The AP -- lead by closet Republican and newly appointed Washington bureau chief Ron Fournier -- out with an analysis that Barack Obama's choice of Joe Biden as his running mate shows weakness.

Sorry, Ron and company, but I gotta disagree with that knee-jerk analysis. It is incredibly smart.

In this election, voters are saying the economy is issue number one. And when the new President is elected, unless he intends to using a completely hands-off approach to getting the economy out of its "mental recession", much of his time will be spent on domestic policy.

With a Joe Biden at Obama's side, it allows Biden to take a strong role, not just with foreign policy (Biden's strong suit) but also on the other area that needs a strong hand: the Justice Department (his other strong suit) and the Supreme Court. Biden will be instrumental -- along with the new AG -- to turn around a department that has become far too political. Remember FISA? US Attorney firings? The Patriot Act? Guantanamo? The "show trials" of "enemy combatants"?

While Obama focuses on the sluggish economy, the housing crisis, high gas prices, energy alternatives, reducing the massive budget deficits, ending the war in Iraq, catching Osama Bin Laden (before he enters the gates of hell), crafting universal healthcare, overhauling education, and the myriad other things we expect the President to do on "Day One," Obama will have a partner he can govern with -- exactly what he said he wanted, and exactly what we need.

Weak? No, grasshopper... incredibly smart and strong.

Music (up front at first, then playing underneath announcer's voiceover) Janis Joplin singing:
Oh lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?

Oh lord, won't you buy me a color tv ?
Dialing for dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh lord, won't you buy me a color tv ?

Oh lord, won't you buy me a night on the town ?
Im counting on you, lord, please don't let me down.
Prove that you love me and buy the next round,
Oh lord, won't you buy me a night on the town ?
Intercut images, some still, some video: McCain and Cindy's homes... His and her closets with expensive shoes displayed Imelda Marcos style. Private jet, limos...servants lined up outside of big grand house. Other props in the lifestyle of the rich and famous. The paparazzi flashing popping as couple seen from torso down step out onto red carpet. McCain and Cindy hugging their rich and influential friends, including Rick Warren, the Bushes, figures from the religious right, the Bushes, the Cheneys...

Cut to McCain answering house question: "I'll have my staff get back to you."
Then to Cindy: "You just have to have a private plane to get around Arizona!"

Announcer: While you struggle with increasing gas prices, food prices, the skyrocketing cost of healthcare and education for your family, a housing foreclosure crisis that puts your home in jeopardy, and a $10 Billion dollar a month war, John McCain just doesn't get it. After all, if he loses his home, he's got 9 others to go to. Do you?

Music rises: Everybody!
Oh lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends,
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So oh lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?

Voice over: "I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message."

Music (up front at first, then playing underneath announcer's voiceover) Janis Joplin singing:
Oh lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?

Oh lord, won't you buy me a color tv ?
Dialing for dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh lord, won't you buy me a color tv ?

Oh lord, won't you buy me a night on the town ?
Im counting on you, lord, please don't let me down.
Prove that you love me and buy the next round,
Oh lord, won't you buy me a night on the town ?
Intercut images, some still, some video: McCain and Cindy's homes... His and her closets with expensive shoes displayed Imelda Marcos style. Private jet, limos...servants lined up outside of big grand house. Other props in the lifestyle of the rich and famous. The paparazzi flashing popping as couple seen from torso down step out onto red carpet. McCain and Cindy hugging their rich and influential friends, including Rick Warren, the Bushes, figures from the religious right, the Bushes, the Cheneys...

Cut to McCain answering house question: "I'll have my staff get back to you."
Then to Cindy: "You just have to have a private plane to get around Arizona!"

Announcer: While you struggle with increasing gas prices, food prices, the skyrocketing cost of healthcare and education for your family, a housing foreclosure crisis that puts your home in jeopardy, and a $10 Billion dollar a month war, John McCain just doesn't get it. After all, if he loses his home, he's got 9 others to go to. Do you?

Music rises: Everybody!
Oh lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends,
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So oh lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?

Voice over: "I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message."

The sky is falling. Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Turkey Lurkey, Goosey Loosey, Ducky Lucky all told me so. Did they tell you?

It all started when Chicken Little was walking around the Beltway and underneath an oak tree when an acorn fell on his head. Now although Chicken Little had heard about acorns in the past, how they drop from trees, bounce off your noggin and sometimes grow in to mighty oaks, no acorn had ever bounced off of Chicken Little. As far as he knew, or could remember, nothing like this had ever happened in the history of the entire world. To Chicken Little, it felt as if the sky was falling, falling right on his head. And it scared him so, he started running as fast as he could. He had to tell someone, anyone, that the sky was falling.

