1. I deserve this, and he does not (this plays into the whole "affirmative action hire" ugliness, and contrasts McCains POW cred with Obama's thin resume)

   2. I am a maverick reformer, and he is a tool of corrupt special intersts (McCain will point to Obama's ties to Rezko and Obama's vote in favor of the recent Energy Bill--which McCain and Clinton both opposed)

   3. I can keep you safe from slavering Islamofascist barbarians, and he cannot.

   4. I am a real American, and he is not. (McCain's campaign will phrase it more subtly, but FOX, Regnery Press, Rush, and the 527s will do the heavy lifting.)

This is a year in which the GOP is losing on every issue under the sun. So they won't make it about issues, and they won't make it about Democrats or Republicans. They will try to make Americans WORSHIP John McCain and DESPISE Barack Obama as INDIVIDUALS. And based on past history, I wouldn't bet money against their succeeding.  

Hillary's Exit

"Hillary Clinton goes loudly as Barack Obama seeks to woo her supporters"

Obama's campaign enjoys a significant fundraising edge over that of McCain, 71, after raising $272m in the past 18 months.

The Obama and Clinton camps are tentatively beginning to merge their fundraising apparatuses after Hillary told leading donors on a conference call: "He needs to know all of you. He really needs your help."

She is planning to keep her core donor team in place, however, so she can control how to dispense the cash. Clinton's finance chairman predicted that her supporters could bring in a further $200m but warned that the amount could depend on whether Obama picked her as a running mate.

Clinton has not fully accepted her vanquished status, despite her eloquent speech. The New York senator merely suspended her campaign last night, ostensibly so that she could raise money to pay off her $30m debts. A transition team has been appointed to negotiate the terms under which she will campaign for Obama - a somewhat bizarre case of the defeated usurping the role of victor, since losers rarely get to set the conditions.

Robert Barnett, a Washington lawyer who handled Tony Blair's multimillion-dollar book deal, and Cheryl Mills, another lawyer and confidante, are expected to bargain hard for help with settling Clinton's debts, including an $11m personal loan that she made to the campaign.

Clinton is believed to be haggling over the extent to which she will be Obama's highest-profile campaigner against McCain, as well as over the guarantee of a star turn at the Democratic National Convention.

I don't know if the debt talk is real, or how well-sourced any of this stuff is.  But the presence of a transition team on her part certainly indicates that dismissing Clinton and figuring out her role will be no simple matter.  She will inevitably be high profile, and if Obama watched the crowd yesterday he would be able to see that people are very excited about her playing a role in the coming election.  

Change as a rallying cry or motto isn't enough to do it: the person behind the word really has to bring it.

It worked for Bill Clinton because he really was a unique personality and uniquely talented politician.

It worked for Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania because she used her time there well, worked her butt off in the ways that matter, and supplemented her work with her 1/3 budget. Most importantly, she personally earned voters' support and votes.

Both Clintons faced their attackers and doubters head on and on their turf.

Barack Obama doesn't do this. He runs away. He doesn't -- or his "brilliant" campaign doesn't allow him to -- risk his "brand". He is disassociated in a bad way, and wooing the wrong people.

Right out of the gate, adopting as a personal virtue the selling point that HRC was divisive was a wrongheaded strategy, a wrong approach and a wrong mentality for to hang onto for anyone who wants to win straight up and emphatically.

As he and his Club never cease to remind people, he's not either one of the Clintons.

1. This is a change election and change has been the central message of the Obama campaign. To many, the Clintons represent the past. The Obama campaign might conclude that choosing Clinton is not consistent with his change message.

2. Bill Clinton was both an asset and a liaibility to Hillary Clinton's campaign. The Obama campaign might conclude that managing Bill Clinton's involvement in the campaign is more trouble than it's worth.

3. Both the vice presidential candidate and their spouse will have to undergo intensive vetting of all financial interests. It's not clear that Bill Clinton is willing to undergo such a process or that the outcome of such a process would be as free of questions as necessary.

4. The Obama campaign may determine than a different vice presidential candidate might bring something essential to the ticket that Clinton doesn't.

5. Polling in early August may determine that Hillary Clinton is not the strongest vice presidential choice.

6. Obama may determine that in terms of governance, the chemistry is not sufficient with Hillary Clinton to make an effective team. And No. 2 above also applies to the White House.

7. Clinton supporters who insist that Obama has no choice but to pick Clinton may make it impossible for him to choose her without looking weak.