It doesn't matter how many times good reporters like Marc Ambinder report that the Obama-Clinton discussions are smooth and the plans for the convention are amicable, and it doesn't matter how often Hillary stumps for Barack, the media love a good fight.

Reports of strife between negotiators for Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are exaggerated and the two sides are nearing an agreement on how Clinton's delegates will participate in the formal nominating process at the Democratic National Convention, according to advisers to both Democrats.

The trouble is, they are missing the real feud, which unlike the made-for-TV stuff on the D side has serious bad blood potential .

"I think that there are better choices for Sen. McCain [than Mitt Romney] that will have the approval of values voters," [Mike Huckabee] added.

Huckabee denied an earlier media report in which he seemed to suggest that it was Romney's Mormon religion that should be a disqualifying factor.

"There is absolutely no issue about Mitt Romney's religion. I have never said that," Huckabee said.

But his comments renew what had become a nasty spat between the two politicians during the Republican primary. Huckabee's come-from-nowhere victory over Romney in the Iowa caucus was a big reason that Romney lost the nomination.

and

Yet as Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, is said to have emerged as a top contender to be Senator John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate, a vocal segment of conservative leaders and grass-roots activists have mobilized against him, with some going out of their way to block his path to the Republican ticket.

and

"I think when you look at Mitt Romney, he's not in the totally uncomfortable column, but he's not in the completely comfortable column," said Tony Perkins, of the Family Research Council. "Those that do have opposition to him, they're pretty adamant in their opposition."

The social conservative wing and the Club for Growth wing really dislike each other, to the bone. When McCain sent up that trial balloon about pro-choice Ridge and Lieberman as VP, it sank like a stone.

That thud you just heard was the Ridge/Lieberman VP trial balloon that social conservative activists quickly popped. They couldn't find reporters fast enough to denounce the prospect of McCain adding a pro-choice pol to his ticket. "It absolutely floored me," Phil Burress, head of the Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values, told the Politico’s Jonathan Martin. "It would doom him in Ohio." Home School Legal Defense Association President Mike Farris said to the Washington Times: "If Tom Ridge is on the ticket, I will not be voting Republican." Then again, if this was a trial balloon, wasn’t this the response McCain is looking for?

So where are the rest of the divided GOP stories? Oh, sorry. With our media, that narrative only applies to Democrats. I forget that, sometimes.

The bitterness between Governor Mitt Romney and Governor Mike Huckabee never really died.  Romney, favored by Bush, was the poster-child of the Club For Growth(which Huckabee called the Club For Greed).  Huckabee was the champion of the "value voters" and the Fair Tax.  Somewhere in between them was John McCain, ceding Iowa to the Romney/Huckabee struggle while he focused on Iowa.  Then the Huckaboom of Iowa happened, that night of the underdogs(can't forget Obama), and then the resurgence of "the Maverick" in his beloved New Hampshire.  Out-maneuvered, Romney would cut his loses after Super Tuesday at CPAC and move to set himself up as the team player.  Mike Huckabee fought on for another month, setting himself up as the winner of the silver medal, and then ambushing Mitt Romney's Veep-prospects when the timing was right.

And Huckabee is just getting started on solidifying his place in American politics.

Yeah, I know you don't want to hear it.  Some people here would rather sit around and snicker at George W. Bush saying something else stupid--this time while he's in China.  Think Progess has a pretty good summary, including the video that was pulled from YouTube because of a third party ownership claim.

Worthless stuff is usually not worth claiming.  But, that's not the only reason I'm going to give you an opportunity to reconsider whether what Bush said was stupid or part of an orchestrated campaign.  That NBC interrupted its coverage of the Olympics with this vignette may or may not be significant.

Let's go back to earlier in the week.

Longtime Republican operative Peter Hong, who served as campaign spokesman in 2002 for Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) – a top-tier candidate frequently mentioned as a possible V-P candidate for McCain – was arrested for soliciting prostitution on Wednesday in St. Paul, MN and was booked at the Ramsey County Jail early that evening.

