Great Words About A Great Conservative

It's nice to see that one can have nice things said about them publicly without dying.

Except for being a Cubs fan, I love this guy.

George F. Will Has Eyes on the Nation

As he gets older, George F. Will admits to seeing things differently
June 29, 2008

BY HILLEL ITALIE

George F. Will, the conservative columnist and pundit, seems too young and young-looking to be anyone's ''elder statesman.'' He is 67, his hair still boyishly parted, his face hardly lined, his wire-rimmed persona that of a graduate student whose idea of a vice is skipping class to catch a ball game at Wrigley Field.

But Will has been a presence in print, and on the air, for more than 30 years. He has written thousands of columns and reviews and spent thousands of hours on television, mostly as a panelist on ABC's ''This Week.'' He has also published more than a dozen books, his latest, One Man's America, the first to come out in a world not shared by his late friend and hero, William F. Buckley Jr. ''Bill was a founder of the conservative movement and his task, beginning with 'God and Man at Yale' and the National Review [in 1955], was to make it acceptable," Will says. "That's long been achieved, vastly simplifying the work of people like me.''

Interviewed recently on a sunny afternoon, Will works out of a brick Georgetown town house that could easily be converted to a flea market for baseball, with its bats and posters and pictures, and its CD of songs about the Chicago Cubs.

Age has relaxed Will and the subtitle of his new book, The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation, reflects a man who has seen enough history not to be shocked by current events. The writings collected include little about the Iraq war but a great deal about baseball, old friends such as Buckley and Ronald Reagan, and a surprisingly affectionate portrait of Beat poet-publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
''You get older and you see a lot of error and folly. If you keep your mind open, you think about things differently and see things differently,'' says Will, who won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1977. ''I don't get quite as excited about things. Washington's a town where everything that dominates every eight-hour news cycle seems so important.''

Will was born in Champaign, Ill., in 1941, his parents so liberal that they voted for socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas in the 1930s. Will supported John F. Kennedy in the 1960 election, but time spent in England helped turn him off the welfare state. In 1964, he was back in the United States and at the founding of the modern right, the disastrous presidential campaign of Sen. Barry Goldwater, who lost in a landslide to Lyndon Johnson but anticipated the successes of the next four decades.

''You can't imagine what fun it was to be for Goldwater,'' Will says, ''because it was kind of naughty.''

After receiving a Ph.D. in political science, from Princeton University, in 1967, Will taught briefly at the University of Michigan and the University of Toronto, then joined the staff of Sen. Gordon Allott, R-Colo. By the mid-1970s, Allott had been voted out of office and Will had become a syndicated columnist and TV presence.
He met Reagan in the late '70s and his affection for Reagan brought him the rewards and follies of power; Will was a visitor at the Oval Office and Reagan dined at the writer's home. But in fall 1980, speaking on ABC's ''Nightline,'' Will praised candidate Reagan's performance in a debate against President Carter without fully revealing that he had assisted Reagan during preparation.
''I got into magnificent trouble for that,'' Will says. ''I wouldn't do it again, if only because you wind up 20 years later, still talking about it.''
Like Buckley, Will is more loyal to the ideals than to the leaders of the Republican Party. He famously referred to the first President Bush as a ''lap dog'' and scorns the current Bush administration's foreign policy, commenting that a government that can't run Amtrak is equally unfit to run Iraq. He has often criticized Sen. John McCain and said he will ''hold his nose'' and vote for him in the fall.
''Journalists love him and I don't,'' he says of the Republicans' presumptive nominee. ''I admire him. He's a brave man. He's got strong views, strong if incoherent.''
Will has been wrong, and knows it. He once swore the Berlin Wall would not come down, but it did and he now says he was unduly pessimistic. Asked to cite an issue on which conservatives erred, he quickly answers ''civil rights.''
''They were absolutely right,'' he says of civil rights supporters. ''The transformation in this country that we've had in the past 50 years -- it takes your breath away.''
Will has praised Sen. Barack Obama in ways Will has been described by his own admirers. He has written that the presumptive Democratic nominee is ''refreshingly cerebral'' and ''an adult aiming to reform the real world rather than an adolescent fantasizing mock-heroic 'fights' against fictitious villains.''
''I'm not advocating this, but there is something to be said for a market cleaning mechanism,'' Will says when asked how he would feel if the Democrats triumphed in 2008. ''The political market does enforce cycles, up and down, and it wouldn't be an unmitigated disaster for that to happen this year.''
AP

Obama Lies Away Good Decision

Barack Obama was completely correct to reject public funds for his presidential campaign. Had he accepted those funds, he would be limited to them. At the time he said he would only use public funding he had no idea how much money his campaign would raise. It would be stupid to limit himself. It makes good business sense–and in every other way to use his own funds. His mistake was to not simply state that no one could have imagined the unprecedented amount of money his campaign has raised as part of a movement. People would understand that. Instead, he has lied and talked about the flawed political system that he is boycotting. It was a lame move.

Obama is the guy who went on Meet The Press in 2005 and categorically said he would not run for president in 2008. In 2007, he returned to Meet The Press where Tim Russert prepared to grill him on the flip-flop. Obama stunned Russert by saying, "I have changed my mind." He is also the guy who, when Hillary Clinton and John McCain called for the insipid gas tax holiday, had the political courage and call it what it was–a symbolic but meaningless move. Obama has proven that the truth works. It’s a shame he didn’t tell it this time.

Meet The Future

of Meet The Press

Tom Brokaw will be the Interim Moderator of Meet The Press through the November election. Although this is a safe, chair warming pick on the part of NBC, I think it speaks poorly of what everyone at NBC and MSNBC has been calling the legacy that Tim Russert left for them to follow. Picking Tom Brokaw says they aren’t ready to name someone. The life work of Tim Russert was grilling politicians. One of the central things he interrogated presidential hopefuls was about preparedness for office. This issue is always paramount in the selection of a vice-presidential running mate. God forbid, if a president died, the vice-president must be prepared to carry on–right now. Why should it take NBC 6 months to figure out who they will name?

Let me just put out the ProConPundit two cents on who should and should not be considered.

First, NBC will separate Russert’s two positions and fill them separately. Tim was Washington Bureau Chief and Moderator of Meet The Press. These positions will be filled by different people.

NO...
Brian Williams–He has his hands full with Nightly News
Tom Brokaw-He’s semi-retired and would be too nice.
Chris Matthews- I love the guy. I think Hardball has him too typecast to take over Meet The Press. He would do a good job. He and Russert were cordial and generally liked each other, but they were rivals. Russert’s sway from the grave may keep Matthews out of the running.

George Stephanopolous- He is a smarter version of David Gregory, but he would be a rejected transplant.

