Earlier, Big Tent Democrat made another case for Hillary as Vice President. I'll make another case against Sen. Joe Biden. My specific arguments are contained in these posts:

• Report: Kaine, Biden, Bayh at Top of Obama's Veep List
• Joe Biden is No Progressive on Crime Issues.
• Joe Biden Feels a Draft
• Delaware's Shame: Prison AIDS Crisis

Check out these Joe Biden quotes below:

Virginia's DNA Project was intended to serve the worthy goal of uncovering wrongful convictions.

Virginia's large-scale review was started in 2005 after the exonerations of five men who spent a total of 91 years in prison. Virginia's then-Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) ordered the testing, calling it the "only morally acceptable course."

The state crime lab began the project by combing through about 500,000 old files of investigations into violent crimes, such as rapes and homicides, to see whether evidence had been preserved. Any case where biological clues remained and a person was convicted was picked for testing. All results are sent to the police and prosecutor's office that handled the case years ago, said Peter M. Marone, director of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science.

What happens next is unclear. Police and prosecutors are getting the results, but they're resisting invitations to share them with defendants and defense attorneys. [more ...]

Whether it's the Olympics or something else that's on your mind, here's a place to talk about it.

As I was driving around downtown Denver today, it occurred to me how small an area it really is. While 50,000 people aren't unusual for a sports game, the folks all go home afterwards. Next week, they'll be sticking around 24/7 -- especially since so many hotels are miles away. It's going to be very crowded. [More...]

You know how after the fact now everyone wonders how in the hell we plunged into the Iraq Debacle? How in hindsight it was so obviously boneheaded that we wonder where all the "experts" were yelling "are you crazy?" That is how I feel about the fact that Barack Obama is not going to pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Honestly, I have never seen a bigger no brainer in my life for this. But you have read it all before from me as to why this is so. But do not take my word for it, ask Obamabot numbers man Poblano:

Clinton -- Boy, would this be dramatic. And perhaps exceptionally smart. I think Obama might get an immediate 10-15 point bounce if he named her. But I don't know how well she'd hold up after coming under attack in September and October -- remember, she hasn't really been the subject of a negative campaign since late February, when the Obama folks decided they had the nomination locked up and started to play it safe. It's a crazy scenario, but the whole Obama veepstakes has been crazy enough that I wouldn't rule it out.

(Emphasis supplied for sheer incredulity. How would Hillary hold up under negative attacks? Are you freaking kidding me? This is an open question for Poblano? Sheesh.)

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Are you worrying yet? Steve Soto is. I'm getting there. And here is another reason why -- PPP (PDF) says its tied in Ohio (PPP had Obama up 8 last month):

John McCain has pulled even with Barack Obama in Ohio, according to the newest survey from Public Policy Polling. Obama had led in PPP’s June and July polls of the state. It’s 45-45 with 10% undecided. One factor causing Obama problems is that he’s not doing as good a job as McCain of getting folks in his party to vote for him. While McCain leads 89-7 among Republicans, Obama’s lead is a narrower 75-17 among Democrats. Obama has the 45-28 edge with independent voters.

The Democrats neglecting to choose Obama are disproportionately white, female, and middle aged, an indication that it could be former supporters of Hillary Clinton who are holding out.

(Emphasis supplied.) Yep. Not considering Hillary for VP is brilliant. If Obama loses without picking Hillary, he and his team will have some serious splainin' to do.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Kevin Drum say yes. I beg to differ. Kevin writes:

My take, roughly, is that Putin screwed up. . . . Putin got greedy — or just made a mistake — and sent Russian troops into Georgia proper. . . . [I]t succeeded mainly in uniting virtually everyone in outrage against Russian aggression. Putin can pretend all he wants that he doesn't care about Western opinion, but he obviously does — and what's more, Western unity makes a difference in concrete terms too. . . . [I]n the end, the countries on Russia's border are more firmly in our camp now than they were even before the war.

This strikes me as an utter misreading of the situation. I'll explain why on the flip.

Rick Warren has made transcripts of last night's faith forum available here. CNN has video links to some questions and answers. Ryan Corsaro observes that John McCain repeatedly violated Warren's admonition not to answer with his stump speech, a tactic that served McCain well. James Fallows doesn't expect McCain to do as well when under pressure in a debate. Adele Stan compares the candidates' approaches to (and definitions of) evil.

On the topic of abortion, it's interesting to note the wording of Warren's question: [more ...]

Mike Lupica writes:

There was a time, because this is still a country of running and jumping, when the Olympics didn't really start until track and field did. . . . There was a time when the men's 100 was the glamour event of the Summer Olympics the way the men's downhill is the glamour men's event in winter. But that all changed 20 years ago when we all came to the stadium the first weekend in Seoul, the place crawling with security, lousy with security, as many guards awatching the stands that year as there were watching the track, where Carl Lewis would go up against Ben Johnson of Canada.

Lupica argues that the Ghost of Ben Johnson hangs over the phenomenal freak of nature Usain Bolt, who won the 100 meter dash in Beijing in otherworldly fashion. I hope not. I have no idea if "Lightning" Bolt is juiced but I have never seen an athlete I would suspect less. More . . .

Tom Ridge, in an interview today, was asked whether the Republican Party would accept a vice president who is pro-choice (like, for instance, Tom Ridge):

Question: Given its long pro-life history, do you really think that the Republican Party would accept a pro-choice running mate?

RIDGE: My friend of 25 years is passionately pro-life. He is also passionately a believer that the Republican Party must have a big tent. And I think, frankly, what he was just saying to the rest of the world is that we need to accept both points of view. He's not judgmental about me or my belief. He just disagrees with me. ...

WALLACE: And to answer my question specifically, do you think the Republican Party would accept a pro-choice running mate?

RIDGE: Well, I think that would be up to — first of all, to John to decide whether he wants a pro-choice running mate, and then we would have to see how the Republican Party would rally around it. At the end of the day, I think the Republican Party will be comfortable with whatever John makes.

Really? Is the shrinking Republican tent likely to grow if McCain selects a pro-choice running mate, or will the tent collapse altogether?

At daily kos, the very fine writer Devil's Tower makes the same type of error that the Far Right does when discussing foreign policy, human rights and free markets. Except in reverse. DT writes:

[S]omewhere along the line, we had made a mental connection between capitalism and freedom. Anything good for one was seen as good for the other. We viewed liberty and greed as soul mates. Often enough, we couldn't tell one from the other, and in that confusion we ignored the other half of the struggle -- the one being waged by that still wet behind the ears idea, democracy. In short, we bought our own press.

Fair enough. The silly notion that capitalism and "trade" will necessarily translate into freedom is pernicious. But we can and should recognize this as propaganda while still understanding that both freedom and liberalization of markets will be, in the long run, beneficial to US interests. BTW, it is ALSO propaganda when we discuss it in terms of traditional pet Left causes like lifting the embargo in Cuba (NOTE: I favor lifting the Cuba embargo, but not because it promises freedom for Cuba but because it is an ineffective foreign policy). But we must ALSO understand that a policy for human rights must be tempered by the realities of the national interests of the United States. After all, no one can deny that Iraq is more free today after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. But it also can not be denied that the US is much worse off because of the toppling of Saddam Hussein by the US. More . . .

Our earlier thread on this is full. Here's a news article with a recap of Senators Barack Obama and John McCain's answers at tonight's faith forum.

TChris has an open thread going for the Rick Warner faith forum. Here's one for the Olympics and all other topics.

My apologies for forgetting an Olympics thread last night. I was watching Legally Blond and forgot.