In past elections, the Bush/Rove team undercut, back stabbed and push polled John McCain's campaign without mercy, limits nor reservations.  Now, we are supposed to believe that they are "good friends"?  Mr. McCain has attempted to become the nominee in past elections and has been viciously attacked by his own party's hard core base.  The primary leading to his nomination this election cycle was no exception to that historical precedent.  Right wing talk radio and pundits were seen to join Mitt Romney's campaign and Mike Huckabee's campaign in attacking the authenticity of McCain's conservative credentials, his "Republicaness" if you will.  Once again, completely out of touch with the average voter and America at large (even the average Republican voter, perhaps), the far right wing of the Republican party pushed McCain and the other candidates as far to the right as possible to appeal to the base. This is fairly typical of a primary fight, one must acknowledge, and McCain, of course, managed to win the nomination despite these attacks from within.

(This is actually a repost from some months ago, but I put so much time into hunting down the appropriate photos, I decided to repost it; besides, I'm depressed about not being able to make it to NN this year, so I wanted to post something light to cheer myself--and perhaps others--up a bit)

Several months back, Canadian Noise posted an Oscar-themed diary which speculated on the casting for a filmed version of the 2008 Presidential race.

Unfortunately, the diary didn’t get much notice, but I thought it was such a fun idea that I ran with it, and came up with the following. The only rule I made for myself is to take it seriously—no cartoon characters, no dead actors; all of the choices have to be current, professional film or TV actors. Feel free to toss your own ideas into the ring; I know that I’m way off on at least some of my choices, but what the hell...

Normally, this would be a pretty generic headline - something along the lines of '[politican's name here]'s Ambition Knows No Bounds' is pretty standard fare in American political discourse.  But anyone who read my diary on VP knows that I firmly believe that Mitt Romney was the Republican's best chance for victory this year and will probably be in 2012 (even more so with a VP nod under his belt).  I think he knows that, and the fact that there is no visible friction whatsoever within this man who has gone from annihilating McCain at every turn to giving him credit for things that a)he didn't invent and b)aren't all that great makes be very, very afraid.  I think we have to take him seriously.

For all the hype surrounding the prolonged primary battle on our side, there's been very little attention paid to what the Republican nomination process looked like in 2008.  Our bloated attempt to copy their get-a-nominee-as-soon-as-possible-and-commence-nuking-the-fuck-out-of-the-other-side (phew) system with Super Duper Tuesday fell flat on its stupid face, while McCain appeared to be a man on an island - with a party united behind him.  

Clearly, the Republicans had their act together in a way we didn't - they had gone in, grim faced, and pulled levers for a man they had all but burned in effigy over his illegal immigration compromise with Senator Kennedy because he was their best candidate for President, principles be damned.  Must not have mattered who McCain was running against.

Now, since this is the MSM's preferred storyline, I call bullshit as a sheer reflex reaction - then I see if said declaration of bullshit has legs.  A whole bunch of legs under the fold.

The Political Newsline took a look to see who still has debt from the presidential primary and who is free and clear.

Democrats

   * Clinton        $22,523,860
   * Kucinich       $1,177,644
   * Biden          $1,170,869
   * Dodd           $386,991
   * Edwards        $354,719
   * Richardson     $285,418
   * Gravel         $136,565

Republicans

   * Romney         $44,600,000
   * Giuliani       $3,124,113
   * Hunter         $222,447
   * Huckabee       $121,109
   * Thompson       $83,648
   * Paul           $0  
   * Tancredo       $0

The Republican party of Texas is ready to choose a bumper sticker slogan, and out of over a thousand entries, you would have thought they'd come up with something wittier than:

Obama for Change? That's all you'll have left in your pockets!

Insert idiot laugh here -- I don't know how to represent it phonetically -- "yuck yuck yuck" perhaps?

In yesterday's post, I noted how the Assemblies of God are rallying around Kenneth Copeland's latest attempt to derail Sen. Chuck Grassley's investigation of nonprofit groups.