ABSOLUTELY NOT...
Keith Olbermann–He is on record as stating that he is unqualified. I have never agreed with him before, but he is correct. He is not even being considered.
David Gregory- This clown will lobby heavily to get it. He doesn’t have it. He’s a self-absorbed jerk.

My two/three picks–
BRITT HUME–He would be superb but NBC is too liberal to consider him.

ANDREA MITCHELL AND CHUCK TODD.
I think Meet The Press has to change to survive. Any one person will have a rough time trying to fill Russert’s shoes. All of the Sunday political shows are hosted/moderated by men. Now is a good time for NBC, in this year of glass ceilings being shattered, to pick a woman. There is no one more qualified than Andrea Mitchell.

CHUCK TODD is arguably Tim Russert’s hand picked successor and protege. Russert made him political director of NBC. Todd is a brilliant political analyst–in the strictest sense. He can crunch the numbers. Like Russert, he has an uncanny handle of facts, trends and stats. Just like Russert, he is a masterful political clinician and statistician. Unlike Russert, he doesn’t have the connections, relationships, access.
If you put Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd together–you’ve got a great team.
I would have a format where the first half hour one of the two of them does interviewing and the second half hour is the other one moderating a press panel.
They would be a good team and the naming of them would do justice to Russert’s legacy.

Brian Williams moderated Meet The Press Sunday. I wondered how he would handle Russert’s signature closing. "If It’s Sunday, It’s Meet The Press." If he said it, I thought it might seem copy cat. If he didn’t, it would feel like we were missing something. He did the precisely appropriate thing. He closed by saying, "And as a great man said every week, "If its Sunday, It’s Meet The Press."

Controversies Surrounding
Russert’s Death and Coverage

There are two controversies that have operated sub-rosa since Tim Russert’s death. The first is that NBC was not the first to break the story. Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report (www.drudgereport.com). Broke the story approximately ten minutes before NBC and MSNBC did. Some have criticized NBC for not breaking the story first. Others have criticized Drudge for beating them to it. Keith Olbermann, who I detest, made a statement the day after Russert’s death stating that NBC and MSNBC held off making the announcement because they wanted to be sure that Russert’s family (wife, son, father, three sisters) had all been informed before they went on the air. He was harsh toward those who went ahead with the announcement.

This is (yet another) case where the ProConPundit is able to convey the simple logic of the situation. NBC was correct to hold off. They were also waiting to get Tom Brokaw in the studio. Brian Williams was in Afghanistan and they wanted Brokaw to make the announcement. I think that makes sense. It wasn’t a tornado warning, time was not of the essence to those of us hearing the news. At the same time, Drudge was completely correct to break the story.

The other controversy is that the coverage of Russert’s death was excessive or over the top. Bullshit. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC say the same things over and over again all the time, anyway. What was the harm in using the airwaves for a few days to remember someone who contributed uniquely to American culture and life.

Russert Buried at Rock Creek Cemetery

It was quite a send off. A closed casket wake was held last Tuesday at St. Alban’s School, the exclusive boy’s high school located on the campus of the National Cathedral. A particularly touching scene was when President and Mrs. Bush held hands with Maureen Orth and Luke Russert in front of Tim’s Solid Mahogany casket and prayed together.

The funeral Mass was held Wednesday morning at Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, among one of the places I predicted it would be held. Russert was then buried privately at Rock Creek Cemetery in the northwest quadrant of Washington, DC. Rock Creek Cemetery is a ministry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Simply put, it’s the DC cemetery where prominent people not eligible for burial at Arlington National Cemetery are buried. These links are for the cemetery and for a list of other notables buried there:

http://www.rockcreekparish.org/cemetery/

http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&previousJumpTo=&previousFameFilter=&FScemeteryid=104448&jumpTo=1&fameLevel=very

Later in the afternoon a memorial service was held at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The family basically held two funerals because they had goals that were mutually exclusive. They wanted a funeral Mass and Russert was a member of Holy Trinity Church. That church was not large enough to accommodate the number of people they wanted to include in the memorial service. The objective of the memorial service was to convene as many people as they wanted to have and to allow 10 eulogists to speak. Given the ever increasing tension in the Catholic church for eulogies it seemed impractical to accomodate all of their needs in one ceremony.
Some Catholic churches and or priests do not allow eulogies at all during a funeral Mass. This rises out of a tension between what Catholic liturgical terrorists believe the purpose of a funeral is. Liturgically, they do not believe that a function of the Mass of Christian Burial is to have it personalized around the life and personality of the person who died. Most people believe that the funeral is about the person who died and the comfort of those who grieve. There are times when eulogies are excessive, over-the-top, or more about the person giving the eulogy than about the person who died. These unfortunate incidents only add fuel to the fire of trashing eulogies by Catholic priests and liturgists.

In Russert’s case, if a Funeral Mass and the Memorial Service held later were combined into one ceremony, it would have lasted 2 and a half hours which would have been labourious. Unfortunately, because the religious ceremony was held separately, there was absolutely no symbol or inclusion of faith in any way at the Memorial Service. So much so that there wasn’t even an invocation ro benediction. I thought that was poor.

I was surprised that Russert was buried in Washington and not Buffalo, was also surprised that he was waked at his son’s high school. For an Irish Catholic to be waked at an Episcopal school and buried in an Episcopal cemetery seemed strange to me. However, he was a boomer and boomers chart their own course. The funeral, memorial, and burial all reflect how people today are making decisions that forge new customs and traditions.

The eulogists at the Memorial Service were incredible. Tom Brokaw kicked it off saying that it would be an Irish celebration: laughter, tears and the occasional truth. It was really a heartening event. Maria Shiver and Mario Cuomo were great.

Here are some memorable quotes:

From Tim’s 7th grade teacher who put made him editor fo the school newspaper to get him to stop spitting spit balls and, according to him, launched his career as a journalist...

I hear God talking to little Timmy Russert: You’re in heaven now, Tim, where every day is Meet The Press. Welcome Home. Sr Lucille Socciarelli, RSM

His role was to be the Citizen Journalist to speak for those with no voice, to hold public officials accountable, to fulfill the role that I have always thought as the highest calling of a citizen in this country–to be a patriot. –Tom Brokaw

My dad was a force of nature and now his own cycle in nature is now complete. But his spirit lives on in every body who loves their country, loves their family, loves their faith, and loves those Buffalo Bills. I love you, Dad, and in his words, let us all-GO GET ‘EM. --Luke Russert

Al Gore Delivers Barn Burner

Endorsement of Obama in Michigan

Al Gore formally endorsed Barack Obama in Michigan tonight. He delivered a better speech than I have ever heard him give. I never liked Gore but I respect his statesmanship in staying officially neutral in the primary. He privately favored Obama and despised Hillary Clinton but stayed out of it. He showed better decorum than Jimmy Carter. Gore also learned a lesson from 2004 when he endorsed Howard Dean, slapping the face of several people who had long supported him, like Dick Gephardt and John Kerry, to say nothing of his former running mate, Joe Lieberman. Gore made a fool of himself as he endorsed Dean just before Dean crashed and burned. I actually think Gore would have been nominated had he run this year. And, as much as I don’t like him, I would prefer his experience to Obama’s lack of it. Gore can help Obama. Obama is in trouble in Florida and Gore has residual support there.