Chicken Little, running as fast as his scrawny, chicken legs could carry him, ran into Henny Penny. "Henny Penny, I am so glad I ran into you... literally! The sky is falling."

Henny Penny, catching her breath and smoothing her ruffled feathers a little, said, "Whatever do you mean?"

"Well, I was walking around the Beltway when suddenly a piece of the sky came crashing down and hit me on the head. Right here," Chicken Little said, pointing to the growing bump on his noggin.

"We better run fast and tell the King. He'll want to know," said Henny Penny. So the two of them started running as fast as they could. They encountered Turkey Lurkey.

"Turkey Lurkey, run with with us. We're going to see the King. The sky is falling. It hit Chicken Little on the head," said Henny Penny. "Yes," cried Chicken Little, "It happened just like that. A piece of the sky. On my head."

So Turkey Lurkey started running with Chicken Little and Henny Penny. They were all screaming at the top of their lungs, "The sky is falling, Beware! Run for cover! Help us tell the King! The sky is falling! The end is near! All is lost! All is lost!"

Before long they came upon Ducky Lucky and Goosey Loosey. "Run with us. Sky falling. No time to talk. King. Come."

So they ran as fast as they could and soon all the animals were falling in line and screaming that the sky was falling. And they all ran straight into the den of Foxy Loxy, where Foxy Loxy promptly chewed them up and spit out their splintery bones.

Now you and I are here to share this tale because we knew the sky was not falling, the end of the earth was not nigh and that pre-election polls have always had a habit of contracting and expanding. We did not panic. We did not worry. We did not fear the worst. We kept our wits about us. And most of all, we did not follow Foxy Loxy into his den and have him chew us up and spit us out.

Ask Cindy Hensley McCain about her childhood and she'll tell you this:

"I grew up with my dad," she said then. "I'm an only child. My father was a cowboy, and he really loved me very much, but I think he wanted a son occasionally."

Except she didn't.

McCain's father was also a businessman — and twice a father.

"I'm upset," Kathleen Portalski says. "I'm angry. It makes me feel like a nonperson, kind of."

Who Is Kathleen Hensley Portalski?

Documents show Kathleen Anne Hensley was born to Jim and Mary Jeanne Hensley on Feb. 23, 1943. They had been married for six years when Kathleen was born.

Jim Hensley was a bombardier on a B-17, flying over Europe during World War II.

He was injured and sent to a facility in West Virginia to recuperate. During that time, while still married to Mary Jeanne, Hensley met another woman — Marguerite Smith. Jim divorced Mary Jeanne and married Marguerite in 1945.

Cindy Lou Hensley was born nine years later, in 1954.

She may have grown up as an only child, but so did her half sister, Kathleen, who was raised by a single parent.

[snip]
Something about that story sounds awfully damn familiar. What could it be?

When Hensley died in 2000, his will named not only Portalski but also a daughter of his wife Marguerite from her earlier marriage. So, Cindy McCain may be the only product of Jim and Marguerite's marriage, but she is not the only child of either.

She was, however, the sole inheritor of his considerable estate.

Kathleen Portalski was left $10,000, and her children were left nothing. It's a fact Nicholas Portalski says his sister discovered the hard way.

"What she found in town — on the day of or the day before or the day after his funeral — was that the credit card didn't work anymore," Nick says.

As always, there is more to the story here.

So much for "I am my (brothers') and sisters' keeper."

Many of us have wondered how the gaffe-prone McCain seemed so crisp in what was supposed to an impromptu, spontaneous "interview" at Saddleback.

The first question to McCain:

WARREN: Now my first question: was the "cone of silence" comfortable that you were in just now?

McCAIN: I was trying to hear through the wall.

A bit later:

WARREN: You got all my questions, good.

Curiouser and curiouser, because now we learn this delicious little crumpet,  from "abudabu's" diary over at DailyKos...

Rick Sanchez confronted Pastor Warren at 6:30p EST on CNN.  Warren admitted that McCain was not in the studio, but within the "cone of his Secret Service".  Under pressure, he admitted that he knew McCain was not in a "cone of silence", though he told the audience he was.  He tried to excuse this by saying he asked McCain point-blank whether he was listening, and was assured this was the case.  

Sanchez's twitter post on the topic:

pastor rick warren just told me on air he thought mccain was in a cone of silence when he told people he was, though he wasn't. got it?

