Barack Obama reportedly is having “very serious” conversations with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine about being his vice presidential pick. Obama’s campaign staff reportedly also is seriously vetting Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Joe Biden, D-Del.
If Obama picks Kaine, it will put El Dorado in the spotlight again. Kaine grew up in Overland Park, but his mother was from El Dorado. Obama’s grandfather grew up in El Dorado, and Obama’s mother lived there briefly as a child before the family moved to Seattle.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, was charged with seven counts of making false statements on his financial disclosure forms. For years, Stevens was the king of earmarks as head of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The indictment accuses Stevens of concealing payments of more than $250,000 in goods and services from an oil company that wanted Stevens’ help.
“I think it’s a pretty good timetable,” John McCain said Friday about the 16-month timeline for pulling out of Iraq. So is he now backing Barack Obama’s proposal, too? And isn’t this a policy change, given how McCain has said for months that he didn’t support a timetable for withdrawal? No, McCain said Sunday. He contends that the difference is that he would base his decisions on “the conditions on the ground.” But this looks like a shift based on the conditions of the election.
Three officials at the Justice Department broke the law by using politics to guide their hiring decisions, according to a new report by the department’s inspector general and internal ethics office. The report focused primarily on Monica Goodling (in photo), the department’s former White House liaison and senior counsel. But it determined that former chief of staff Kyle Sampson and Goodling’s predecessor, Jan Williams, also violated federal law and department policy. An earlier report concluded that the department improperly used politics to pick candidates for honors and internship programs. But the new report determined that the violations were much more extensive and included political hiring for some of the department’s most senior career positions, including immigration judges and assistant U.S. attorneys, the Washington Post reported.
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Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is often criticized by Republicans for her busy travel schedule. But Wichita should thank her for taking the time and trouble to visit the recent Farnborough International Air Show near London, where she drew some extra attention because of the Obama veepstakes buzz surrounding her. The governor’s presence at the air show helped convey to the world the mammoth role that Kansas and Wichita play in aviation manufacturing, and their determination to defend and build on that role in a highly competitive global economy.
Barack Obama reportedly is having “very serious” conversations with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine about being his vice presidential pick. Obama’s campaign staff reportedly also is seriously vetting Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Joe Biden, D-Del.