Will Ron Paul Run on Libertarian Ticket?

The Republican Party and John McCain have made a terrible mistake in ignoring Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX). He has been a faithful Republican and his Libertarian views garnered him tremendous support in terms of fund raising and support. You may think his support could not be great if he only got 2% of the delegate vote. True enough. More Republicans voted for him in primaries than the total number of Libertarians who will vote in the fall.
In a close election this fall, his supporters going elsewhere could cost McCain a state. He has been sloughed off by the GOP as though he was a kook.

Former Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA) is the presidential nominee for the Libertarian Party and he hopes Paul’s supporters will transfer their enthusiasm and their tremendous financial support to him. So much so that, supposedly, Barr is trying to woo Ron Paul to be his running mate. Barr is not much loved by the ProConPundit. His claim to fame was that he was one of the House Managers who tried the Clinton impeachment. Georgia has been a reliably Republican state in presidential elections. They gave Clinton a shot in 1992 but rejected him in 1996. They supported Jimmy Carter, he was their former governor. They were one of very few states that went with Barry Goldwater in 1964. If Obama can make inroads with the 600,000 eligible but unregistered African Americans in Georgia and/or he taps Sam Nunn as his running mate, and/or Bob Barr siphons off some votes, McCain could lose Georgia’s 15 electoral votes.

Ron Paul’s Libertarian views put him at odds with McCain’s stand on the war and at odds with Obama’s big government stand. If he becomes Bob Barr’s running mate, John McCain will lose. I like Ron Paul. I disagree with him on some things but his voice deserved to be heard. McCain should show him--and his supporters-- a little respect.

The ProConPundit is already on record as predicting the election will not be close in November. Kuhn offers some solid and some subjective analysis as to why the odds are against McCain. They are. McCain has always done well when he is counted out.

Many historians see little chance for McCain
By DAVID PAUL KUHN www.politico.com

One week into the general election, the polls show a dead heat. But many presidential scholars doubt that John McCain stands much of a chance, if any.

Historians belonging to both parties offered a litany of historical comparisons that give little hope to the Republican. Several saw Barack Obama’s prospects as the most promising for a Democrat since Roosevelt trounced Hoover in 1932.

“This should be an overwhelming Democratic victory,” said Allan Lichtman, an American University presidential historian who ran in a Maryland Democratic senatorial primary in 2006. Lichtman, whose forecasting model has correctly predicted the last six presidential popular vote winners, predicts that this year, “Republicans face what have always been insurmountable historical odds.” His system gives McCain a score on par with Jimmy Carter’s in 1980.

“McCain shouldn’t win it,” said presidential historian Joan Hoff, a professor at Montana State University and former president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency. She compared McCain’s prospects to those of Hubert Humphrey, whose 1968 loss to Richard Nixon resulted in large part from the unpopularity of sitting Democratic president Lyndon Johnson.

“It is one of the worst political environments for the party in power since World War II,” added Alan Abramowitz, a professor of public opinion and the presidency at Emory University. His forecasting model — which factors in gross domestic product, whether a party has completed two terms in the White House and net presidential approval rating — gives McCain about the same odds as Adlai Stevenson in 1952 and Carter in 1980 — both of whom were handily defeated in elections that returned the presidency to the previously out-of-power party. “It would be a pretty stunning upset if McCain won,” Abramowitz said.

What’s more, Republicans have held the presidency for all but 12 years since the South became solidly Republican in the realignment of 1968 — which is among the longest runs with one party dominating in American history. “These things go in cycles,” said presidential historian Robert Dallek, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles. “The public gets tired of one approach to politics. There is always a measure of optimism in this country, so they turn to the other party.”

That desire for change also tends to manifest itself at the end of a president’s second term. "Only twice in the 20th century has a candidate from the same party as a two-term president won the presidency, most recently in 1988, when George H.W. Bush replaced the term-limited Ronald Reagan, who was about twice as popular in the last year of his presidency as President George W. Bush is now.

But the biggest obstacle in McCain’s path may be running in the same party as the most unpopular president America has had since at least the advent of modern polling. Only Harry Truman and Nixon — both of whom were dogged by unpopular wars abroad and political scandals at home — have been nearly as unpopular in their last year in office, and both men’s parties lost the presidency in the following election.

Though the Democratic-controlled Congress is nearly as unpopular as the president, Lichtman says the Democrats’ 2006 midterm wins resemble the midterm congressional gains of the out-party in 1966 and 1974, which both preceded a retaking of the White House two years later.

One of the few bright spots historians noted is that the public generally does not view McCain as a traditional Republican. And, as Republicans frequently point out, McCain is not an incumbent.

“Open-seat elections are somewhat different, so the referendum aspect is somewhat muted,” said James Campbell, a professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo who specializes in campaigns and elections.

“McCain would be in much better shape if Bush’s approval rating were at 45 to 50 percent,” Campbell continued. “But the history is that in-party candidates are not penalized or rewarded to the same degree as incumbents.”

Campbell still casts McCain as the underdog. But he said McCain might have more appeal to moderates than Obama if the electorate decides McCain is “center right” while Obama is “far left.” Democrats have been repeatedly undone when their nominee was viewed as too liberal, and even as polls show a rise in the number of self-identified Democrats, there has been no corresponding increase in the number of self-identified liberals.

Campbell also notes that McCain may benefit from the Democratic divisions that were on display in the primary, as Republicans did in 1968, when Democratic divisions over the war in Vietnam dogged Humphrey and helped hand Nixon victory.

Still, many historians remain extremely skeptical about McCain’s prospects. “I can’t think of an upset where the underdog faced quite the odds that McCain faces in this election,” said Sidney Milkis, a professor of presidential politics at the University of Virginia. Even "Truman didn’t face as difficult a political context as McCain.”

Russert Funeral Arrangements Still Pending

Funeral arrangements for were still pending this afternoon for Tim Russert. The ProConPundit was the first to report anywhere which funeral firm is handling the funeral, Joseph Gawler’s Sons, Washington, DC. The Funeral Service will be a Catholic Mass of Christian Burial and I have speculated that it will be at Holy Trinity/Georgetown, St. Joe’s on Capital Hill or St. Matthew’s Cathedral. It would be most unusual for a funeral Mass to take place at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Located on the grounds of Catholic University of America, it is a towering symbol of the Roman Catholic Church’s presence in the U.S. Weddings and funerals take place in the lower, smaller, Crypt church but generally not in the upper shrine church. Second only to The National Cathedral, it would be the largest seating capacity in D.C., to my knowledge. The National Cathedral would be a great and appropriate place for the service except that it would doubtless need to be a Catholic service. The National Shrine at Catholic U would be very appropriate in size and symbol

Friendly Rival Pays Tribute to Colleague

Remembering Tim Russert
Saturday, June 14, 2008
by Chris Matthews

He was a character right from Mark Twain. You know, the first kid to go barefoot in the summer, the first to wear shoes in the winter. He was a colleague, a role model—and let’s be honest this day—a rival. You couldn’t keep up with the guy. He heard it first. Better yet, saw it first. Saw what it meant and saw the path where this new bit of news led.

