That McCain is being forced to spend money in North Carolina confirms the wisdom of the Obama campaign's decision to commit effort to it. McCain's resources could be more productively spent in places like Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania if the GOP didn't have to play defense.

It's not surprising to see Obama take the offense: his opponent has a lot more turf to defend, and the Democratic nominee's financial advantage spares him the tough resource-allocation decisions facing McCain. Besides, both campaigns can shift resources as conditions warrant over the next eighty-odd days.

But you're right: if Obama manages to lose this thing, the decision to compete everywhere will, in hindsight, look less than shrewd.

Interesting point about one-stop voting in Ohio. You're right that it gives an advantage to the candidate with the superior organization.

In the North Carolina primary, for example, one-stop voters accounted for 25% of the total turnout but 40% of Obama's margin of victory, adding about 100,000 votes to his bottom line.

I doubt McCain's wealth will get that much attention because people expect Republicans to have money. John Edwards was skewered for the $200 haircut because his lavish lifestyle seemed a bit, um, inconsistent with the Two Americas narrative.

McCain, on the other hand, defines "rich" as having an income of $5 million a year.

See http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12646.html

in which Mike Allen et al. report that Lieberman is under serious consideration for the number two spot on the Republican ticket.

Tom Ridge would be a stretch, but Lieberman?

The only thing Lieberman and McCain have in common is their shared support for the (still extremely unpopular) war in Iraq. The Base would storm St. Paul with pitchforks.

Politico needs a reality check.

Might it be that pulling off what's perceived as a successful convention is more a product of a favorable political environment than a cause of it?

The Democratic base is more fired up this year than it's been in a long time, while GOP activists are comparatively dispirited and unenthusiastic about their nominee. Coverage of the conventions will probably reflect that enthusiasm gap, but I'm not sure it will create it.

Whether the Democratic Party tweaks its rules or revamps them will hinge on the outcome in November. If Obama manages to lose this thing, expect to see the mother of all commissions.

Leaving Sarah Palin's readiness to serve as vice president, there is a nearer-term question about whether she's ready to run for that office.

Whatever her accomplishments in Juneau, she has never experienced anything like the gauntlet of media scrutiny she's about to undergo.

She got off to a good start this morning, but I can't see her getting through the next sixty-odd days without committing some newbie gaffes, episodes that would reinforce the image of her as a featherweight.

It's a massive gamble, but the McCain campaign believes (correctly, in my view) that a Hail Mary pass is the only chance they've got.

That Palin needs the kind of rehabilitation only Sean Hannity can provide suggests she might not have redeemed herself in round two of the ABC interview. I look forward to seeing it.

I hope Hannity can get Palin to agree with him that the economy is in great shape, as he delusionally suggests here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8bsIjGcZyI&eurl