi had touted for running mate, told The Associated Press in Waco, Texas, "I have had interactions with the Obama campaign over the last several months but I will not get into details."}

_{Kaine, a moderate governor from a swing state, boarded a private plane at a small airport for a flight that aides said would take him to suburban Denver.}

_{Bayh, a second-term senator, attended tennis camp with one of his sons, while Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, evidently spent the day at his home in Delaware.}

_{"My answer to any question about the subject that I think you're referring to is that all inquiries should be directed at Senator Obama's campaign," said Clinton, the former first lady who came close to capturing the nomination in the primaries of last winter and spring.}

_{Despite the advice, neither Obama nor his aides were saying.}

_{"Obviously, the most important question is: Is this person ready to be president?" Obama told "The Early Show" on CBS. Second, he said, was: "Can this person help me govern? Are they going to be an effective partner in creating the kind of economic opportunity here at home and guiding us through some dangerous waters internationally?"}

_{And, he added: "I want somebody who is going to be able to challenge my thinking and not simply be a 'yes person' when it comes to policymaking.}

_{Among those believed in the running, Edwards, Biden and Bayh fit the mold of running mate with experience in defense or foreign policy — areas in which Obama is rated relatively poorly in the polls compared with Republican Sen. John McCain.}

_{Clinton's credentials were forged in the primaries and caucuses where she ran a close second to Obama in the battle for the nomination. She maintains a loyal following among Democrats, many of whom have yet to swing behind the man who defeated her.}

_{There was no shortage of other speculation, ranging from GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who traveled with Obama to Iraq and Afghanistan, to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, to Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut.}

_{The emergence of Edwards as a possible selection was the surprise of the day.}

_{Edwards is a favorite of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who praised his "extraordinary credentials" on ABC's "This Week" on Aug. 3 and said: "I hope he will be the nominee."}

_{One Democratic official with knowledge of the conversation said Obama told Pelosi recently that she would be pleased with the choice. Other Democratic officials said he was on the short list. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Obama's selection process.}

_{Edwards, chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, is a nine-term moderate Democrat representing the GOP-leaning Texas district. He is well-known in Texas but does not have a national profile.}

_{Several GOP officials said Friday that Arizona Sen. McCain, Obama's Republican rival, had not settled on a running mate — nor offered the job to anyone — although former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty were under serious consideration. It's likely McCain will wait to see who Obama selects before picking his running mate.}

_{Officials said the campaign also was preparing for an "unconventional" nominee, an indication that oft-mentioned former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, an abortion-rights supporter, or Connecticut Democrat-turned-independent Joe Lieberman still could be in the running. That category also could include non-politicians whom McCain deeply admires, such as Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.}

_{Two officials close to Romney said he had not been offered the job. Pawlenty batted away questions Friday in a CNN interview, saying, "I'm sure he'll make a wonderful choice for our party and for our country, and we'll just have to wait until next Friday to find out the answer to those questions."  Dated August 22 Friday.}

And what a commentary..........

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Photo from Hawaii Reporter

She Shoots, She Scores
Is there still an enthusiasm gap?
By John H. Fund, 9/4/2008 8:44:09 AM

Twenty years after Ronald Reagan left office, Republicans who have long missed him may have found a future Margaret Thatcher. If John McCain wins, conservatives may find one of the most enduring accomplishments of his term will have been what he did before it started: helping to fill the Republican Party's future talent bench with such a fresh and compelling figure.

Sarah Palin is a conviction politician, a naturally compelling speaker and someone who can relate to her audience on very human terms. America has just learned why Mrs. Palin enjoys the highest approval ratings of any governor in America.

Liberal commentators glumly noted the thunderous applause in the convention hall last night. But they could do precious little to attack. Even Keith Olbermann, MSNBC's official attack dog, could muster only this as commentary on Mrs. Palin's performance: "People who like this sort of thing will find this ... the sort of thing they like."

Mrs. Palin accomplished several things last night. First, she introduced herself and her story to the American people in a compelling and warm manner, complete with effective pictures of her proud family. Secondly, she praised John McCain's leadership, service to country and independence in a way that made him come alive. Thirdly, she effectively deflected the media and liberal criticism of her by saying they really represented an attack on the small-town and suburban values she grew up with. Lastly, she skewered Barack Obama with gusto but without meanness. Her line about her job as a small-town mayor being "sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities" brought the hall to its feet in a frenzy.

Some hard-bitten political observers I know were uncharacteristically impressed with the Palin speech. Hal Stratton, a former Attorney General of New Mexico, wrote to me as follows: "That's what we out west call openin' a whole can of whip a— on your opponents."

Other observers were more restrained, but still impressed. "She passed her first major test, and if the reaction of the crowd in the hall is any indication, with flying colors," says Peter Brown, the deputy director of the Quinnipiac Poll. "So much for the comparisons with Dan Quayle, who couldn't have given that speech if his life depended on it. Obviously, Sarah Palin probably went down better in Warren, Michigan than she did in Washington, D.C. -- but that was the whole point of her speech and her candidacy." Indeed, while Mrs. Palin certainly won't swing any deeply blue states in John McCain's direction, she may have an impact in swaying independent voters as well as boosting GOP turnout in swing states such as Colorado, Nevada and Michigan.