Like Huck Finn, Tim Russert knew things about life that were in nobody’s notebook. He got the story first because he just “got it.” That’s how he exposed David Duke as a racist by simply asking him to name the leading employers in the state. This guy had been trying to say his campaign for governor was “about economics.”
He saw that Clarence Thomas would make it past the confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court because his accuser—Anita Hill—testified in the afternoon and Thomas got to testify in primetime.

He knew on that horrid morning of September 11th that the hijackers had grabbed the transcontinental flights because they’d have enough fuel to melt the girders of the World Trade towers.

He was like that other Mark Twain character, Tom Sawyer. He got us to think it was fun to whitewash the fence because he was having so much fun “doing” it. As a newsman, Tim managed to make Sunday morning a hot news spot. As a fan, he made Buffalo cool.

He was, of course, Irish. Being Irish, he tended and fought for his turf always with pride whether for his hometown team or his show. “If it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press”—you can’t do better than that.

More than that, he defended his country. It was something watching him catch the pretense behind the pander, the trace of charlatan that graces the best as well as the worst of our politicians. And because he could, we could see the truth behind that well-guarded hedge.

People ask me, will now ask me as long as I live, what was he like?
To them, to you right now, I say: Trust your instincts. He was the guy you saw—tough, regular, hardworking, delighted with what he was doing, and something else you probably figured: great company. We will miss him, this man of sterner stuff.

Irish Wake Via Cable TV and Internet

Chicago-7 p.m. CST

UPDATED 8:15 p.m.

It’s been an incredible 24 hours. I’ve been pretty glued to the TV watching the various and continuous tributes to Tim Russert. I must say I have never seen anything like this and have never felt this way about the death of a celebrity. First of all, I never considered Russert a celebrity. I think he’d take that as a compliment. I’d like to share a few observations and reflections....

1. Tim Russert was always introduced as Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News and Moderator of Meet The Press. I knew that the Bureau job made him the boss of all of the reporters and corespondents covering the White House, Capital, Defense Department, etc. It really was more of a COO position than I realized.

2. When you watch the old clips of Meet The Press you realize the difference between Meet The Press and what Bob Novak once called, Meet The Russert. Prior to Tim Russert’s tenure as Moderator of Meet The Press, and for some time after, Meet The Press was a show where political leaders and others went to be interviewed by several members of the press. As Russert resurrected Meet The Press, he did away with the other members of the press. He was the sole interviewer. Given his unique skills as a lawyer and journalist, he was able to pull it off. I think it created a more seamless and serious endeavor. Under Russert’s leadership, the pols came to be grilled by Tim and the press would come to have round table discussions with "Little Russ."

3. The ProConPundit has confirmed that Joseph Gawler Sons Funeral Directors in Washington, DC, is handling the funeral. Gawlers’ were founded in 1850 and handled the funerals of Abraham Lincoln, JFK, Gerald Ford, most presidents in between, and as their website says, "Supreme Court Justices, Senators, Congressmen, Military leaders, Foreign Dignitaries and many other notable Americans." They can add one more notable American to their files. Their website is www.josephgawlers.com

I am curious as to which church the funeral will be held at. My hunch would be Holy Trinity in Georgetown, St. Matthew’s Cathedral, or St. Joe’s on Capital Hill. I would also bet the milk money that he will be buried in a small, Catholic cemetery in Buffalo. No doubt on a lot where Big Russ will some day be buried.

4. A seldom disclosed fact is that Tim Russert’s mother, Elizabeth, died a few years ago after a short battle with cancer. She divorced his father after the kids were raised.

5. Its been incredible to see and hear the words of love and tribute offered by Russert’s colleagues and friends, dignitaries from church and state. Everyone from Joe Lieberman to Newt Gingrich, from Archbishop John Foley to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

6. As a passionate funeral director and irreverent minister, times like this remind me of the well-intended but foolish things people can say. Theodore Cardinal McCarrick is the retired Archbishop of Washington, DC. He arrived to the Washington Bureau office of NBC News after Russert’s death and offered an impromptu prayer service for the friends of Tim Russert. Later last night when he was interviewed on MSNBC he spoke eloquent words of tribute to Tim’s life. He’s a great man. He summed them by reflecting on how much Russert meant to everyone on earth but that "God wanted him now." Well-intended, but terrible. I can’t tell you how many times, though the years, I have heard someone tell a grieving family member that the death of their loved one was God’s will.

I’m really not aware of any theological premise anywhere, in any religious tradition, that enables any one of us to think we know that someone’s death was God’s will. Catholic theology has traditionally held that everything that happens is either a part of God’s ordaining will: things God specifically wills; and God’s permitting will: things God allows to happen that may not have been God’s intention. In that sense, God’s permitting will may be employed to explain death. For instance, if someone drives their car over a cliff and God does not stop them, one can be stretched to understand why an omnipotent God didn't stop them. With all due respect to that teaching, isn’t God’s permitting will just a coping mechanism, a way for us to explain what we don’t and cannot understand? My criticism of McCarrick is affectionate but I think it is a coping mechanism and, what is sometimes called in theological circles, cheap grace. Cheap grace is dismissing ultimate concerns with the tritest of explanations. Sometimes we have to wrestle with the complex and, other times, we have to be honest about what is real.

Tim Russert was a hundred pounds over weight, over worked, sleep deprived, and under extreme pressure, not the least of which was in light of budget cuts at NBC News. Look at pictures of him. He has aged dramatically in the last two years. We cannot dismiss his death as God’s will. God may have greeted Tim yesterday by saying, "You’re 30 years early." God may have wanted a healthier Russert to continue doing the work that he did so superbly and uniquely. In death, we should celebrate people’s lives, absolutely. But we shouldn’t explain away their death in ways that keep us from, as the great Apostle Paul said, running the race so as to win.

7. Tom Brokaw will convene an awesome Meet The Press tribute to Tim Russert tomorrow with seven of Tim’s nearest and dearest colleagues. As a great touch, Russert’s chair will remain vacant.

