They became famous for energetic live performances. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their 1st year of eligibility. Baseing on to the New York Times, The Who have sold 100 million discs….

Obama should be able to accept volunteer help from anyone to do “discreet tasks” as should McCain. Those selected and paid to run the campaign need to be more thoroughly vetted.

But the issues, policies and plans of the candidates are what we need to be discussing, and on these we must choose, not on these “gotchas”. But OK, if Obama opponents want to play it this way, they'll get their wish. They should know that their candidate has lots more skeletons in his closet and in his campaign, and they are inviting the heightened scrutiny and “gotcha” response. Enjoy the show.

“the right has nothing to promote. They're going to use the time digging up gotcha moments.”

Huh? McCain has been hammered by “Gotchas” so far, while Obama has gotten passes. See, for example, the most recent Petraeus testimony in which McCain corrected himself while speaking — but was declared senile by bloggers for doing so — while later that day Obama misspoke, confusing Iraq and Iran, and was given a pass by the media.

Runasim…I believe Obama performed perfectly in fixing this before it became a problem. He has clearly matured from the days when he would allow something to fester before taking action. Thus, I disagree with you, in that believe this incident shows Obama's greater political maturity.

Alas, I did not detect your ironic humor, and I apologize for that. (In my defense, I have seen Dick Cheney brought in repeatedly on this story on Left blogs, so I assumed you were doing the same. )

Re: bringing in KOS etc. … I was seeking to move from a particular response to your comment to a more general response re. the broader significance. This is no slight to you…for I know you would never criticize candidates on the basis of appearance (I should note, in fairness to those on the Left, that KOS's own commenters almost unanimously hammered him for that low blow!).

But Daveinboca's analysis of Johnson is revealing of the power of these InsidetheBeltway pols. Obama turning to such a tainted example of this species now…as he had done in Chicago in the past… may give us insights to his direction in the future.

You are completely missing the point and continuing the
“, but the DemocratsObama/whoever are worse” storyline.

Unlike you,when responding to these artificially manufactured scandals, I constantly defend McCain and other candidates and public figures with whom I disagree and whom I may not like .. What is it about conservatives that they can never comment about a current topic without bringing in Kos. Micahel Morre, etc.?
It would really help if when responding to MY comment, you would confine yourself to responding to ME, without associating me with everyone else on your hit list.

My point was, since you missed it, that who shines Obama's shoes, so to speak. does not say anything about Obama, except that he was looking for a good shoe shiner. Even an ex-con could shine shoes well. The degree of outrage should be related to the actual situation, and in this case, the situation involves people who have VOLUNTEERED to look into the backgrounds of potential VP nominees. Obama has shown himself to be very much his own man in making final decisions.

Now, if Obama were to propose these people themselves for VP or any other position in his administraton, then the situation would be different, and the reactions might be appropriate. That's how situational asessments work:

Please note: I referred to Dick Cheney in a fit of IRONIC HUMOR,

As for throwing people under the bus, i think politics is forcing Obama to act against his natural instinct and basic beliefs. I already explained my opinion om this in the second comment from the top.

“3) how the Democrats will respond to all criticism or question in this election (i.e., everything embarrassing is a “distraction”) in their efforts to control the image and message.”

I'm LOVING this new idea that Democrats defending themselves is somehow cheating. “Holy crap, when I level an accusation, these people are defending their chosen candidate. How long can such ungentlemanly/ladylike behavior go on? When Republicans controlled the images and messaging in 2004, that was a civil campaign.”

Dick Cheney is irrelevant to this argument. Bringing him into the debate is akin to responding to any criticism with a chant of “Bush lied, people died.”

Had McCain appointed someone like Johnson to his VP search committee, the howls from the Democrats would be deafening. You know this would be the case.

Obama should have checked deeper. He cut his losses. As such, just a bump in the road.

The story is mainly interesting, I think, for
1) Obama's links to the corrupt Democratic cronyism of the past (cf. Chicago rules);
2) its reiteration of how Obama responds to criticism (staunchly defend…then toss under the bus); and
3) how the Democrats will respond to all criticism or question in this election (i.e., everything embarrassing is a “distraction”) in their efforts to control the image and message.

However…cf. KOS and Aravois…McCain's yellow teeth and his disability (unable to raise his arms) because of years as a POW…ARE legitimate and serious campaign issues!

Okay, You convinced me.. Neither Johnson nor Holder should be the VP..Since they're not on the list, you need have no worries.

Should they be considered for positions in the administration, then it would be relevant, and you can repeat your comment.

Who vetted Dick Chaney, btw? (hint: his initials are D.C.)
That was the time time to worry !!!

Johnson achieved a quadfecta of con-man feats of legerdemain, heading up Brookings and the Kennedy Center after mismanaging Target and the Mondale Presidential Campaign. My guess is that he, Jamie and Franklin would have trouble balancing a checkbook, let alone handling a monster-mishmash like Fannie Mae.At Fannie, where a generation of Democratic Party insiders, such as Johnson, Jamie Gorelik and Franklin Raines, made substantial fortunes in Fannie's executive suite. As Fannie Mae's top regulator, James Lockhart, pointed out in recent congressional testimony, the absence of debt-market discipline (the government guarantee makes Fannie and Freddie all but impervious to credit downgrades) makes pell-mell growth irresistible to shareholders and managers. Have a hunch, bet a bunch.

Johnson achieved a quadfecta of con-man feats of legerdemain, heading up Brookings and the Kennedy Center after mismanaging Target and the Mondale Presidential Campaign. My guess is that he, Jamie and Franklin would have trouble balancing a checkbook, let alone handling a monster-mishmash like Fannie Mae.

And in the shadow-world of Dem inside-the-Beltway pecking orders, Johnson is Chmn of the Board, like Sinatra in Hollyweird, as far as extending the tentacles of the ginormous Dem bureaucracy deep into every American life.

Too bad he got caught doing what Wall Street insiders would call “insider-trading,” though of course the MSM will exonerate one of their own and deny Johnson's duplicity in the sub-prlme market scam, just as they protected John Edwards.

Johnson, when exposed to daylight, ran back under his rock.

Eric Holder, Marc Rich's DC house-boy, may be the next forced to exit.

As for Obama & “change,” the Who said it best: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

Politcs is forcing Obama to go against his natural impulses, and his beliefs, I think, and It's sad to see it happen.

We are now at a level where someone just walking on the same street as a social leper walks would be instantly discredited.

It's becoming impossible to speak in public, as well.
McCain said the timing of when troops return from Iraq is 'not important;, and those few words have created a firestorm. Various Democrats and panels on cable stations have been analyzing, denouncing, explaiing, excusng and lauding those few words ad nauseum. i could never vote for McCain, but I understood that he was not diissing troops or their families.

This is totally insame, but a lot of people seem to be loving it and profiting from it. That's a horrible thing to have to accept as our norm.

Whatever…