Free Obama-Biden sticker

Act now and you can get a free Obama-Biden sticker from MoveOn.org. Here's an image of the actual sticker and a link to order your free sticker today - they even pay for shipping - if you call an envelope shipping.

The choice is Joe Biden!

The Huffington Post has scooped the emails and text messages thanks to an Obama insider who chose - for obvious reasons - to remain anonymous. According to the authors of the piece - Liz Sodoti and Nedra Pickler:

Barack Obama selected Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware late Friday night to be his vice presidential running mate, according to a Democratic official, balancing his ticket with an older congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defense issues.

Biden, 65, has twice sought the White House, and is a Catholic with blue-collar roots, a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator.

Across more than 30 years in the Senate, he has served at various times not only as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee but also as head of the Judiciary Committee, with its jurisdiction over anti-crime legislation, Supreme Court nominees and Constitutional issues.

In selecting Biden, Obama passed over several other potential running mates, none more prominent than former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, his tenacious rival in dozens of primaries and caucuses.

The official who spoke did so on condition of anonymity, preferring not to pre-empt a text-message announcement the Obama campaign promised for Saturday morning.

Obama's campaign arranged a debut for the newly minted ticket on Saturday outside the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill.

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.

I've had a feeling for a long time that Biden would be the choice. I knew that Hillary Clinton's actions and words during the primaries precluded her from even a short list. While Tim Kaine might have helped Obama in Virginia, there were more measures in play. Evan Bayh shouldn't have even been in the running - and I know I'm speaking heresy to many other Hoosiers - because he was a poor match for the fiery oration Obama is known for. To be honest, Bayh is too damn bland. Besides, he wasn't very kind to Obama while he was on the campaign trail for Hillary.

Biden on the other hand is also a gifted orator and a bit of a bulldog who will chew McCain and his running mate to bits between now and November. That is the job of the running mate, to make the hits and leave the head of the ticket in the clear.

McCain has been tenacious in his attacks on Obama and it hasn't been until the last week or two that Obama started to fight back. The campaign needed a hitman and they got the best in Joe Biden.

My American Prayer - Dave Stewart

Saddleback and forth

So Barack Obama and John McCain decided to sit down with Pastor Rick Warren at the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. It is certainly brave of Obama to venture into an obviously conservative evangelical setting where many of the questions are going to be directed at him from an evangelical viewpoint. That said, Obama probably knows his Scripture better than McCain. I don't see McCain as a regular church goer by any stretch of the imagination. He's a lot quicker to go for the four letter word than most politicians and his treatment of his first wife is less than moral.
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One of the first questions Warren asks Obama "Who are the three wisest people you know in your life and who are you going to rely on heavily in your administration?" After excluding Warren, he mentioned his wife and Grandmother, but I have to wonder howpeople who think of Obama as ultra liberal will react to learn that two of his choices were Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar and Oklahoma conservative Tom Coburn in addition to Sam Nunn and Ted Kennedy. He added, "What I've found is very helpful to me is to have a table where a lot of different points of view are represented and where I can sit and poke and prod and ask them questions...so that any blind spots I have or predispositions that I have that my assumptions are challenged."
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On the question of the definition of marriage, Obama is still playing it too safe by mentioning civil unions instead of supporting gay marriage. I suppose this is to be expected considering the fact that he has to woo many evangelicals to ensure a victory in the fall, but he is falling into the trap of politics as usual. Then again, he did get applause from the group inside the church with his definition of marriage.
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I did like that Obama attempted to show that Jesus would probably be a Democrat if he lived in the United States today when he quoted the New Testament and Jesus from the Book of Matthew in answer to a question about America's moral failings, "whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me." Not exactly where most conservatives stand. He added, "We still don’t abide by that basic precept. That basic principal applies to poverty, it applies to racism, to sexism, it applies to not providing ladders of opportunity for people to get into the middle class."
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One of the biggest differences in answers between the two men came after Warren asked for their definition of wealthy. Obama first joked and said, "You know if you’ve got book sales of 25 million …" This was an obvious reference to Warren's book "The Purpose Driven Life" which is purported to be the biggest selling non-fiction book in history. The audience laughed and Warren proceeded to high-five Obama over his answer. Obama then settled down and said $250,000. McCain's answer? Five Million dollars. Well, that explains why McCain thinks Obama's plan to raise taxes on people making more than $250,000 a year is taxing the "poor". I would LOVE to make $250,000 a year.
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I like the fact that Warren obviously has a grasp on pop culture. He referred to the sound-proof room where McCain stayed during Obama's portion of the forum as "the cone of silence". Any "Get Smart" fan worth their while knows all about that reference.
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During the midpoint, after McCain was introduced, Obama not only shook the Arizona Senator's hand, he also embraced him. I wonder if Dubya got jealous.
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Many of McCain's answers were clearly playing to the Conservatives in the audience. When Warren asked him what point a baby is entitled to Human Rights, McCain quickly answered, "at the moment of conception. I have a 25 year pro-life record in congress, in the senate. This presidency will have pro-life policies. That’s my commitment to you."
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This may be the fundamental - no pun intended - issue evangelicals will vote on. As odd as it may seem, most evangelicals would rather vote for a candidate who would make their lives and living conditions worse so long as they were pro-life.
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Considering the audience and the questions, I think Obama did remarkably well. Perhaps his candor moved a few evangelicals to his side. We can only hope.