8. I was a huge fan of Russert’s and am a huge fan of Chris Matthews–for very different reasons. They were good colleagues and friends in a professional sense. But they were not friends. My hunch is that Matthews resented Russert and that Russert didn’t care so much for the raucous nature of Hardball. I was, therefore, eager to hear Chris Matthews yesterday. He happened to be in Paris, as was, oddly enough, Bob Schieffer, of Face the Nation. I gave Matthews a lot of credit. He spoke of how much he admired Russert and relied on him and trusted him. But he made a point of saying, "You’re hearing a lot of tributes from people who were close friends with Tim. I was not part of that group. We had a good working relationship." I really appreciated his integrity in being sincere. That’s more than I can say for the WORTHLESS Keith Olbermann who emceed the MSNBC coverage of Russert’s death yesterday. I think that was because Matthews was out of the country. Olbermann is just a wind bag and horse’s ass. I can’t stand him. I do credit him yesterday when observing that Russert was a real pro at being non-partisan or trans-partisan in his conduct. Olbermann, referred to that quality in Russert and said "That is a skill I don’t even pretend to be able to exude." Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

9. My heart really goes out to Tom Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell, and proteges: Norah O’Donnell and Chuck Todd. Their words and efforts to stay composed even caused some congestion among the cold hearted ProConPundit. Also, Mike Barnicle, someone I alternately like and dislike, was one of Russert’s best friends. He was at the hospital when Russert was pronounced dead. He was on last night and this morning. I really feel sorry for him.

10. NBC was not the first news outlet to report Russert’s death yesterday. Russert would hate not breaking the story. NBC was holding off until they were certain that Russert’s wife and son, father, and three sisters were informed. Big Russ just entered an Assisted Living facility a week ago.

11. Tim Russert's life proves why John McCain should be the next President and NOT, Barack Obama. Oh yes, my mission takes not a holiday. Tim Russert was 11 years older than Barack Obama and I. He had far less opportunity in life than did Barack Obama and went to the pinnacle of his desires: personally and professionally. And what did he say about that? WHAT A COUNTRY! Yes, Russert always invoked the phrase of his garbage truck driving, WWII veteran dad. In every blessing he knew, he gave thanks to God for being an American. No silly machinations about protesting hand-over-heart during National Anthem.

One of the things a President does is represent the country and speak for the country in times of tragedy. Obama's remarks upon Russert's death underscore his inexperience. He first met Russert four years ago and, concluded some silliness by saying that he "considered him a friend." Get over yourself.

12. Two other touching tributes came from Newt Gingrich and Jack Welch. Gingrich used two words I had never heard used before and never thought I would hear him say: BRILLIANT LIBERALS. Those were the words he used to describe Russert’s former bosses, the late, great, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) and former Gov. Mario Cuomo (D-NY). Gingrich said that Russert worked for “arguably the smartest senator of his generation, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and arguably the smartest governor of his generation, Mario Cuomo.” He said Russert benefitted from a “pedigree of practical, hard-nosed politicians who were idealistic and practical, cynical and glorious.” He referred to Moynihan as both “liberal and, perhaps, the first neo-conservative.” They may have been a tremor at Arlington National Cemetery at that moment. He recalled Cuomo as having invented work-fare in New York State as an alternative to welfare. Moynihan, like McCain, was well respected by colleagues in both parties and was adept at negotiating compromises for the sake of getting something done beyond staking out ideological grounds.

Jack Welch, former CEO of GE was a mess. He could barely stay composed. GE owns (or owned?) NBC. Welch was responsible for Russert’s promotion to Meet The Press. Impresses me as micro managing, but what do I know? Welch was beside himself with grief. He said that he received more e-mails and telephone calls yesterday regarding Russert’s death than at any other time for any other reason.

I must pay tribute once again to my friend and former classmate, Ed Hanson. I mentioned yesterday that Ed and I used to watch Meet The Press together on Sunday mornings circa 1998. I forgot that he, in fact, converted me to, what he called, “Meet The Depressed.” I didn’t watch MTP—thought Russert was too young. God forgive me. I was a devotee of THIS WEEK WITH DAVID BRINKLEY. I loved Brinkley. Brinkley retired in 1996. He announced he would retire at the end of 1996, following the presidential election. On the night of Bill Clinton’s re-election, Brinkley was asked by a colleague how he felt about Clinton’s re-election. Thinking they were off the air, don’t you love it already, he said, "The next four years will be filled with pretty words, and pretty music, and a lot of goddamn nonsense!" I did say I loved him, right? I was depressed myself watching THIS WEEK WITH SAM DONALDON & COKIE ROBERTS. Ed converted me to Russert. Thank you, Ed.

America’s Premier Political Journalist,

"Explainer-In-Chief," Has Died

Kenosha, WI - 3 p.m. CST

But first. A vacationing ProConPundit was watching MSNBC when I got an e-mail from Paul Kroeger who informed me that Tim Russert died. I thought what a horrible thing to joke about. Just then, that most serious television sound began to play: The NBC Special Report music, which is also the theme song of Meet The Press. With that, a grim faced, tear-eyed Tom Brokaw appeared, my eyes welled and I gulped.

Tim Russert died in his office this afternoon, apparently of a heart attack, at age 58. Details are very sketchy at this point but it must have happened very quickly. NBC News is reporting that he was stricken at 3:25 p.m. EST. I got word of this just ten minutes later. Seems hard to imagine things happened that quickly.

Russert was first an attorney before becoming a journalist. He was the longest serving moderator of the longest running television program, Meet The Press. He was also the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News and host of the Tim Russert Show on CNBC. He was a proud Irish-Catholic and devoted Buffalo Bills fan, clearly a man of great faith. Russert was also a one-time chief of staff to the late, great, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY).

I never miss Meet The Press. I usually have to record it and watch it later. My fondest memories of watching Meet The Press were during the years I lived in Washington, DC. It was during those years that I would watch it with my good friend and classmate, Ed Hanson. Ed sent a text message and e-mail shortly after Paul this afternoon. It was ten years ago that Ed and I shared Sunday mornings watching Meet The Press together. Ed was more conservative then and I was less. We enjoyed debating each other and have evolved through the years in directions different from where we started. Russert, however, stayed the same...reliable, steady and always putting politicians words on the screen. In recent years, I have enjoyed Russert’s phone interviews on MSNBC early in the morning. Often on the treadmill at the health club, I watch Morning Joe and, before that, Imus in The Morning. Those were new experiences for me to get in touch with a lot of Russert’s lighter side.

Much else will be said so I’ll cut to the chase. He was like no other. He annoyed me when he turned his back on Don Imus a year ago. Conservatives thought him too liberal. His own instincts and sensibilities were liberal but I never saw anyone get anything less than a thorough Russert grilling on Meet The Press.

This is a huge loss for American political journalism. Russert ran a more solid political show than anyone else. He was tough and fair and could pierce the pretense and pomposity of any politician. He did it as a shrewd lawyer but always did it with dignity and always, always, avoided the cheap shot.

