Obama:

“So I ask you, ladies and gentlemen; fellow Americans, are you better off – “

Aide walks to podium, whispers in his ear “spssss sps spssss spssss”

“uh, where was I?”

“Yes, uh, Change! Hope! Et cetera!”

It would appear that, at least until the election, our nation has averted an economic contraction and has actually grown more than predicted. Our 2nd quarter economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.3% instead of sinking towards what seems like a perpetually anticipated recession.

Not that it has been correlated with Bush’s stimuless check, but I may have to eat my words on the futility of the ill-advised tax rebate as the consumer has once again come to the rescue of our GDP.

More substantially though, the weak dollar has created a surge in exports.

U.S. Stocks Rally as Economic Growth Tops Estimates; Banks Gain

The Economy’s Upside Surprise

The timing may bode well for McCain and the RNC but all indications are this may very well be an economic dead cat bounce as exports rely on the health of other economies which are tenuous at best.

So keep spending until November please.

It’s almost convention time – and for some of you in the GOP, this is a bit of a belated welcome; some of you have been plugging away for a long time, down at the various GOP convention offices in the (rumor has it) Endicott and Pioneer buildings along Robert Street.

But better late than never: Welcome to Saint Paul, Republicans. This is my town.

Well, not entirely mine; I share it with about a quarter of a million other people.

Many of you got posted here from places like DC and Virginia, from the party’s mothership; you’ve struggled through a (modest) winter, cranking out the hours, getting this convention up and running, in a city where you must feel like you’re surrounded by “the enemy”; this is a DFL town, or at least that’s what the polls say.

And yet the polls consistently show that even here – in a government and university town, a hothouse where all manner of left-wing perversion can bloom unfettered by common sense or the free market, a place where the lefty elite opened its hearts and pocketbooks for a former domestic terrorist – around 40% of us consistently vote for conservative candidates. One out of eight public school parents have pulled their kids out of the school system. Taxes are rising, services are falling, and the city unions just keep bellying up for more. A large faction of the local DFL – the part an old DFLer friend of mine called the “Pro-life, pro-assault rifle wing of the DFL” – is lying more or less dormant on the East Side, going to mass on Sunday and tinkering with their cars after work the rest of the week. They gave us three terms of mayors that started as DFLers, but saw the light; Norm Coleman – that’s Senator Coleman, thanks, and it will be for at least six more years – and Randy Kelly, as genuine a profile in political courage as exists in this rote, boring political state.

They represented a crowd of DFLers who might be a tad less enthralled with Barack Obama than the parts of the city west of 35E. Just saying; while McCain enthralls no conservative Republicans (as you’re well aware), he’s the kind of guy who could make a dent in that part of Saint Paul.

I hope you put on a great show, here. I hope you give us local Republicans a little something to work with. Above all, I hope that this show convinces a few people – the people who vote DFL because they really just haven’t thought about it that hard – to give their preconceptions another look.

And I hope you enjoy my city. As you meander around the town, you’ll find – and, being that you’re Republicans, probably not be surprised at all – that quite a few of the businessmen are a whole lot friendlier than some of the politicians are.

There’s a reason for that. Oh, Lordy, is there ever.

Give ’em a listen.

Anyway – welcome to my town. Hope you enjoy your stay!

Well, hey, Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Reuters, AP, UPI, the NYTimes, WashPost, ChiTrib, LATimes, Denver Post, Bloomberg, BBC, NPR, NDW, AFP, Tass and the rest of the world’s media!  Welcome to Saint Paul, all you producers and reporters and anchors and you legions of APs and PAs . 

Welcome to Saint Paul.  This is my town.

Many of you will have come here from one of the news business’ bigger centers; New York, LA, Chicago, London, wherever.  You’ve been joking with your friends about the time you get to spend in “flyover land”. 

