In the latest New Yorker, Hendrik Hertzberg writes about John McCain’s options in selecting a vice presidential running mate:

If McCain really wants to have it all—to refurbish his maverick image without having to flip-flop on the panderings that have tarnished it; to galvanize the attention of the press, the nation, and the world; to make a bold play for the center without seriously alienating “the base”—then he can avail himself of a highly interesting option: Condoleezza Rice.

To deal first with the obvious: Rice may be “only” the second woman and the second African-American to be Secretary of State, but she is indisputably the highest-ranking black female official ever to have served in any branch of the United States government. Her nomination to a constitutional executive office would cost McCain the votes of his party’s hardened racists and incorrigible misogynists. They are surely fewer in number, though, than the people who would like to participate in breaking the glass ceiling of race or gender but, given the choice, would rather do so in a more timid way, and/or without abandoning their party. And with Rice on the ticket the Republicans could attack Clinton or Obama with far less restraint.

Read his entire assessment here.

Barack Obama keeps gaining ground on Hillary Clinton’s delegate count, winning by big margins in today’s Louisiana Democratic primary and in state caucuses out West in Nebraska and Washington, an area of the country where his support is surging (see Mark Bergin’s article from earlier in the week). Obama also captured the Democratic caucus in the Virgin Islands.

On the GOP side, Mike Huckabee could see a sweep today as well, winning Kansas this afternoon and leading in tight races against John McCain in Louisiana and Washington state tonight, with Ron Paul running a close third in the Evergreen State.

For updates and up-to-date delegate counts, click here for an interactive map courtesy of the Associated Press.

Polls are closing across the nation in the 24 states holding presidential primaries or caucuses today. By the end of tonight, will we know who the nominee will be for the Democrats and the Republicans?

Here are the final results so far (to be updated throughout the evening):

Democrats

• Hillary Clinton (Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Arizona, California)
• Barack Obama (Georgia, Illinois, Delaware, Alabama, Kansas, Utah, North Dakota, Connecticut, Minnesota, Colorado, Idaho, Alaska, Missouri)

Republicans

• Mike Huckabee (West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia)
• John McCain (New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Oklahoma, Arizona, Missouri, California)
• Mitt Romney (Massachusetts, Utah, North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Colorado, Alaska)
• Ron Paul (none) [for Wiglaf ]

And here’s an interactive map to help you follow the breakdown of the vote and the delegate count.

UPDATE (10:15 p.m.): The highlights so far include Clinton taking the major northeast states of New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts — the state where Obama was endorsed by both of its U.S. senators and by its governor; Huckabee winning and leading in what’s looking like a solid South for him; and Romney, so far, winning in only his home state of Massachusetts and in the Mormon-dominated state of Utah.

UPDATE (10:45 p.m.): With McCain finally being called the winner in Arizona, all five major candidates have won their home states.

UPDATE (12:15 a.m.): Clinton and McCain take California.

Look out, Huckabee.  National Review has endorsed somebody, and it ain’t him.

(more…)

Did you watch the Republican debate last night?  Reuters says there were fireworks, which may only mean that it wasn’t as boring as past debates.

The CNN/YouTube debate was as close to a free-for-all as can be expected at such events. The candidates did not shy away from open confrontations with each other and the questions were submitted by the public on videotape.

Some of the better exchanges from the evening include:

ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE, on whether Jesus would use the death penalty: “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office.”

Harrison recently said, “I like him more and more.” And yesterday, more than 37,000 Ron Paul supporters demonstrated how much they like him by adding more than $4.2 million to his political war chest, the most any Republican candidate for president has raised in a single day. Backers behind the fund-raising effort, which spread virally on the Internet, tied it to Guy Fawkes Day, which commemorates the day in 1605 that Roman Catholic British mercenary Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament and assassinate Protestant King James I.

Campaign spokesperson Jesse Benton told The New York Times that Paul doesn’t advocate blowing up governmental buildings: “He wants to demolish things like the Department of Education, but we can do that very peacefully, in a constructive manner.”

Conservatives and rednecks and backwater Confederates like their major political candidates white, male, native, Southern and Christian.  So why is an Indian about to become governor of Louisiana?  This is America at its best, and I’m surprised to see the MSM covering it so much.  His name’s Bobby Jindal, and he’s going to be the story of 2008. 

He is Oxford-educated.  A Rhodes scholar.  He is the son of immigrants from India.  He is a “born-again Catholic.”  He doesn’t mind the teaching of intelligent design.  He is, in short, a real weirdo in the weirdest state in the Union (edging past California for its lack of pretense, which is a sign of true oddity).  Go America.