One of the standard operating theories this Election Year is that Barack Obama and the Democrats are much more energized, excited and willing to work hard for victory in November.

After Sarah Palin's remarkably effective speech, I don't think any pundits or politicians will be able to count on a decisive Democratic enthusiasm edge. Sarah Palin electrified the hall, and from what I can tell from my e-mail inbox that excitement is being replicated in living rooms across the country.

See all of today's editorials and op-eds, plus video commentary, on Opinion Journal.

And to read more stories like this one, please subscribe to Political Diary.

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You can watch the entire speech at:

http://www.gopconvention2008.com/

_{No president since Dwight Eisenhower has had more military experience than Sen. John McCain, who served 22 years in the Navy, nearly six of them as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. So many people were puzzled by the line of attack chosen by retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a supporter of Barack Obama:}

_{"I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president," he said on CBS' Face the Nation program June 29.}

_{That Sen. McCain once commanded the largest flying squadron in the Navy wasn't much of a qualification either, Gen. Clark said, because he didn't have that command in wartime.}

  _{Gen. Clark's larger point -- that being a war hero is an insufficient qualification to be president -- is reasonable enough, but was lost in his boorish dismissal of Sen. McCain's military service. And however inadequate Gen. Clark imagines Sen. McCain's commander in chief credentials to be, they're certainly superior to those of the candidate he's backing, as stunned host Bob Schieffer pointed out:}

_{"I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences (of major command in war) either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down," Mr. Schieffer said.}

_{Gen. Clark's remark diverted media attention from Sen. Obama's speech on patriotism the next day. Sen. Obama first mildly disassociated himself from Gen. Clark's remarks, and then denied he was criticizing him. Gen. Clark repeated his criticism on other television shows the following day. This turned a one day story which reflects badly on Sen. Obama into a three day story which reflects badly on Sen. Obama.}

_{Gen. Clark was the eighth prominent Democrat to criticize Sen. McCain's war record.}

_{"McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit," Sen. Jay Rockefeller told the Charleston (W. Va) Gazette in April. "What happened when they get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues."}

_{Sen. McCain's background as the son and grandson of admirals creates a "dangerous" situation because he can only view the world through the prism of the military, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin told the Des Moines Register in May.}

_{"He has a hard time thinking beyond that," Sen. Harkin said. "Everything is looked at from his life experiences, from always having been in the military, and I think that can be pretty dangerous."}

_{Sen. McCain's national security experience is "sadly limited" because he was a POW, Obama foreign policy adviser Rand Beers told a liberal group June 30.}

_{"I think the notion that the members of the Senate who were in the ground forces or who were ashore in Vietnam have a very different view of Vietnam and the cost...than John McCain does because he was in isolation essentially for many of those years and did not experience the turmoil here," Mr. Beers said.}

_{Also that day, Virginia Sen. Jim Webb said Sen. McCain shouldn't use his military record in politics. When he ran for the Senate two years ago, Sen. Webb cited his record as a Marine in Vietnam as his principal qualification for office. He stomped around the state wearing combat boots. And Gen. Clark, of course, cited his military experience as his principal qualification when he ran for president in 2004.}

_{As Jim Geraghty of National Review Online noted, there are "way too many" of these attacks on Sen. McCain's war record to be a coincidence. But if it's a deliberate strategy by the Obama camp, it's an odd one, because there is no way a comparison between Sen. McCain's record on national security and his makes Sen. Obama look good.}

_{What's important about Sen. McCain's experience as a POW is not what it taught him about conducting foreign policy, but what it teaches us about his character, wrote "Uncle Jimbo," a former Special Forces soldier, on the milblog "Blackfive."}

_{"John McCain was so loyal to the men he was imprisoned with he endured torture on their behalf," Uncle Jimbo said. "Barack Obama associates with those who can help his career, and throws them right under the bus when they become inconvenient to his aspirations."}

_{"In minimizing the import of McCain's military service, Clark instead opened the door to the sort of criticism that Obama, who painstakingly praises McCain's military record at virtually every event, cannot afford," wrote Jay Newton-Small of Time Magazine.  An Opinion about Palin... I recognize that were McCain to select Palin as his Veep it disrupts the Obama Lacks Foreign Policy Experience" talking point, but I was never thought that argument was all that powerful.  Palin probably has as much foreign affairs experience as did our current President when he was elected (and as much as Carter, Reagan, or Clinton — and as much as some of the other Veep prospects some conservatives promoted, e.g., Jindal).  All this is just to say judgment is more important than experience — it just so happens that Obama lacks both.  Many State Department hands have a wealth of relevant experience, but would promote awful foreign policies, and many folks with relatively limited experience do just fine.   I Cant wait for the debate guys, its going to be very exciting and Enlightening! Have a great day!! :)}