Here’s a couple of tips for you:

1. It’s Saint Paul.  Not Minneapolis.  While they share a border, the two downtowns are ten miles apart.
2. Get out of downtown once in a while.  Yeah, I know – that’s where the convention is, and I know your job is to cover it.  But the Twin Cities are a neat place, and Saint Paul – unbeknownst even to many who live in the area – is the best part of it all.  Mark Twain once said “Saint Paul is the last city of the East, and Minneapolis is the first city of the West”, and it’s still kinda true; parts of Saint Paul feel like Chicago or Boston or New York; Minneapolis feels more like Denver or Seattle or San Francisco.  It can be a fun place.
3. See those people out there holding “Support The Troops” signs?  Not everyone in this town has drunk the lefty koolaid.
4. Shaddap about Mondale and Humphrey and Orville Freeman already.  Yes, they were part of Minnesota’s political past, and a big past it was.  But in case you haven’t noticed, the people who are making a difference in Minnesota’s political present – Coleman, Pawlenty, David Strom, Marty Seifert – are all Republicans, and to one degree or another right of center (although that’s a discussion that’ll rage into the wee hours if you get some Minnesota conservatives talking this week). 
5. Please, dear lord, don’t interview Jesse Ventura.  Not once.  Ventura is to Minnesota politics what that drunk weekend back during your sophomore year in college was to you.  You don’t keep lording that miserable fiasco over us, we’ll make sure the photos are destroyed.  Deal?

Anyway – welcome to Saitn Paul, an I hope you enjoy it!

Saint Paul; it’s not a city for the faint of heart. It defeated Jesse Ventura. It could beat you. Seriously, I suspect that Minneapolis will see plenty of protest activity from “demonstrators” who are afraid to look for Saint Paul.

But you love your country, so you want to be at the Vets for Freedom counterprotest on Monday, 9/1. You’re worried (justifiably) about parking.

I’ve had quite a number of people ask “how do I get to the counterprotest?”

Here are some simple directions and recommendations from a Saint Paul guy. They should get you into the city and back home again. Best of all – they’re fairly cheap.

Getting To Triangle Park

• Southwest/Southern Subs – I recommend parking at the 28th Avenue Park and Ride (it’s a big, free ramp) or at the Mall of America (or, if they’re full, the Fort Snelling Park and Ride), taking the Hiawatha Light Rail train north to the Lake Street Station, and taking the 21 bus east to Saint Paul (it comes every 10-15 minutes). Triangle Park is across the street from the Cathedral, overlooking downtown! Hang onto your transfers – they’re good for three hours.
• West/Northwest Subs – if it were me, I’d park at one of the Target Center ramps (right off 394 and 94 in downtown Minneapolis) and take the Hiawatha Light Rail south to Lake Street Station and, again, take the 21 bus east to Saint Paul. It’ll be about a half-hour bus ride, but it’ll drop you right at Triangle Park. The Target Center ramps cost money, but they’re cheaper than most decent ramps in Minneapolis.
• North/Northeast Suburbs – Seriously – park at Rosedale and take the 65 bus. It’s about a 20 minute ride to Cathedral Hill, and drops you right at Triangle Park (Summit/John Ireland and Marshall).
• East Suburbs – I’d go to the Sunray Transit Center (I94 at McKnight, just west of 3M), park, and take the 63 Bus. It actually runs down Seventh Street, and doesn’t actually go up Cathedral Hill to Triangle Park. Best option; jump off the 63 on Sixth Street (in downtown Saint Paul) at Jackson, Robert or Minnesota streets and transfer to a 21 Westbound (at the same stop) which will take you straight up the hill to Triangle Park, which’ll be on your left across from the Cathedral.

If you insist on driving – good luck. You’re on your own. Saint Paulites know a few secret hideaways for parking; sometimes if you get to an event early enough, you can find free parking on Cathedral Hill, on or about Summit Avenue south/west of the Cathedral. If it’s a big event, that can mean the far reaches of Cathedral Hill – like, Summit and Dale. No kidding. Patience is a virtue, unless you’re there very early in the day. As to parking ramps downtown – vaya con Dios.

Bus And Train Fares: Buses are $1.50 – $2.00 during rush hour (5-9AM, 3-7PM). Express buses (the 94 Express) are $2.75. Trains are always $2. Get and save your transfers.

CNN claims John McCain will announce his VP choice on Friday. Speculation has the choices narrowed down to three candidates.

Mitt Romney – more Presidential than Vice Presidential. Not exactly a natural choice given the way the two went after each other in the primaries. Plus he’ll never bring Massachusetts with him. He is pretty though. Nice hair.

Joe Lieberman – you’ve got to be kidding. He’s too whiney looking. Plus he also won’t swing a state. Too old. Between his age and McCain’s, doesn’t it add up to like 200?