This is the third in the series of head-to-head comparisons of the answers Obama and McCain gave at the Saddleback Civil Forum. This time the topic is "evil."

WARREN: Okay we've got time for one last [question] -- I've got a bunch more [but] let me ask you ask you one in evil. Does evil exist and if it does, do we ignore it, do we negotiate with it, do we contain it or do we defeat it?

OBAMA: Evil does exist. I mean we see evil all the time. We see evil in Darfur. We see evil, sadly on the streets of our cities. We see evil in parents who have viciously abused their children and I think it has to be confronted. It has to be confronted squarely and one of the things that I strongly believe is that, you know, we are not going to, as individuals, be able to erase evil from the world. That is God's task. But we can be soldiers in that process and we can confront it when we see it. Now the one thing that I think is very important is for us to have some humility in how we approach the issue of confronting evil. But, you know, a lot of evil has been perpetrated based on the  claim that we were trying to confront evil.

WARREN: In the name of "good?"

OBAMA: In the name of good. And I think one thing that's very important is having some humility in recognizing that, you know, just because we think our intentions are good, it doesn't always mean that we're going to be doing good.

WARREN: Alright, let's move on to some domestic issues.

Obama sees evil as an inanimate concept which can manifest or be personified in a variety of different forms -- as something faith can help to resolve.

On the other hand we have McCain's response:

WARREN: How about the issue of evil? I asked this of your rival in the previous thing. Does evil exist and if so, should we ignore it, negotiate with it, contain it or defeat it?

McCAIN: Defeat it. Couple of points, one, if I'm President of the United States, my friends, if I have to follow him to the gates of hell, I will get Osama Bin Laden and bring him to justice. I will do that and I know how to do that. I will get that done. No one should be allowed to take thousands of American -- innocent American lives. Of course evil must be defeated. My friends, we are facing the transcendant challenge of the 21st century, radical Islamic extremists. Not long ago in Baghdad, Al Queda took two young women who were mentally disabled and put suicide vests on them, sent them into a marketplace and by remote control detonated those suicide vests. If that isn't evil, you have to tell me what is and we're going to defeat this evil and the central battle ground according to David Petraeus and Osama Bin Laden is the battles -- is Baghdad, Mosul and Iraq and we are winning and we are succeeding and our troops will come home with honor and victory and not defeat and that's what's happening. We  have -- and we face this threat throughout the world. It's not just in Iraq. It's not just in Afghanistan. Our intelligence people tell us Al Queda contunues to try to establish cells here in America. My friends, we must face this challenge. We can face this challenge and we must totally defeat it and we're in a long struggle, but when I'm around the young men and women who are serving this nation in uniform, I have no doubt. None.

WARREN: Alright. The next questions have to do with domestic issues.

One simple follow up question for McCain: If getting Osama Bin Laden is so important, if you are willing to follow him to the gates of hell, if you know how to do it, why has that NOT been your priority since 9-11? How did you get stuck in Iraq and not focused like a laser beam on OBL?

In the process of entering McCain's answer to the question here, I am struck by his obsession with victory and defeat, with his overwhelming need for "victory" with "honor." Playing armchair shrink, I see a man consumed by his personal failure in Vietnam -- exacerbated by his status as POW, and not "medal of honor" winner or "flying ace" (like even the disgraced and jailed Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham) -- a man afflicted by coming home to a country that did not hold his military exploits in as high esteem as they did for his father and grandfather. If he is not haunted by the failure of the Vietnam War, why the fixation on "winning" (at any cost), "victory" (undefined and not achievable), "success" and "honor." Is Iraq McCain's chance at Vietnam redemption?

For McCain "evil" is an excuse to re-fight Vietnam again and again and again.

In the first installment, we compared the answers on the question of abortion. Now let's do the whole marriage/gay marriage thing.

First Obama:

WARREN: There's alot more I'd loke to ask on that [referring to abortion] but we've got 15 other questions here. Define marriage.

OBAMA: I believe that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Now for me, for me as a Christian, it's also a sacred union. God's in the mix. But...

WARREN: [interrupting] Would you support a constitutional amendment with that definition?

OBAMA: No, I would not.

WARREN: Why not?

OBAMA: Because historically, because historically we have not defined marriage in our consistution. It's been a matter of state law that has been our tradition. Let's break it down. The reason that people think there needs to be a constitutional amendment, some people believe, is because of the concern of same-sex marriage. I am not somebody who promotes same sex marriage, but I do believe in civil unions. I do believe that we should not -- that for, ah, gay partners who want to visit each other in the hsopital, for the state to you know what? That's alright. I don't think that in any way inhibits my core beliefs about what marriage is, are. I think my faith is strong enough and my marriage is strong enough that I can afford those civil rights to others even if I have a different perspective or a different view.

