Potholes in Obama's Path

" They are angry because their historic opportunity is over.

"Getting excited about changing history felt awesome. I can't emphasize it enough: This had never happened before. And it was fun. Exhilarating. Hopeful. Changing. All of that . . .

" They are angry about rumors that Obama may choose a woman other than Hillary Clinton as his running mate.

"This is a tricky one. Maybe some Clinton supporters remain so besotted by the idea of their woman as the history maker that they won't be satisfied unless Clinton or someone from her direct bloodline is the first female to breach the executive branch of government.

In reality, however, it's more that the other female politicians whose names are being bandied about (cough, Kathleen Sebelius, cough) seem like pallid substitutes, and the only reason Team Obama would even pick one is to placate stubborn Clinton supporters. It wouldn't placate them . . . If Obama goes with a woman, and decides (as seems certain) not to tap Clinton herself, he must pick someone who has something more going for her than a pair of mams. He needs someone who generates heat of her own, who can energize a crowd, who can do something for him besides providing him with a gender credential. Who is that?

" They are angry that we started to talk about sexism only once Clinton stopped being a threat.

"Yes, it's great that we are finally having panels and conferences and news stories about the way in which Clinton's candidacy was met with an enormous amount of gendered antipathy from the media. (And for any of you sitting at your computers yammering about how the coverage of Clinton had nothing to do with her sex, allow me to be frank: can it.) Those discussions shouldn't stop. But it is painfully obvious that this was a conversation that could only be had once Clinton stopped threatening Obama's prospects, or men generally. This is really depressing."

It took a NYT magazine interview, but the Tampa Bay Tribune picks up on rumors about Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's personal life.

Tom Brokaw may be moderating "Meet the Press" through the election, but Variety says that "Andrea Mitchell, Peacock's chief foreign affairs correspondent, also has the resume, the Washington relationships, the reporting skills and the extra-thick skin to take on the job . . .

"She's covered Congress and the White House, presidential elections, national crises et al, and her extensive overseas experience during the past 15 years certainly can't hurt either.

"Mitchell, of course, is also one-half of a high-wattage Washington power couple -- her husband is former Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan -- which means she ranks very high on the Beltway social pecking order that is so important to understanding Washington (or so I've read in the Washington Post) . . . NBC's current man covering the White House, David Gregory is clearly a smart and a pit bull of a reporter, but he still needs some marinating. Mitchell's the one."

I suppose we can ramp up the speculation about who will be The Washington Post's next editor. The big media news, particularly in my shop, is that Len Downie is stepping down after 17 years as executive editor. In this veepstakes period, there sure are some Washington horse races going on.