I saw this. Mika is such a joke. She breaks her neck to play devil's advocate because, as she reminds us every frickin' morning, she has relatives working for both candidates. Her implying that McCain has presidential credibility on national defense because he's a POW was nauseating. (And for those saying that she simply has to ask the questions, that's crap. She couches every questions in a perceived opinion that she seems to have picked up off the pile of talking points, from either side. It's like she never does her homework. It'd be nice to see actual journalists like Barnicle host that show, instead of Republican hacks like Scarborough and Robin Quivers-lite.)

Rant over.

That said, it was a tour de force by Clark. He defended Obama deftly, and I know from personal experience (having worked at CNN years ago) that this man is amazingly brilliant when it comes to national security and national defense. He's one of my top three choices for VP, along with Mark Warner and Kathleen Sebelius.

Also, it was brilliant of Clark to point out that, while that same statement can be applied to Obama, Obama isn't running on National Security, whereas McCain is. Fan-frickin-tastic.

Agree on the crystal clarity of his explainations and tone .... and easy comfortable defense of Obama. And I forgive him the support of Hillary - many very good people supported her, especially early on, with sound, reasonable believe that 1) she was going to run a competent campaign and 2) she would win. I divide her supporters into those who went into alternate reality and got nasty (e.g., Lanny Davis) and those who continued to support with dignity and civility. The few times I saw him during the primary season, he was definitely one of the latter.

I still prefer - by large measure - Joe Biden and have some concern about whether an Obama/Clark administration would be as successful getting things through Congress, but Clark would nevertheless be a strong and effective choice. If he's not the most mesmerizing campaigner, that's okay -- Obama is.

Give Mika a break. She has to work with Joe S. who *does* treat her like a Robin Givins .. and when Joe is gone, they always toss in Pat Buchanan, who does the same. But when he's away for an extended time and on those rare occasions when P.B. isn't hovering over the scene, you can see her developing her own style and gaining confidence.

I used to like Mika - until she started going off one morning about how she refuses to give up her F150 pick up truck no matter how high the gas goes...and I thought, she's working in friggin' Manhattan!

She's not a rancher or a farmer or a landscaper, WTF?

Then it hit me, she doesn't 'believe in global warming'...she doesn't believe we have an energy crisis????

I can't stand to watch her now. She is a vapid talking head as far as I am concerned.

Clark was not the most electric campaigner when he ran for President and his campaign never really took off, but as a big Clinton supporter, he would likely bring along many of her supporters. He certainly brings foreign policy bonafides to the table. He would be good on the ticket. I saw that Biden was mentioned above. I like Joe Biden but think a Northeasterner would not be a good choice. He would be labled elite from the starting gate. He also has a rep of not knowing when to stop talking. He is more valuable in the Senate. One of the things going for Clark is that Obama would not be robbing the Senate.

In 2004, I was surprised at the support there was among my kids and their friends, all in their 20s ..... and, as a goup, not really impressed or comfortable with the idea of military folks. I never really understood what they were connecting with, and of course Obama doesn't actually need help with youth --- but if there is something there, maybe it could get the younger voters fired up enough to really GO out in numbers and vote!

BTW, I'm the one mentioning Biden and I do very much like him, but the NE 'elite' image worries me a bit also. ------------ Who would have thought that we'd one day have a serious woman candidate, perceived as too tough, and a serious black candidate, perceived as too elite? Ah, well.

I like Clark a lot. My only real hesitation is the degree to which he'd be considered to be compensating for some Obama shortcoming.

But that aside I think he'd be a great pick. In many ways he's complementary to Obama -- smart as hell, focused on using good judgment and careful negotiation in the foreign policy sphere rather than blunt force and threats.

It's true that he didn't run the most scintillating campaign in '04, but (a) he was a total noob at that time, and didn't do too bad for a rookie; besides which he wasn't blundering around, just unexciting, and Obama doesn't exactly need a huge lift in the charisma department, and (b) he's been active in the political scene for years now, as a surrogate and speaker. I think he's learned a lot and could be a real asset.

All in all, he's near the top of my short list.