Jabailo, perhaps before opening up this line of discussion you might consider that 1) differences of opinion between presidential and VP candidates are pretty typical (e.g., recall Bush I's "voodoo economics" criticism of Reagan), and 2) McCain has flip flopped on so many issues that it would be helpful to hold a debate between the present and past McCain.

McCain has become a caricature of his long-standing image as a free-thinking maverick.  I wouldn't be surprised if he selects Romney as his running mate.  That guy has an even more impressive record of saying whatever he thinks it will take to get elected.

Isn't it too early for so much "off center" diversity? Perhaps in a few decades time, when the majority of the people in the U.S. have latinized and catholicized will such an exotic black + catholic team be capable of winning.

But the U.S. is perhaps still too Anglosaxon protestant today for them to stand a chance.

Let's not forget that the last Catholic to make it into the White House was JFK.

Catholic just isn't an issue.  I live in the South, which is the only region of the country with even a chance of caring, and you know what --mostly they don't.  Anythat might care are already Republicans anyway.

Joe Biden's not diversity.  His roots are blue collar and working class.  He's Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp.  He's about as salt of the earth as it gets.  

People should consider environmental conditions in Delaware to gain a sense of how its leaders have performed:

Delaware has one of the highest cancer rates in North America- pollution being the main culprit for this. How are state leaders resolving this public health problem?

Delaware is being developed to death. Large corporate developers and builders are having a field day in Delaware buying up every farm and forest possible to build Mc Mansions, shopping centers, and office parks. Have you driven around the state lately? It is a mess and it's drinking water is deteriorating because of this unsustainable land use.

Delaware parks require payment for every visit- even a 30 minute hike. How does that encourage people reconnect with nature?

Please, people, get a grip.

Joe Biden is not responsible for development in Delaware.  He's a SENATOR.  He's on the Foreign Relations Committee.  That's national.  He's not responsible for zoning, or parks, or any other issue specific to Delaware.

Plus, I don't think he takes money from developers, so really he has NO moreconnection to local issues than any other schmo in Wilmington.

It's not his thing, dude.

another site pointed to biden's strong support for the 2005 bankruptcy changes as a queer indicator of obama's direction on finance, which actually is very important in-re greening 100 million households and billions of vehicle miles. i don't think it says that much because

a senator from delaware would have insider ties to the credit industry that the veep wouldn't have to keep up

outside the bush-cheney white house, the veep doesn't set bank policy

That has always been a winning strategy. Arrogance and condescension.

Reasoned debate? No.

We are slack-jawed, trailer park livin' inbreds.

Spawned to be taxed.

Keep it up.

I am sure Obama will win.

"...a 90 percent chance that the US has contributed .2 degrees F of temperature increase in the last 50 years..." The IPCC Consensus in perspective

We have a few correspondents in the U.S., and they all seem to stress religious affiliation as the key subconcious issue in any American election. Last time they said Kerry lost because he was a Catholic.

If McCain chooses another circumspect white Anglosaxon protestant, he can't lose - according to their statistical analyses.

I hope they're wrong, but the evidence seems to be rather solid.

In any case, as the U.S. keeps getting more Latinized (i.e. populated by Catholics and/or Latinos), the situation will obviously change in favor of non-Anglosaxons, non-protestant democrats and the world will be a better place. But the demographics point out that it still takes a few decades to get there.

So I do hope all these analyses are wrong. I've always like Biden, I often watch his committee at work, on C-Span.

"Spawned to be taxed."

Faithbased voters, cheap labor,and cannon fodder!  Your most important features to the neoconservative multinational corporate empire that operates the strings of the various puppet regimes like this Bush administration.

Taxes!  They don't need no steenkeen taxes.  They have (almost) ALL the money.

Fees, that's what they use.  Charging wounded vets for their daily food while recovering in the hospital.  That sort of thing.  Hehey.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

...that's nothin' to shake a stick at.  Seems to be okay to me...though obviously, unless somethin' unfortunate happens to Obama after he were to get elected, he won't have much say over environmental policy...maybe advisory when it comes to key positions for the EPA and other prez-appointed places.

It sounds pretty ridiculous to me that Kerry lost because he's a Catholic.  Kerry was swift-boated, and he was pegged as an out-of-touch patrician.  He didn't respond to the attacks in a timely way -his major error.  

Also, people decided they couldn't relate to him.  Have you heard him speak?  He's quite boring. And I say that as someone who knocked on doors for him in 2004; nevertheless, he was a lousy candidate (but probably would have made a fine president).

Realizing you are not American explains to me how you could accept the analysis you have heard. So I apologize for thinking you obtuse.

Plus no one ever beat an incumbent president in wartime, that's probably why a better candidate did not take up the almost surely lost cause.  

Kerry came very close, despite his tendency to ramble incoherently when questioned, only the failure to litigate the results in Ohio lost it for him.  Why didn't the teams of lawyers assembled act?  There was certainly plenty of evidence of vote fraud.  And the precedent of Florida in 2000.

There's a mystery for historians.  Why didn't democratic party leaders insist that lawyers act to save the nation from four more years of bushwacking?

No reform of the voting procedures and oversight has occured in the mean time.  Even though the methods to manipulate  the paperless machines by preprogramming has been widely publicized.  

Another tactic in Ohio was simply moving voting machines from democratic favored polling places so that voters had 6 to 8 hour waits to vote.  Or closing polling places early on flimsy excuses, like running out of pencils.

This election is in grave danger too.  Obama needs a huge margin to beat the cheat factor.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

Catholics have definitely become mainstream nowadays.  As GreenMom says, the old American Protestant mistrust and hostility toward Catholics, including the two presidential candidates Al Smith (in 1928) and John F. Kennedy (in 1960), are not much in evidence -- though there are still some odd and extremely offensive anti-Catholic preachers out there with public platforms and considerable numbers of followers, e.g. John Hagee and Bob Jones.

The problem with Catholics, though, is that those of them who are more socially conservative (Catholics are all over the place, politically and socially, and should not be considered anything like a monolithic voting bloc) have lately been preferring Republican candidates, starting with Ronald Reagan in 1980.  Catholic ethnic voters once upon a time were a solid part of FDR's coalition, and were reliably part of the Democratic base for a few decades; but somehow the Democratic party lost the support of many of them in the 1970s.  According to one analysis of the 2004 election, John Kerry lost because conservative Catholics in Ohio swung that swing state toward George W. Bush.

In the case of Joe Biden, it will be interesting to see how his support of abortion rights plays out.  Catholics in general are as likely to support abortion rights and Roe v. Wade as the population as a whole; but needless to say, the leadership firmly oppose them.  In 2004, a couple of horse's-ass bishops made public statements to the effect that they would not give Holy Communion to John Kerry, should he attend a Mass in their cathedrals, because of his support of abortion rights.  One of these happens to have been Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, a real krank-o-rama.  With the Democratic convention right there on his doorstep, we should not be surprised if he makes some unfriendly pronouncement regarding Joe Biden.

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