Post Politics Hour

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Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and Congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.

Washington Post national political reporter Michael Shear was online Tuesday, April 8 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest news in politics.

The transcript follows.

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Archive: Post Politics Hour discussion transcripts

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Michael Shear: Good morning, everyone.

The presidential candidates are hearing directly from Gen. Petraeus as we speak. Mark Penn is either out, or maybe not so out of Hillary Clinton's campaign. Sen. Barack Obama continues to pick up a superdelegate here and there. But Pennsylvania looms large.

Let's talk politics!

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Pierre, S.D.: Good morning -- spring has arrived in South Dakota. Do you think Eugene Robinson's article today shows that she is a credible choice as McCain's vice president? Is her strength with hands-on foreign policy an added plus for McCain in defending our nation? Given that McCain is on record for saying he wants a vice president who can step into the Oval Office from day one if something happened to him, isn't Condi Rice one of the best choices for vice president, as she does not need on-the-job-training to be president?

washingtonpost.com: Run, Condi, Run! (Post, April 8)

Michael Shear: Wow. Questions about Condi Rice from Boston, Albany, NY, and Pierre S.D. Why don't we start there.

My colleague Gene Robinson wrote a column this morning talking about the possibility of Condi Rice as a VP choice for Sen. John McCain. That idea was thrown into the mix a few days ago by a Republican operative. But is it likely?

Rice, as Robinson notes, would bring pizzazz and diversity (and youth) to McCain's ticket. But she would also be a constant reminder of the mistakes that were made in the run-up to the Iraq war. Opponents of the war would no doubt salivate over the possibility of using Rice's involvement to hammer McCain even more on the war issue.

On the other hand, McCain's already perceived as a war supporter, so perhaps that doesn't hurt him as much.

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South Bend, Ind.: Given that much of differences policywise are not substantial, I have been trying to figure out what issues Obama or Clinton would emphasize as president beyond things like the terrorism and the war in Iraq. Do you have any indication of what issues would be their top priorities once in office? Obviously Clinton has emphasized health care to a greater degree than Obama, but that seems to be about it.

Michael Shear: I'm not sure that I agree that Clinton has emphasized health care more than Obama, who has talked often about his somewhat different plan for health care coverage. I think other issues on both of their agendas will likely be trade policy, addressing the housing/lending crisis, education, and environmental changes.

There are certainly many Democrats (and others) who have observed that both Obama and Clinton would likely pursue many of the same goals in office, even if their tactics might be different. That is part of the reason that some people argue the two ought to wrap up this battle soon and concentrate on the real differences with McCain.

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Albany, N.Y.: It seems to me the press has done a poor job of the initial reporting of the Mark Penn "ouster." It doesn't seem as if he really has been ousted, and the coverage gives the impression he is no longer with the campaign. Do you agree?

washingtonpost.com: Aide's New Role Looks to Some Like the Old One (Post, April 8)

Michael Shear: I think the reporting is quickly revealing that we don't know the whole story yet.

it is typical for a campaign to "announce" a change, only to see the reality be very different. Sometimes, as happened when Fred Thompson's campaign manager quit last summer, the campaign goes out of its way to say the person is staying on to "advise" the campaign. In fact, in the case of Thompson's Tom Collamore, he was gone.

In other cases, campaigns want people to believe they are gone when in fact they are still quietly around. That may turn out to be the case with Penn, though as my colleague Anne Kornblut reports it's not entirely clear yet. We may know more in a couple of weeks.

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Arlington, Va.: Wasn't Mr. Robinson's column a satire?

washingtonpost.com: Upcoming Discussion: Eugene Robinson (washingtonpost.com, 1 p.m. ET today)

Michael Shear: My read on Gene's column was that he was speaking with tongue firmly planted in cheek. But his analysis of what Rice might actually bring to a McCain ticket, I think, was serious. She would, in fact, bring diversity and undeniably a sense of excitement.

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Arlington, Va.: Hi Michael. Any word on how much money Gilmore and Marshall have raised so far for their Senate campaigns?

Michael Shear: A Virginia question! (My favorite)

I do not know the latest on the fundraising totals for the Virginia Senate race. But the last I heard, Gilmore was far, far behind Mark Warner in the money chase. Gilmore proved to be an extraordinarily poor fundraiser as a presidential candidate, raising less than $500,000, while Warner is a money-raising powerhouse. Whether the conservative wing of the Republican party in Virginia rallies behind Gilmore financially may determine how much of a race there really is this fall.

(Gilmore still faces a challenge from Prince William Del. Bob Marshall)

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Chicago: I regret that I was unable to take part in a Post discussion yesterday re: "When should a candidate drop out?" If you don't mind my bringing up the topic again: Why can't Sen. Clinton be allowed to adopt the same standard that the larger media outlets and TV networks use -- that is, they don't "declare a winner" until all the voters have had a chance to go to the polls. Even when they have reasonably good exit polls, and even some results, they refrain from "calling it."

In Ohio, as I recall, CNN didn't even run results for a while after most polls closed because one county still was voting. In this case, 10 states (20 percent of the country) hasn't voted ... two of the biggest states are still up in the air. Here's an idea: How about we let people vote before pressuring one candidate to drop out and declare the other to be the winner?

washingtonpost.com: Discussion Transcript: Justifying the End (washingtonpost.com, April 7)

Michael Shear: This is an eloquent statement of the basic message of the Clinton campaign on this issue.

