Letters to the Editor
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Then let them redo it.
Simple answer. They have time.
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Find a Winner, Not a Loser
James Johnson picked VPs for Mondale in '84 (Ferraro) and Kerry in 2004 (Edwards), both, unfortunately, losing tickets.
Why not find whoever helped Clinton choose Gore--one of the best Democratic tickets ever. IMHO, Clinton's choice of Gore is what helped him to victory the first time around.
Too bad Gore's choice of Lieberman was the WORST Dem choice in history.
Obama can do better.
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Surprise, surprise
Did anyone really believe that Senator Obama was different from other career politicians. Campaigning for election has been his only career since he got out of college. He was an intern doing community organizing but that was merely getting to know African Americans so he could run as one in future elections.
I personally don't believe anything he says. The only thing that would surprise me is if he has ever taken any position that wasn't political posturing. I think even his marriage to Michelle was political posturing. So much for a Democrat winning in November. When people finally realize that he has not been telling the truth about anything, he will end up winning only Oregon in November.
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I agree with the first two letters
There's plenty of time, so start from scratch and find someone to replace Johnson.
Also, Johnson has picked losers -- once again, start from scratch.
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dump him
Nobody is irreplaceable. If he can't explain to Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder "how all the parts fit together" before he leaves, then they don't fit together.
(That said, I can't quite imagine this story having legs without a lot of pushing from the media. Oh wait ...)
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Who picks the veep?
These committees doubtless do important work but the VP candidates are chosen by the candidates and, if they don't work out, it's the candidate's responsibility.
I agree that Gore was an inspired choice for Bill Clinton but, to my knowledge, it was Clinton's idea and he's the one that made it happen.
I can't imagine that Barack Obama doesn't have his own strong ideas of who he wants and is using the committee to vet them and give him feedback. But who's on the committee isn't going to matter a whole helluva lot, except for PR purposes.
Unless, of course, your GWB, and you allow the head of your committee to go through the whole charade and then pick himself. Ladies and gentlemen, was that not the biggest Red Flag raised in political history? Poor George probably had no clue what he was getting into and sighed a sigh of relief that someone else had walked him through his first tough decision.
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Air the laundry
And as long as we're scrutinizing, how's about a long, hard look at the people running the entirety of McCain's campaign - not just the person who's vetting potential VPs.
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No biggie... but, I had a feeling this guy would blow out.
I don't know...
There was just this feeling I had when I first read his name among the selection committee members...
...something didn't smell right.
However, I completely agree with everything that other folks are saying in here...
This is no big deal... dump this guy, and find someone more appropriate. There is MORE THAN ENOUGH time.
Let's just remember not to get caught up in "freak out" mode! You know... how folks take every tiny detail and LOSE THEIR SHIT over it! OF COURSE the other side (and a few on our own, unfortunately), are going to go bananas over every little move Senator Obama and his team make! What do you expect from desperate people?!?
Let's just stay calm, remain strong and confident, and take this to November!
DEMOCRATS, UNITE!
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@Lezah2
Better trolls, please. Both the French and the Russian judge would give you a 1.8 for that clumsy, uninspired effort.
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vetting
I'll wager Johnson doesn't recommend himself for VP.
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Ah , the Messiah
if off to a running start.
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You've got to be kidding me
How dare you run this without putting John "Keating 5" McCain's connections in as context? As established very well in your own pages, Johnson was using vehicles created by senior McCain advisor Phil Grahmn created, in part to benefit his wife who was then on Enron's board.
Obama may have an advisor that made money working for Countrywide, and that's a problem, but it's not at the same scale of McCain's rotten connections.
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Correction to Messiah
he is (not if) off to a running start.
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is, if....no difference
still a weak comment
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What's the problem
If Johnson did nothing illegal what's the problem? Its seems like more guilt by association, while McCain was one of the "Keating 5".
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Really?
Is this all the Republicans can find on Obama? Salon, why are you printing not one, but two trivial articles today? Why aren't you printing something about Hillary campaigning for Obama?
How about that speech in North Carolina? Why aren't you 'vetting' that?
This guy is really so far down the totem pole in significance. Bush's BROTHER was directly involved in the savings and loan crisis.
McCain was involving in all kinds of stuff with the Keating Five.
This guy isn't even appointed to nose wiper. He is an temporary advisor. Really. REALLY.
What is next, the paper delivery guy?
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ho-hum
If the guy has some issues with credibility...the DTMFA, it's not like he has a winning track record or anything.
there's rrrreallly nothing to see here - other than this story being yet another in the long and curious line of "Obama's problem with _____" stories to grace the pages of Salon.com these last few months.
Honestly dudes, what's up with that? What are ya, Self-Hating Democrats or sumpin'??
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I don't see it.
Maybe I'm just financially unsophisticated, but I don't see how this is important. If people are being downgraded to "unsuitable" for taking out a loan at the most favorable terms available -- and, as I suspect, if it turns out that Mr. Johnson was a good risk and thus the loan was reasonable -- then we really are lost. Who will ever pass muster? Whose c.v., delved into with computers, will fail to reveal some tiny anomaly that can be spun into a "misdeed" that removes them from public service?
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Not even that
Obama may have an advisor that made money working for Countrywide, and that's a problem, but it's not at the same scale of McCain's rotten connections.
-- amspeck
No, he just took out a loan through them.
Yes, that's the big "scandal" here. Because Obama criticized the company for giving stupid loans. And the person doing his vetting took out a loan through them.
I really thought the tabloidization of Salon was due to a surfeit of partisanship for Hillary Clinton, blurring the vision. Now I realized it's just a general malaise.
Just make sure and publish every idiotic right wing smear, wouldn't want to miss one.