Russert took over Meet The Press in 1991 at a time when it, and all of the Sunday morning shows were on the decline. He reinvigorated it and, as a result of that, the other networks and later cable stations improved–but never surpassed him.
He was the boss of all of the other political people on NBC and MSNBC, generally speaking. He was beloved by them and its hard to imagine how hard they’ll have to work to come close to the mark Russert delivered and mentored.

This is a terrible, unfathomable tragedy. I cannot imagine not having the benefit of Russert’s interviews and also, especially on election nights, enjoying his endless anecdotal stories of politics and politicians. Even watching this, one can’t help but think as different people come on the air to speak that Russert will be on and give us the straight scoop. What a void.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, (ID-CT), gave Russert perhaps his best title today: EXPLAINER-IN CHIEF. Heartfelt prayers and deepest sympathies go out to Maureen and Luke Russert, and, of course, his greatest role model, Big Russ.

If it's Sunday, it's Meet The Press.

In Respected Memory
Timothy John Russert, Jr.
May 7, 1950-June 13, 2008

An Irish Proverb

May dawn find you awake and alert,

approaching your new day with dreams,

possibilities, and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered, and protected.
May your soul calm, console, and renew you.

Nunn Softens Opposition To Gays

As part of his vetting process, Sam Nunn, former U.S. Senator (D-Georgia), has softened his opposition to gays in the military. Nunn has been out of the Senate for 12 years and is a top contender to be Obama’s running mate. He would be a superb choice as he balances Obama with impeccable credentials in foreign policy and had a reputation as a bi-partisan.

As chair of Senate Armed Services, Nunn vigorously opposed any plan of Bill Clinton’s to lift restrictions on gays serving openly in the military. As a negotiator and one willing to compromise, Nunn ultimately endorsed "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." 20 of the 25 countries in NATO allow gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military. Most Americans and most military people are not opposed to gays and lesbians serving in the military. The Clinton policy was a well-intentioned policy that has done more harm than good.

Nunn told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week that the issue should be revisited. Wanting to avoid the flip-flop tag, Nunn added, "I'm not advocating anything -- except I'm saying the policy was the right policy for the right time, and times change. It's appropriate to take another look." Nunn’s comments make sense (Nunn-sense). The issue hasn’t been revisited since 1992, he’s been out of public service for a dozen years and public opinion has changed.

Nunn’s departure from politics continued the movement of the ProConPundit away from the Democratic Party. He’s a good man and a rare find as a conservative Democrat. He could help Obama get elected and, if his voice and wisdom were given due credence, could help Obama govern well. He is not remembered by huge chunks of the looney left and rejected by others, which will help Obama get the votes of moderates who are skeptical.

Could the ProConPundit support an Obama-Nunn ticket? No. I am with McCain. A McCain-Nunn ticket would get my attentiion! My belief and my hope is that, unlike 2000 and 2004, this year’s presidential election margin of victory will not be razor thin. It will be substantial, possibly landslide. Our country needs a decisive victory and then the country needs to get behind whoever wins. I won’t root for Obama but if he wins, I’ll take pride as a Chicagoan...it would be Illinois’ first president since Lincoln. Having a credible running mate will help. Nunn is arguably his best choice.

If Nunn is on the ticket, he could help to bring Georgia into the Democratic column. A running mate has not brought a state to the electoral college that would not have otherwise supported the nominee since LBJ delivered Texas in 1960. Nunn wouldn’t be able to singularly bring Georgia. However, there are 600,000 African Americans in Georgia that are eligible but not registered to vote. If registration drives are successful and Nunn is on the team, Georgia’s 15 electoral votes could go Democratic for the first time since 1992. Interestingly, Georgia went for Clinton in 1992 but Dole in 1996.

Seismic Obama Defections

In a presumably must-win state for Barack Obama, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland sent a stinging message to Barack Obama during an NPR interview yesterday. Strickland was a fervent supporter of Hillary Clinton in the primary and endorsed Obama following her eventual withdrawal from the primary last Saturday. When most people are asked if they have an interest in being asked to be a running mate, they demurely say they have no interest. These folks consist of people who want and don’t want the job. There is a significant number of wannabees who say they don’t want it but will serve in any way the nominee asks. Then there is a sliver of people like Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney who eagerly admit they would be honored to serve. Its very rare for someone to come out, as Strickland did, and categorically tersely, irreversibly say they wouldn’t do it. Strickland even used Shermanesque verbiage: "Absolutely not. If drafted I will not run, nominated I will not accept and if elected I will not serve." The press is giving this little attention but it’s a sign of trouble and a huge slap in the face to Obama. Strickland stood at Hillary’s side during some of her most bombastic criticism of Obama. So its part payback. More than that, he knows that Obama will not play well in Ohio. Party loyalty says he’ll endorse him but this remark was totally unnecessary. Anyone under consideration could privately communicate that they are not interested. This public rebuke of Obama means he wants to make it perfectly clear that he will not tie his own reputation to Obama.

Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman Dan Boren, of Oklahoma, referred to Obama as "the most liberal senator" in Congress and declared that has no intention of endorsing him. He did state that he would cast his delegate vote for him at the convention, vote for him in November, and celebrates the "testament to the Democratic Party" in nominating an African American. Stressing economic issues and foreign policy challenges, Boren said he cannot endorse Obama.
Hillary Clinton carried Boren’s rural district by 66% in the primary. Boren considers himself a centrist but describes his district as conservative. Boren should not be confused with his father, David Boren, who is the President of University of Oklahoma, former governor and senator.

Here is what makes Boren’s refusal to endorse Obama unimportant. He is the only Congressman in Oklahoma that is a Democrat. Oklahoma’s 7 electoral votes have not supported a Democrat since LBJ in 1964. What’s important about it is that it reflects attitudes among like-minded Democrats in states that could conceivably go Democratic: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia.

The media is in love with Obama. He's in trouble.

Creator of Vice-Presidents Ferraro & Edwards Resignation Not As Humiliating As His Appointment

The resignation of Jim Johnson as co-chair of the VP search and vetting committee is a conundrum. Johnson accepted this voluntary position a week ago along with Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder, former federal prosecutor. Johnson was the "vetter" that made running mate recommendations to Walter Mondale and John Kerry. He resigned amidst controversy over his preferential sub-prime loans from Countrywide Financial while working for Fannie Mae, a.k.a. The Federal National Mortgage Association. This is not to be confused with Fannie May, a Chicago based chocolate confectioner.

Johnson’s defection is an embarrassment. Here’s the conundrum, is it more embarrassing that the person you pick to vet your VP choice resigns a week later or that you hired the person who gave us Vice-Presidents Ferraro and Edwards? I mean, really. Why would you want the person who helped select running mates who contributed only to defeat?