There's a very valid reason why the Assemblies may be quite concerned, should Congressional attention focus on them.

Namely...not only is illegal electioneering rife within the denomination, but there is some troubling evidence to suggest that violations may be crossing over into direct contributions to Assemblies-favoured candidates--possibly the most blatant 501(c)3 violations ever documented.

I'm writing today to pose a question to the community, and it's a question that I don't have an answer for myself. It's also a question that I think has a lot of meaning to the current battle for the White House going on between Barack Obama and John McCain.

The question is this: What happened in late 2007 and early 2008 that allowed John McCain to win the GOP primary?

While I don't subscribe to the characterization of political candidates as opponents or contestants, like gladiators in the Roman arena, there's little question that many of the promoters and financial supporters of candidates are basically antagonistic to the interests of the general public the candidates are proposing to serve.

So, as a progressive Democrat, I'm not at all reluctant to consider the Republican proponents of authoritarian, patriarchal dictatorship as my enemies.  Moreover, since a significant number of the American people have awakened to the fact that, instead of having their modest expectations and patriotic values honored, the people they elected to represent and serve them have engaged in the grossest deceptions and dishonored the country, it's clear that there's a small class of people who now have a lot to lose.  It would be a mistake to think they will give up power easily.

This flyer (first link shown below the fold) is apparently being distributed by the local Libertarian Party in Valdosta Georgia accusing McCain of being "TOO LIBERAL" and Obama "A MARXIST".  I've seen these posted everywhere and especially on campus in Valdosta, GA.

Is this sort of stuff effective? Will Bob Barr presidential nominee of the Libertarian party really "catch on" in Georgia? Are Libertarians organized and strong enough to make it happen?

I went to the Libertarian web site shown below and it rejected my address to sign up for updates (presumably if I donated I could get on their mailing list).

Update: McCain and Obama tied in GA  thanks to Calev comment below.

Huffington Post article claims 6% support for Barr and 7% still undecided, Obama & McCain neck and neck in Georgia.  

Violent Rhetoric Watch (VRW) - Jun 13, 2008

FOX News Hires Mike Huckabee, Month After Ex Gov Joked About Assassination of Sen. Obama

**APPLICANTS WANTED: Profitable broadcast news corporation seeks on air personality with proven record of debasing civic debate.  Must be willing to use violent rhetoric and tell off-color jokes that would warrant Secret Service investigations if said by an ordinary citizen. Preference given to failed presidential candidates who have also joked about assassinating their opponents. Benefits include: medical, dental, plus chance to undermine American deliberative democracy.

One month after making a joke about assassinating Sen. Barack Obama, former Arkansas Governor and failed presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, has been hired by FOX News.

(**Fictional ad)

It may seem a bit obvious that Ron Paul's presence has created headaches for John McCain and the GOP in general. He's been like an anti-war thorn in the side of the right wing radicals that have co-opted all good sense in the Republican Party and supplanted it with totalitarianism. Paul has served in Congress as a Republican over the years although his positions on key issues certainly would seem to stand at odds with the current administration.

His 1988 Libertarian Party run at the presidency fell a distant 3rd to George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis, but he has attracted flocks of followers over the years for his ability to corner the market on a political identity that speaks to more than a few conservative minded citizens out there.

Kossacks Under 35 is a weekly diary series designed to create a community within DailyKos that focuses on young people. Our overall goals are to work on increasing young voters' Democratic majority, and to raise awareness about issues that particularly affect young people, with a potential eye to policy solutions. Kossacks of all ages are welcome to participate (and do!), but the overall framework of each diary will likely be on or from a younger person's perspective. If you would like more information or want to contribute a diary, please email kath25 at kossacksunder35 (at) gmail dot com

In yesterday's Nashua Telegraph there's a report on a speech Mike Huckabee gave before a Republican group.   He said:

"I think we will make a huge mistake if we try to demonize Barack Obama,'' Huckabee said in remarks to the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women's Lilac Luncheon crowd at the CR Sparks Conference Center.

A pity that not too many Republican activists seem to be listening to him.