Tim Pawlenty – in this crowd, I give him a better than 50% chance of getting the nod, and Minnesota could swing narrowly in McCain’s favor. Clearly Pawlenty has had as much visibility as anyone on the team (at least since Romney dropped out) and has been well received. He’s young, surprisingly effective for the party in a blue state, and has successful executive experience with a high approval rating during some challenging times. The downside, save the bridge collapse, he’s not well-known nationally. Assuming the bridge is completed soon, he will get some positive national exposure again, but not before Friday.

Politico says the lucky guy will get tapped tomorrow. Look for MIB (more than usual) near the capital tomorrow morning (assuming the Gov is in town). 

How about the bumper sticker test? Which one sounds/looks “right?”

McCain/Romney? Nope.

McCain/Lieberman? Sounds good. But too long.

McCain/Pawlenty? Clumsy sounding.

Update 8/28: Drudge is reporting that there is a leak that there will be a leak at 6 PM today that will be confirmed at 8 PM today. Got that?

Discuss.

Unless the national polls are off by a mile, and I think they may prove to be in the long run (that’s a topic for later), Obammy has been the benefactor of an apparent Teflon coating.

Despite a long, long, long (long) series of hateful, unsavory, embarrassing, un-American, undeniable and inexcusable associations, and a storied history of political debauchery, Obama has somehow avoided the fate a more discerning electorate would deliver him. John Edwards dips his pen in the company ink and he’s not invited to the big show. Obama hangs with terrorists and mobsters and anti-American hatemongers and he’s neck and neck with John McCain.

Another day, another controversy but this time Obama’s posse is pleading with the feds to come to his aid. Dude, chill. What’s the big deal Obammy? What are you afraid of?

Why don’t you want us to see this video?

…and what don’t we know about Obama’s past and more importantly, his true ambitions?

Sen. Barack Obama is warning TV stations and asking the Justice Department to intervene in an attempt to block the airing of an ad by a non-profit group that links him to an unrepentant domestic terrorist.

The spot by the American Issues Project questions Obama’s ties to William Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground organization who boasted of a series of bomb attacks at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol four decades ago.

Now everyone is going to go find that ad, and even if Oback Barama is successful in getting stations to pull the (quite relevant) ad off the air, a great many voters will find it on the web any way.

Obama campaign lawyer Robert Bauer wrote to station managers, the AP said, warning: “Your station is committed to operating in the public interest, an objective that cannot be satisfied by accepting for compensation material of such malicious falsity.”

Well there you have it. It can’t be true. Obama’s lawyer says so.

Meanwhile:

Documents released Tuesday by the University of Illinois at Chicago shed some light on Barack Obama’s relationship with William Ayers, a founding member of the 1960s and 1970s radical group the Weather Underground.

Obama’s association with Ayers, who now teaches at the university, has become an issue in the Illinois senator’s presidential campaign. The Weather Underground took credit for several nonfatal (does that mean it’s okay?-JR) bombings on targets that included the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, and critics accuse Obama of rubbing elbows with an unabashed 1960s radical.

Obama has said that, although he knew Ayers as a professor involved in community outreach efforts in Chicago, he doesn’t share Ayers’ extreme views.

To be fair, putting Obama and Ayers in the same room and on the same agenda doesn’t implicate Obama in a meaningful way in and of itself.  However, when you couple this association with a myriad of related events and associations including the Reverend Wright debacle (I went to the church for twenty years but don’t share his views), the Tony Rezko controversy, Michelle’s early and telling slip ups, and Obama’s questionable (let’s call it heritage), what should be troubling for all Americans is the pattern that is emerging.

How the hell does an operative of this ilk get this far in our electoral process?

Americans have succumbed to such low expectations so as to expect politicians to be slippery; to be beholden to lobbyists; to be evasive, and have affairs. What they aren’t prepared for is a President that harbors extreme radical beliefs coupled with a career not marked by accomplishment but rather unabashedly for political gain; a would-be Manchurian Candidate.

This one just crossed the wire:

They don’t make radicals like they used to…

Michelle Malkin noticed something that I’ve been pointing out for years and years:

And while Democrat Party chair Howard Dean excoriates the Republican Party as the “white” party, I saw only one-non-white agitator among the pro-abortion gaggle. (This goes for the rest of the Recreate ‘68 populace, too. It’s as pale and colorless as a Colorado snowfall.) Across the street from the Planned Parenthood event, however, were many incensed black- and brown-skinned moms. Incensed, that is, that an abortion mill had been built right across from the park where their children practice football and swing on the playground set.