Forty Years Ago Today

June 6, 1968. I nearly leaped out of bed with joy that morning. It was on the south side of Chicago and it was the last day of school, first grade. When I came out of my room, I was surprised because my mom was usually in the kitchen with the radio on, WIND. But she was in the living room with the TV on. I knew that “Bobby” Kennedy had been shot the day before and was in the hospital. We had prayed for him at bedtime the night before. As I got closer to the TV, I saw that my mom was crying. Bobby Kennedy died. My frame of reference was when Martin Luther King, Jr. died two months earlier. My school closed because of riots and racial tension. There were no riots this time. No noise. Just quiet. School didn’t need to close–it was over. That wasn’t all that was over.

My dad was a retired active duty Air Force career man but still in the Reserves. He was a Chicago Democrat and a precinct captain. He was happy when LBJ decided not to seek re-election and we hung an RFK sign in the window. The sign stayed–for a time and was eventually replaced with a Humphrey sign. But it was over. It was the third in the trilogy of American assassinations and piercing symbols of how wrong things were and how far off the tracks things seem to have gotten. It was, in my opinion looking back, the death of the Democratic Party in many ways.

Chris Matthews spoke on Hardball today of the life and death of RFK. As a Funeral Director, I naturally pay very close attention to funerals. Matthews mentioned how different RFK’s death and funeral was from JFK’s which piqued my interest. He later explained that although the deaths were similar in their tragicness but that the death of JFK was like the death of a prince and the death of RFK was the death of someone that common people connected with more.

I don’t normally use this blog for personal reflections and have not used it before to express religious views. I felt this significant, sad, anniversary warranted a word of memory. I close with the Newman Prayer which I recite at every funeral I direct or preside at:

In Memory of

Robert F. Kennedy

1925-1968

Oh Lord, support us all the day long,

until the shadows lengthen,

and the evening comes,

and the busy world is hushed,

and the fever of life is over,

and our work is done.

Then in your mercy,

grant us safe lodging,

the holy rest,

and peace at the last,

through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Obama Makes First Excellent Decision:
No Hillary On Ticket

The Wall Street Journal is reporting tonight that the Obama Camp is letting it be known that there will be no Obama-Clinton ticket. This really isn’t news. There was NEVER a chance that he would ever consider her. But the media has been pushing that for months and now the Clintons’ were starting to push it. Lanny Davis today rolled out some silly online petition to pressure Obama to put Clinton on the ticket.

Obama has taken a preemptive move to quash months of inane and futile speculation about putting Hillary on the ticket. Its not going to happen and he is to be credited for putting her and her minions on notice that the spoils do not go to the loser.

He’s got a lot of challenges ahead of him but he’s demonstrated good leadership by ruling out Hillary as a running mate from the get-go.

Hell Freezes Over–Meet The Iceman

Hell has officially frozen over. Hillary Clinton will finally end her campaign for President, concede to Barack Obama and endorse him on Friday. It was, in the end, a publicly irritated and privately infuriated Charlie Rangel who told her to get out. Rangel represents the smallest geographic congressional district in the country, encompasses slivers of Queens and Manhattan, including Harlem and Spanish Harlem. Rangel has represented this district since 1971. Rangel is significant in that he is THE PERSON who first suggested to Hillary Clinton that she run for the U.S. Senate in 2000 to fill the vacancy, but not replace, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of NY. A main argument Rangel used to get her to run for the Senate was that she ought to have a legacy of her own as something other than Bill’s wife and the victim of Monicagate. Fittingly, I supposed, it was Rangel today who told her that her legacy, her career and her husband’s legacy were all going down the drain. Unlike Rep. James Clybourn of SC who get expletives hurled at him by Bill Clinton months ago when Clybourn chided Clinton for incited racial tensions into the primary, Hillary treated Rangel with great respect. She thanked him, told him she understood his concerns and assured him she would do the right thing. He assured her she needed to do it fast.

Clinton apologists, including Lanny Davis (a jerk), Joan Walsh (who I like but never agree with) and Lisa Caputo (a bright but misguided pro)have been all over the airwaves today trying to make the argument that she needed time to absorb the end of the campaign and prepare her supporters for the end. Get over yourself. Do what Al Gore did. Make a magnanimous speech, then go off, gain a hundred pounds and win a Nobel peace prize. Others have made the argument that it has been sexist and misogynistic for people to “dismiss” her by suggesting she get out of the race. The race is over. She lost. It has nothing to do with her gender and everything to do with her outrage and her, understandable, disbelief that this inexperienced neophyte beat her. But beat her he did. Hillary and Bill, their campaign insiders and longtime loyalists have consistently made up the rules as they have gone along, moving the goal post, lying and manipulating. Clinton apologists and loyalists are not the only ones lending great sensitivity to Hillary. Even Pat Buchanan and Paul Kroeger have been curiously calling for more time.

Hillary's departure is tantamount to hell freezing over. Kudos to Charlie Rangel for playing the Iceman and, incidentally, wrestling that title from John Olenick, possibly the only registered Republican in the Bronx.

Memo to Lanny Davis and the gang: Hillary won’t have the kind of leverage she thinks.

Ford & Carter: At It Again

McCain...
John McCain gave a partially stirring speech in Louisiana. He held himself out, saying, I am an imperfect servant of America, but I am her servant, first, last and always. He also spoke to how America did not get to know him yesterday. We know him well. He spoke of how he has put his values and convictions ahead of his party, his friends, his self-interest. He spoke of his own revulsion that our war in Iraq has been such a tortured event in the fabric of our nation. He also exampled the many ways in which a McCain presidency is not a third term of the Bush presidency. I know the Ditto heads disagree with that strategy but it is essential for his victory in November to chart a course that is a MODERATION: a place between Bush and Obama. Pitifully, he used his speech as a negative jab, CONTINUOUSLY, at Obama. It was a good jab that McCain said Obama wants to meet with leaders of Iran, North Korea and Cuba but won’t go to Iraq or meet with Petraues. He needs to speak positively about what he will do to bring our country out of the peril we find ourselves in. He fell short. VERY SHORT. He was pitiful. He has a lot of work to do if he wants to beat Obama in the fall.

Obama...
Good speech. Good strategy to have give his speech at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul where the GOP Convention will take place in August.

He gave good homage to Hillary Clinton.
He tributed McCain with the slap, “I honor his accomplishments even if he chooses to deny mine.” He retorted McCain’s slap that Obama will go to North Korea but not Iraq, as anyone would have predicted, by saying that McCain should visit Iowa, Pennsylvania or even New Orleans where McCain previously spoke this evening.

His speech was mostly a stringing together of his stump speeches. High on energy and inspiration, low on detail.

