If it is the Clarkveep...

...it will be one of the best bits of political subterfuge in recent memory. But that's neither here nor there...

What's important is that all the oxygen is sucked up. Granted, it is the weekend, but the talk for the whole week has been positive or at worst neutral for Obama: "Who's his veep?!?!"

So the news has been taken up, quite literally, with standby of the... ugh... Veepstakes. (Really? Veepstakes? On every channel? Nobody's got an original thought? Top of my head: Veeps Week, Vice Prize, Second Act, Partner in Primetime, hell, even Veep for Vendetta if he picks someone to snub Hillary.)

Meanwhile, McCain's housing flap continues to take up any possible space he could be mentioned in. Even their "But He's a POW!" defense doesn't get traction because there's no time to talk about it, 'cause that time is taken up by the Veep Watch. (Side note: once SNL does a "When I was in 'Nam" sketch, that defense is done and done.)

In all, masterfully played by the Obama camp.

ClarkVeep Speaks

Your editorial staff here at The Dark Steer Report have undertaken to explore the ClarkVeep from both sides of the issue. But we do not labor under any illusions that these are anything other than just, like, our opinions, man. What says the man himself?

"I know he's trying to get traction by seeking to play to what he thinks is his strong suit of national security... The truth is that, in national security terms, he's largely untested and untried. He's never been responsible for policy formulation. He's never had leadership in a crisis, or in anything larger than his own element on an aircraft carrier or [in managing] his own congressional staff. It's not clear that this is going to be the strong suit that he thinks it is."

"What he thinks is his strong suit"? Ouch. Two things revealed here.

1. They're still planning on running a solid guerrilla politics campaign. Turn McCain's strengths against him. Just like they did with the Clintons (BigDawg Bill all of a sudden equals albatross? Who knew?) Ask the Dark Steer Moonless Prairie Night Magic 8-Ball if we're going to see McCain's service record (respectfully) attacked and undercut and it snarls back "All Signs Point to Yup."
2. Clark's trying to show off his attack dog chops here. He still doesn't have a fully formed defense for Obama when he attacks Walnuts. He tries to parry the "neither does Obama" with a rather weak "but that's not what he's running on". Hell, even if you agree with the man, that's not terribly convincing. Were he to get the Veep-nod, expect Obama's team to flesh out this defense a bit. Perhaps something like "Senator Obama isn't putting forth his non-executive service record as a primary plank for his candidacy as is Senator Bush--I'm sorry--Senator McCain. Senator Obama is running on a record of sound judgment in national security matters and, with the benefit of my years in executive capacity throughout the heirarchy of our Armed Forces, in peacetime and in war, I am certain he's got the chops to steer this country through blah blah yadda yadda what have you."

So ClarkVeepWatch continues... more later.