One of the moms, Priscilla said bluntly: “I don’t want a f**king abortion clinic in my neighborhood!” A Hispanic mother added: “It’s against the Catholic Church.” (Are you listening, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi?) When asked about her views on abortion, another black mother of three I spoke to while sitting in her minivan told me simply: “I don’t believe in it.”

Education, free enterprise and – eventually – social issues like abortion are going to be the ones that drive the Dems up on the rocks, especially with minority and immigrant voters. It won’t scupper them this election; it might take a generation.

But it’ll happen.

If a Republican sitting in a rest-room stall mutters under his breath “I think the GOP’s wrong about the transportation bill” he can be sure that Lori Sturdevant will be there with a reporter notebad in her hand, shortly to write a story about the “wave” of disaffected Republicans rejecting Tim Pawlenty and the Taxpayers League.

But this?

[Texas Democrat Rep. Sheila] Jackson Lee [who is leading efforts to bring Hillary supporters into line behind Obama] hasn’t met Connie Kafka of Wyoming. She is the Democrats’ worst nightmare. She’s not a Hillary Clinton supporter who’ll hold her nose and vote for Obama. She’s a Hillary Clinton supporter who’s going to work and vote for John McCain.

And she has no problem telling you why.

She doesn’t believe Obama loves America.

It’s from Bob Collins, at MPR’s News Cut, and you have to listen to the rest.

Bob Cusack at The Hill notes that the Tic Convention has its problems – and they go way deeper than Obama vs. The Clintons:

Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) triggered headlines when he publicly criticized Democratic congressional leaders for the way they handled calls for more drilling amid high gas prices.

Speaking at a Virginia delegation breakfast in Denver on Tuesday, Webb said, “One of the great mistakes that we made in terms of political strategy before we broke for this latest recess was not taking on the Republican Party when they started talking about offshore drilling.”

He added, “I believe that our leadership made a very bad mistake. I don’t think we should run from that issue.”

It’s almost like Webb is listening to – I dunno – constituents or something.

And I loved this part:

Union leaders this week have complained that some of their members have privately said they won’t vote for Obama because he is black. And a Democratic poll released Tuesday stated that Obama “has yet to close the deal with many white, working-class voters who normally vote Democratic.”

Wow. Conventional “wisdom” has held for 35 years that all the racists joined the Republican party. But I have yet to meet a Republican who even mentioned Obama’s race on their long, detailed lists of reasons they’d never vote for him. Perhaps, for argument’s sake, they ran out of breath before they could get there, after listing all the economic, foreign policy, ethical and experience issues that may well make Obama, on his hypothetical inauguration day, the worst president of my lifetime. I don’t know.

Just saying.

(Via Gary Gross)

To: The Hon.  Nancy Pelosi

From: Mitch Berg, schlep blogger

Re:  Thanks!

Ms. Pelosi,

As a conservative Republican who’s been fighting back against the notion that this was going to be a very rough year to be a Republican, I’d like to thank  you  for your remarks yesterday.

House Democratic leaders and protesters waving McCain signs had a war of words Tuesday at a press event outside an old train station. The demonstrators interrupted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with chants of “Drill here! Drill now!”

Pelosi paused and asked the group, “Right here?”

Seeming to enjoy the back and forth, she followed with another question: “Can we drill your brains?

Ok, so a little back-and-forth smack-talk is fun stuff.  I enjoy it myself, when I face the odd schnook in an Obama button baying at the moon at the Patriot booth at the Fair.  It can be fun.

But this next bit…:

She went on to refer to the protesters, who continued to chant sporadically, as “handmaidens of Big Oil.” Arguing that increased offshore drilling would reduce gas prices by only a couple of pennies a decade from now, she referred to the demonstrators as the “2-cents-in-10-years-crowd.”

…merely proves that you are from Planet San Francisco.  But I do hope to make sure readers all over the rest of this country hear that.  Over and over again.
At any rate, thank you very much.  I’m feeling much better these days.

I’m not entirely sure what to make of this story, about the Minneapolis Police and a bunch of “journalist” from a “new media collective” in New York…:

Three New York media professionals in town to cover the Republican National Convention were detained by Minneapolis police officers in Northeast Minneapolis early Tuesday morning. Police confiscated their equipment, which the trio calls a deliberate attack on their right to free speech.