Hillary Clinton: Despicable and Pathetic

The ProConPundit is not one to kick one when they are down. But Hillary Clinton isn’t down. She’s just scheming and lying. I am watching her ridiculous speech at Barach College in which she congratulated Obama for the race he has RUN, instead of the race he has WON.. She said, “I will make no decisions tonight.” She also asked her followers to inform her so that she could decide what to do next. Hello? She is making no decisions tonight but the Democratic Party has decided. She lost. She’s done. Nothing to think about. Its not sexism or misogyny to dismiss her now–SHE LOST. She doesn’t need a listening tour from her followers.

I am a big McCain fan. But Barack Obama is a smart gentleman and he isn’t suffering this silly fool gladly. She’s done. Over. Toast.

Her biggest mistake, perhaps was taking per place with George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole who each lost dismissing Bill Clinton. How ironic that a Clinton would lose underestimating her inexperienced opponent.

Deal In Place

Here it is. Clinton doesn’t want to run for VP but wants to be asked and is willing to decline on the proviso that she is asked. Obama is wiling to ask her with the proviso that she turns it down. There were conversations going on yesterday between the campaigns and Obama’s people were open to a telephone conversation where Obama would offer it to her. The Clintonistas wouldn’t agree. They want an in-person, high drama, ceremonial offering to her of running mate status. With the Obama camp non-plussed at that, Hillary forged ahead with a conference call today where she expressed an open-ness to being his running mate.

Uhm. Hello? I don't remember ANY presidential nominee asking someone to be their running mate who was their 2nd choice. It sets up him for failure if he asks her and she declines. He will never ask her. She needs to get a grip.

Its not over.

McCain to Address Country Tonight

7:15 p.m. CST- Chicago

Just moments after the ProConPundit announced that the McCain Campaign risks being forgotten amidst all the attention to the Democrats...John McCain announced that he will address the nation tonight from Louisiana, the home of America’s worst embarrassment since slavery.

That McCain’s instinct makes sense is underscored by the fact that MSNBC’s chief liberal loon, Keith Olbermann is out of control at McCain’s "audacity" to steal thunder from the Democrats’ tonight.

McCain will embrace Hillary and her supporters tonight in great political theater.
Tim Russert recalled when he was a little boy his dad nailed a JFK sign to their house in 1960 and Timmy asked his dad why they were supporting JFK.. Big Russ said, "Because he is one of us." What Americans will need to decide between now and November is whether we can best say that about John McCain or Barack Obama.

As a Chicagoan, I do feel the need to say a word about Barack Obama. I have had plenty to say about him, often critical, in the past and will continue to do so. We are experiencing a unique moment in American history. It is the first time an African American will be the presumed nominee of the Democratic party for the presidency. It is also the first time since–ADLAI STEVENSON (not Lincoln) that Illinois will have nominated someone. In the end, I believe Obama will be more like Adlai than Abe. However, while I think he lacks the experience to lead this nation, particularly in such perilous times, he has done an astounding job of beating the most powerful and diabolical political team on the planet: Hillary and Bill.

Confronting Inconvenient Truths

6 p.m. CST--reporting from Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago

Barack Obama’s clinching of the nomination tonight is really not news. Since Super Tuesday, February 5, it has been virtually impossible for Hillary Clinton to win. Two things have kept this race alive:

1. Clinton Fear Factor. Superdelegates have been afraid to cross the Clintons and the evil (a word the ProConPundit does not use lightly), lying Clinton loyalists (i.e., Terry McAuliffe, Lanny Davis, Harold Ickes) have managed to let their ever-evolving, always dishonest arguments that she could pull it off sway media coverage of the primary. Face it. Once Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney could not win, they were asterisks. Hillary was known, for the most part, to be unable to win this primary since February.

This dishonesty has had some benefits. It has given the illusion that all of these primaries have really had an effect on the outcome. The great service to our country has been that states like Indiana and Kentucky–to say nothing of Puerto Rico, have felt that their participation in the primary process actually mattered. That has been an exciting part of this process. The trick will be, in the future, to make the process really include the voters of all states in a meaningful way. That won’t happen as long as Iowa and New Hampshire play such an inordinate and predominant role in our primary process.

2. The other advantage to the dishonesty of this process has been that Hillary Clinton has illustrated an important point by hanging on this long. That point, of course, is that Barack Obama is the most vulnerable general election candidate since George McGovern. In fairness, he is the most charismatic Democratic candidate since Bobby Kennedy. But get this: whatever you think of her (and I despise her)–Hillary Clinton is a brilliant political analyst and strategist. She truly believes that Obama is not electable in the fall. There are, of course, factors that could cause his election. Generally speaking, however, her instincts that he is unelectable are valid. They are born out by the lopsided defeats he has suffered to her in places like West Virginia and Kentucky. At a time when everyone knew he was the winner, she beat him 2 to 1. The fact that he is so rejected by lower income and working class Americans afflicted with the Caucasoid orientation should not be overlooked. It is huge. That demographic happens to vote Democrat in West Virginia and Kentucky. In huge chunks of the rest of the country, their instinct is to vote Republican.

Another inconvenient truth is that Hillary Clinton will never be asked to be Obama’s running mate. She knows that. Its just the media and her most zealous supporters who don’t. Take it to the bank: HE WILL NEVER ASK HER. HE CANNOT TRUST HER. The real issue isn’t about her being Vice-President. She is trying to leverage her significant vote totals for something. Whatever you think of Ted Kennedy, when he was defeated in the Democratic primary in 1980, he could return to the U.S. Senate well regarded by his colleagues. Her colleagues hate her. There are Republicans who have worked well with her but the Democrats fall into two categories:
1) Those who were intimated into supporting her for President and hate her and
2) Those who preferred Obama and hate her.
She has a handful of people who actually like her but the notion that she could ever be the official leader (i.e., Daschle, Dole) or the unofficial leader ( i.e., Kennedy) are inconceivable–unless she can leverage her perceived power now into something. I don’t know what it is, but its not vice-president. She doesn’t think he can win. She doesn’t want to be # 2 in a losing proposition. The only exception to this is that if she thinks she is the difference that could lead him to victory. It doesn’t matter. He will NEVER ask her.

Sidebar points:
1. It is immense hubris and in tremendous poor taste for the Clinton camp to even be talking about her interest in being VP on the night of Obama’s victory.
2. In the hard-to-imagine notion that the ProConPundit is wrong and Hillary really wants to be VP, Obama has a few Inconvenient Truths of his own to use: If Hillary is serious about wanting to be VP, watch for Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy (God willing), John Kerry & John Edwards to come out, possibly together, to say they think it’s a bad idea. Makes the ProCon one almost wish he was wrong!

PS-- Did I mention that althought I TOTALLY LOVE THE CHAOS of the Democratic primary, I reject the notion that it necessarily inures to their detriment in the fall. The spectacle of their Saturday rules committee meeting in Washington certainly argues for the generally weakening of Democrats in the fall. That aside, a lot of the excitement of their process keeps McCain forgotten.