WARREN: Okay.

Now to McCain:

WARREN: Okay. We don't have to go longer on that one [referring to abortion]. Define marriage.

McCAIN: A union, a union berween man and woman, between one man and one woman, that's my definition of marriage. Are we going to get back to the importance of Supreme Court justices?

WARREN: We'll get to that.

McCAIN: Alright. Okay.

WARREN: You got all my questions, good.

McCAIN: When we speak of the issues of the right of the unborn we need to talk about judges, but anyway go ahead.

WARREN: Let me just ask you a questions related to that. We got a bill right here in California, proposition 8. that's going on because the court overturned the definition of marriage. Was this Supreme Court of California wrong?

McCAIN: I believe they were wrong and I strongly support preserving the unique status of marriage between a man and a woman. I am a federalist. I believe that state[s] should make those decisions. In my state, I hope we will make that decision and other states. We have to recognize the unique status of marriage between man and woman means -- that doesn't mean that people can't enter into legal agreements. That doesn't mean that they don't have the rights of all citizens. I'm not saying that. I am saying that we should preserve the unique status of marriage between one man and one woman and if a federal court, if a federal court decided that my state of Arizona had to observe what the state of Massachusetts decided, then I would favor a constitutional amendment. Until then I believe the state should make the decisions within their own states.

WARREN: Okay. Alright.

Two points: He got all of Warren's questions? When, dare I ask? No wonder McCain was so snappy and lucid.

Second, McCain is willing to overturn the will of the people of a state who decide that gay marriage should be legal in their state because he is a "federalist," but will use "states' rights" to advance the cause of overturning Roe v. Wade. McCain apparently does not understand the concept of reciprocity. Which is that certain agreements -- like legal contracts -- can be enforced in states other than where the contract was initiated. For example, if you are married in Arizona, you are also married in Massachusetts. If you got married in Miami, you can get divorced in Dallas, and re-hitched in Reno.

Perhaps Warren could have asked McCain to explain the "unique status" he was referring to. Or does adultery and divorce do more damage to marriage than gays? After all, don't half of all marriages end in divorce?

I found the preliminary transcript of the Saddleback Civil Forum Starring Rick Warren. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to put the candidates words head to head. With the majority of the punditry claiming McCain "won" the interview portion, why not review exactly what was said?

WARREN: Now let's deal with abortion. 40 million abortions since Roe v. Wade. You know, as a pastor, I deal with this all the time All of the pain and all of the conflicts. I know this is a very complex issue. 40 million abortions. At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?

OBAMA: Well, I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade. But let me just speak more generally about the issue of abortion because this is something obviously the country wrestles with. One thing that I'm absolutely convinced of it there is a more and ethical content to this issue. So I think that anybody who tries to deny the moral difficulties and gravity of the abortion issue, I think is not paying attention. So that would be point number one. But, point number two, I am pro-choice. I believe in Roe v. Wade and come to that conclusion not because I am pro-abortion, but because ultimately, I don't think women make these decisions casually. They wrestle with these things in a profound way. In consultation with their pastors or spouses or their doctors and their family members. And so for me, the goal right now should be -- and this is where we can find some common ground, and by the way I have now inserted into the Democratic* Party platform -- is how do we reduce the number of abortions, because the fact is that abortions over the last eight years have not gone down.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: *The transcript says "Democrat", but we know that Obama would refer to the "Democratic Party," and that "Democrat Party" is a Republican usage.] 

WARREN: Have you ever voted to limit or reduce abortions?

OBAMA: I am in favor, for example, of limits on late term abortions if there is an exception for the mother's health. Now from the perspective of those who, you know, are pro-life, I think they would consider that inadequate. And I respect their views. I mean one of the things that I've always said is that on this particular issue, if you believe that life begins as conception, then -- and you are consistent with that belief -- then I can't argue with you on that, because that is a core issue of faith for you. What I can and do say is there are ways that we can work together to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies so that we actually are reducing the sense that women are seeking out abortions, and as an example of that, one of the things that I've talked about is how do we provide the resources that allow women to make the choice to keep a child. You know, have we given them the healthcare that they need? Have we given them the support services that they need. Have we given them the options of adoption that are necessary? That, I think can make a genuine difference.

WARREN: There's a lot more I'd like to ask on that but we've got 15 other questions here.