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Alexandria, Va.: With the Olympic torch now on U.S. soil, will we see/hear anything more from the candidates on this issue? What pressure do you see this situation bringing?

washingtonpost.com: Olympic Torch Arrives in the U.S. (Post, April 8)

Michael Shear: Hillary Clinton has called on President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies in China in protest of the situation in Tibet. As far as I know (please correct me, dear readers) Barack Obama and John McCain have not done so.

My guess is that the torch may face some of the same protests as we saw in Europe. (There was a banner unfurled on the Golden Gate bridge yesterday). As I started this chat, the torch had not yet started its march through San Francisco, though officials were saying they were taking precautions.

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New York: Recent Republican presidential candidates have always catered to anti-black voters on their campaigns (e.g. Reagan's 1980 speech in Philadelphia, Miss.), and those voters have provided winning Republicans with their margin of victory. If McCain were to choose Rice as running mate, it could send a signal that he disavows racism. But would it not also cost him the election?

Michael Shear: I'm not sure this is a fair way to put it. But it's clear from history that politicians in both parties try to appeal to a variety of constituencies that are sometimes in conflict with each other. So if Rice would help McCain in some communities, it's certainly possible she might hurt him in others where they are not as receptive to an African American or a woman as vice president.

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Lothian, Md.: Why can't we do two things to fix our economy and the taxation system in one stroke? First eliminate all three federal payroll taxes on the first $100,000, then add a new 1 percent "investment grade purchase tax" that would tax any and all investments made in this country by any entity, foreign or domestic. This tax would be designed to replace the funds lost by enactment of the first measure.

Michael Shear: Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's phone number: 555-1212.

Just kidding. Interesting idea, though. As a math and economics-challenged political reporters, I would be committing a criminal act to try and comment on the policy implications of this idea.

Any thoughts from the peanut gallery are welcome.

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Hey, Chicago:"Here's an idea: How about we let people vote before pressuring one candidate to drop out and declare the other to be the winner?" Here's another idea: Let's apply some reality and some math: 80 percent of the states have already voted, and they've given Obama the lead. For Sen. Clinton to gain on Sen. Obama, she'd have to rack up huge wins the likes of which she only achieved in Arkansas, and she'd need to do it in all the remaining events. His lead may not look big, but it's basically insurmountable. She can stay in the race, but she needs to be asked why she is doing it when the voters have spoken in such large numbers and have chosen somebody else. Is she just hoping something goes wrong with the Obama campaign, or is she going to try to make that happen herself?

Michael Shear: A just as eloquent statement of the Obama position on this issue. You guys want spokespeople jobs?

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Another Virginia Question: Why did Bill Bolling drop out of the Virginia governor's race? It seems like the Democrats are going to field a relatively weak candidate in either Moran (too liberal for the state) or Deeds (too conservative for Northern Virginia).

Michael Shear: Sorry guys. One more Virginia question.

Bill Bolling, the current Lt. Governor, almost certainly saw it would be difficult to beat the Attorney General, Bob McDonnell, and made the calculation that it's better to go for another term..

As for the Democrats, I think both observations might be correct about Brian Moran and Creigh Deeds. But it's too early to say whether the two lawmakers can craft an effective, statewide image.

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St. Paul, Minn.: Hi Michael -- thank you for taking my question. Sen. McCain once again made a big speech yesterday about how great things are in Iraq (just as it was announced that more U.S. soldiers had been killed). And again, the reaction overall seemed to be pretty ho-hum. Can we pretty much plan on this type of response until the Democratic nomination is settled, which is taking up all the oxygen right now?

washingtonpost.com: McCain Makes the Case for Staying in Iraq (washingtonpost.com, April 7)

Michael Shear: Sen. McCain has been extraordinarily consistent for the past year on the issue of Iraq. He just repeated his support for the surge in statements on the Hill this morning.

But in his questioning of Petraeus, he made a point of asking some tough questions about the continued bombardment of the Green Zone, the less-than-successful assault by the Iraqi army in Basra, and the continuing problems in Mosul.

For McCain, the war is a delicate issue. It provides him a way to make the argument that his experience in foreign policy makes him the best president. But it also is a wild card that, should things continue to worsen, could weigh down his chances as it did earlier in 2007.

As for the Democrats, they have clearly been distracted with the fight between Obama and Clinton. The Democratic National Committee continues to hit McCain on the issue, but they get little attention. The real fight on this issue will start when the Democrats pick a nominee.

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Atlanta: I think Herman Cain would be a fine vice presidential candidate. He brings a lot as a conservative to the ticket. And I'd just love to vote for a McCain/Cain ticket!

Michael Shear: Like the sound of it!

For those who might say "who?": Herman Cain is the former Senate candidate from Georgia who was once the CEO of the Godfather's Pizza chain.

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Raleigh, N.C.: Pennsylvania seems to be about even between Obama and Clinton -- no big delegate swing there. Obama has a 20 percent-plus lead here in North Carolina, and there is no way she's going to come close here. In effect, once she loses net ground in these two states, won't the money all but dry up for her?

Michael Shear: I would never try to predict what will happen in this race. There have been too many twists and turns. And her fundraising base, while not as out of this world as Obama's, has still been extraordinary. So who's to say what will happen after North Carolina on that front?

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Michael Shear: That's about all the time we have, folks. Thanks for all the good questions.

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