Vlad Teichberg, Olivia Katz and Anita Braithwaite are from the New York-based Glass Bead Collective, a new media arts group. Among the equipment taken: video cameras, still cameras, laptops, notebooks, money and other personal belongings.

…because while I am a First Amendment absolutist (like any libertarian-conservative), I also notice that whenever the local lefty “alternative” media covers these people, they sow the word “journalist” like mines along the Korean border.  Almost to the point of caricature.
They are, of course – like the Minnesoros “Independent” and, for that matter, AM1280 and this very blog, flogging agendas.  Which is not the “journalism” I was taught when I did it for a (small, crummy) living.

Do tell:

You’re going to “take” my town, you little prick?

You might have a hard time “taking” anything with that spraycan jammed up your ass.

Just saying.

 …were [end Streisand]

So, like a couple thousand of our fellow Minnesotans, I’m going to be downtown on September 1, standing along the route of the big “demonstration” by the Republican National Convention.

I’ll be among a group of a few thousand Minnesotans carrying signs that look like this…:

…and if you support the troops and their mission, I’d like you to join us. 

Here’s the current plan:

1. Meet at Triangle Park in Saint Paul.  It’s right by the Cathedral, northeast of the Capitol
   

   It’s got a memorial in it to the First Minnesota Regiment; the park looks like this:

   

2. Pick up a sign.  The current plan is to have a lot of them spotted at Triangle Park, ready to go.
3. After you get a sign, amble down to West Seventh Street, by the X. 

   

   I say “amble” because you don’t need a permit to amble in Saint Paul. 

4. We’ll meet.  And as the cloud of smug rolls by on the street, we’ll wave our signs, and smile, and let them bellow their precious little hearts out.  And we’ll show the media that not everyone in the Twin Cities is a kool-aid sotted loser.
5. We’ll go forth and win the election in November.

So you might be asking yourself – “How do I get to Saint Paul, especially given that traffic is going to be a madhouse even without a bunch of screeching weasel demonstrators trying to blockade traffic”. 

I’ll be posting some shortcuts and easy transit routes to downtown later this week.  It’ll save you a lot of hassle.  Trust me.

According to Paul Demko, a couple of Obama supporters drove 2,200 miles from Santa Cruz to Denver in a car completely covered in Obama stickers…:

 While picking up my press credentials I came across this Volvo stationwagon parked in front of the Hampton Inn & Suites (doing double duty as the press epicenter for the Democratic Party). Sisters Samantha and Annie Woods drove the vehicle 2,200 miles from Santa Cruz, California. Most impressive: the Obamamobile lacks any air conditioning.

…thereby confirming a number of stereotypes.

1. Democratic women are lousy navigators.  Mapquest shows the route is really more like 1,200 miles.
2. A Volvo wagon.
3. A Volvo wagon gets, what?  15 miles to the gallon?  Way to save energy, Clairol Twins.
4. Obama stickers went for, what, a buck a pop?  Nope – no dissipate patricians here.
5. I repeat:  a Volvo wagon.

Oh, lord, do I wish I were there with a camera.

MPR’s Tom Scheck is in Denver, and he says the trouble started bright and early yesterday:

Several protesters shut down the LRT and bus lines in downtown Denver for about thirty minutes this afternoon. How do I know? Well, I was waiting to get on the LRT and saw several dozen cops marching up the road. So I followed them and found out why my wait at the transit stop was so long.

 Protesters.

The good news?

Dozens of police in full riot gear were ready to roll when the incident started. The police eventually got the protesters, the onlookers and the media to stay on the sidewalks. The only disruption came from this one protester who rode her bike around the police barricades.

Photo of egregiously hideous Code Pinko omitted due to it being breakfast time.

Senator Amy “A-Klo” Klobuchar is all a-twitter about the Biden selection.

Or is she? (emphasi9s added):

What he brings to Barack Obama is the fact that he is not a ‘yes’ man. He’s going to challenge Sen. Obama to be the best president he can be,” the Minnesota Democrat said.

He reminds her of former Vice President Walter Mondale. “Mondale brought candid advice to President Carter. Joe Biden will do the same for Barack Obama,” she said.

