Hillary Fights On

"We've all gone through the reasons over and over as to why it's a bad idea -- or, as I prefer to say -- a horrible, insane, catastrophic idea.

"But let me throw just this one: Obama will be placed into an incredibly weak position if he is unable to make the VP selection for himself. By being 'forced' into taking Clinton (and no amount of eloquent speech-making on his part would convince anyone that he was anything other than forced), he will instantly seem smaller, less presidential, and a less powerful figure."

Which will happen if the media play it that way.

Meanwhile, no sooner did word of John McCain's Sedona barbecue/veep audition surface than the Obama team let it be known that, hey, we're vetting running mates, too! Jim Johnson, who seems to have a lock on the job, is tapped again. The secrets that this guy must know.

At Red State, Erick Erickson opines about three of the Sedona invitees:

"Bobby Jindal -- I expect he'll say no, but you can ask. Louisiana needs him and he needs more time in office. But good choice.

"Mitt Romney -- absolutely, but he really doesn't get you as much as a few others could. But he'd be great.

"Charlie Crist -- are you kidding me? Seriously? Let me be blunt yet again: I will bolt so fast from supporting you if you pick this well tanned squish and all his baggage. Charlie Crist is totally and completely unacceptable. That's not even negotiable. I do not think I could say anything positive at all about the GOP ticket if that guy were on it. Go with Ron Paul or Mike Huckabee, but do not go with Charlie Crist. Senator, your problem is with conservatives, not with squishy moderates."

Dick Polman looks at results of a focus group where people keep saying Obama is a Muslim. It's a very real question how Barack can dispel that falsehood, and whether the media have done an adequate job.

Back to the question of political spouses, New York's Daily News unearths a new angle on Ted Kennedy as he battles a brain tumor:

"Ted Kennedy has made clear to confidants that when his time is up, he wants his Senate seat to stay in the family - with his wife, Vicki.

"Multiple sources in Massachusetts with close ties to the liberal lion say his wife of 16 years has long been his choice to continue carrying the family flame in the Senate. Kennedy won the seat in 1962; his brother John held it from 1953 to 1960."