So even A-Klo thinks Obama’s the next Carter?

Sweet.

And now, back to the issues.

“It’s the economy, stupid”

(silence)

“Hello, is this thing on?”

A continued and unpopular (but successful) war, high gas prices, increasing unemployment levels, weakness in wages and an economy on the brink of recession, Obama should be doing better than what was characterized on CNN last night as a “dead heat”.

Election history tells us however that Obama should be in the lead.

…and President George Bush’s popularity at near historic lows, even many Republicans thought this year would be a virtual cakewalk for the Democratic nominee.

A fall in real incomes in the months leading up to the election almost always leads to a loss for the party in power, pointed out Nigel Gault, head of North American macroeconomics for Global Insight, in a recent conference call with investors. “The incumbents tend to take the blame,” he said. “This should be an uphill battle for McCain.”

But on the eve of what Obama and the Democrats hope will be their own Rocky Mountain high, that’s not proving to be the case.

Obama has not been able to capitalize on the economic woes to build an electoral lead. “It’s an absolute mystery that Obama has not been able to exploit this issue more aggressively,”

It’s no mystery. The American people are beginning to see that Obama is a wee bit light on experience and accomplishment in any area let alone the economy, and what he does actually spell out is clearly going to be bad news for the economy

“If he is going to win, Obama will have to win on the economy,” says Thomas Riehle, a Democratic strategist and pollster

His lofty rhetoric—and focus on criticizing McCain and the Bush legacy—have yet to demonstrate convincingly to many of these struggling folks just exactly what he would do to turn the economy around.

Even some Democrats may not stomach the huge expense and vast complexity of Obama’s proposals.
This year that gap between promise and reality may be even larger than usual. “Whoever wins will face a big wake-up call as soon as the election is over,” says Daniel Clifton, head of Washington policy research for investment group Strategas Research Partners. “Many campaign promises will need to be scuttled.”

The 2009 economy will offer tough conditions for a President set on bold new policies. The next Administration will face anemic growth, sluggish employment, a housing downturn expected to continue at least through much of next year, and continued tight credit markets as the shakeout works its way through the financial sector.

The American people, also knowing this, may already be answering the question “Under these circumstances, who do you want in the White House?”

“McCain.”

Pelosi: Newest GOP ad “insults our intelligence”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came out swinging at the first official convention event on Sunday, calling John McCain “bankrupt” of ideas after Republicans unveiled a new ad questioning why Hillary Rodham Clinton is not on the Democratic ticket.

Actually that, the Biden (in his own words) video and the Converted Clinton Delegate video are pretty good stuff, and Obama’s handlers should have anticipated all of the above if in fact there is intelligence enough to be insulted.

But is it working?

(Two separate polls) show a substantial number of Hillary Clinton’s supporters are considering voting for a Republican president, rather than Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in November.

Speaking of insulting our intelligence (emphasis mine):

Pelosi warned that the ad is “a sign of things to come,” arguing that since Democrats have the upper hand on “kitchen table” issues like health care and the economy, the McCain campaign will be forced to resort to “diversionary tactics.”

McCain started this campaign rather deliberately but his team is reacting to opportunities rapidly now and with some success. So take a pill Nancy. You’re gonna’ need it.

News that a well-managed campaign drops between 5PM Friday and noon Sunday:

1. The campaign’s finance manager has skipped out to Brazil with six months of campaign contributions.
2. Your poll numbers have dropped so far you have to switch to the Kelvin scale. 
3. The candidate has been caught in bed with a sixteen-year-old prostitute.

News a well-managed, confident, in-control campaign does not  run between 5PM Friday and noon Sunday:

1. Ones’ Vice President pick.

Submitted without comment.

So why did “The One” wait until after 3AM on a Saturday morning to announce The Pick?

My suspicions:

1. Evan Bayh turned him down on Tuesday.
2. Bill Richardson told him on Wedesday he planned to wash his hair between 2008 and 2012.
3. Katie Sibelius dodge the phone call, and finally sent a one-line email begging off around dinner-time on Thursday.
4. Hillary Clinton laughed and hung up her phone without an answer on Friday around noon.
5. Biden accepted by late evening, allowing the message to go out around 3AM.
6. The campaign was reserving Sunday at 3AM in case Biden begged off, and they had to announce Robert Byrd as the Veep choice.

I could be wrong, of course.