In contrast now, here is McCain:

WARREN: Let's deal with abortion. I, as a pastor, have to deal with this all the time, every different angle, every different pain, all of the decisions and all of that. 40 million abortions since Roe v. Wade. Some people who -- people who believe that life begins at conception would say that's a holocaust for many people. At what point is a baby entitled to human rights?

McCAIN: At the moment of conception. I have a 25-year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate, and as President of the United States, I will be a pro-life President with pro-life policies. That's my commitment. That's my commitment to you.

WARREN: Okay. We don't have to go longer on that one.

Hmmmm.... Oh please... do go on...

Now maybe it's just me, But I would have asked McCain just what "pro-life policies" he's talking about? I would have asked him how he would seek to reconcile the views of the majority of Americans -- who are pro-choice -- with these policies and encourage them to embrace the views of conservative Christians. I think I would have gone on longer. I would have  asked why he broached the names of two pro-choice politicians -- Tom Ridge and little buddy Joe Lieverman as possible Vice Presidents in a McCain administration.

Obama delivered a substantive answer that looked at how to support the products of unwanted or unintended pregnancy, the need for adoption, healthcare, support services, while McCain said he's got some "policies."

And one final note, pay attention to how the question was introduced. Notice a difference? Notice any "coded" language to set up this hot-button issue? Like, I dunno, "holocaust" perhaps?

Not bad... actually quite good...

Barack Obama ventured into very unfriendly territory this evening and got a warm reception, was interrupted several times for genuine applause from an audience that listened to what he had to say -- even though they were waiting for an appearance from their celebrity war hero, John McCain.

Contrary to the pundits, and frankly even some of my own comments over at Saddleback Open Thread, once I had a few minutes to really reflect on the evening, there is reason to be upbeat.

First, Obama went where Democrats typically fear to tread, an evangelical church in the heart of wealthy Republican Orange County, CA. The pastor of this mega-church is a "celebrity" in his own right, with a congregation of over 20,000. But since the event was carried live by the cable channels, the potential audience was far greater and not everyone watching would describe themselves as an evangelical Christian, nor would they all be McCain supporters. So, while in the hall the reaction was pro-McCain during  his half of the show, that's not what was  happening in many living rooms around the country. In the hall, during the Obama segment, he was met warmly, interrupted by applause that was frequent and genuine.

Second, in contrast to McCain, Obama did not pander. He did not use his stump speech to deflect questions and answered in depth. I noticed frequently, that Warren seemed to want to cut Obama off, instead of letting a conversation grow. Warren, to be sure, asked what many will consider some rather assinine questions: does evil exist and should we negotiate with it, defeat it, serve it tea and crumpets or croon lullabies to it? Obama gave a thoughtful answer. McCain chased Osama Bin Laden to the gates of Hell once again.

While Obama spoke positively of the challenges we face, McCain spoke of applying unilateral force to everything, everywhere. He single-handedly revived the Cold War. As President, McCain brings war, Obama, peace.

The differences between the two men were clearly delineated. McCain is reactive: his terse answers seemed more rehearsed and anticipated: a question about abortion had McCain asking "I want to say a few things about the judges. Are we talking about the judges now or later?" (In fact a question about the Supreme Court was coming later, but if he had no advance knowledge of the questions -- kept in the so-called "cone of silence" -- was it just a random guess that there would be "judges?")

Obama, on the other hand, took in each question as it came. He was candid in speaking of his faith and beliefs. 

Third, Rick Warren is not Jim Lehrer, Bob Schieffer or Brian Williams , the moderators of the upcoming Presidential debates. Warren allowed McCain to -- in the words of the New York Times -- filibuster his segment. I do not foresee that happening in future debates, where McCain will avoid answering "what's rich?" questions before finally blurting out $5 million dollars. (By the way, that makes McCain super rich and Obama, "middle class.") Warren didn't challenge McCain on his non-answers, the news anchor moderators won't let him get away with that.

Fourth, Obama showed he is smart. That may not play well in evangelical world, but it plays well with the rest of us. Orphans around the world are an important issue, but we need a President capable of connecting the dots between waging an unnecessary war that creates orphans at home and abroad.

Fifth, while Obama may have won over a few evangelicals this evening, what he did win are the Obamacan "leaners" already tipping in his direction. I suspect that there will be many couples who, after getting home from Saddleback or between watching Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt win their gold medals, will start talking about Obama and what they liked about what he said. And that will lead them to study Obama more.

Finally, if you happened to catch CNN,'s post-game analysis, you probably saw a segment with David Brody of Christian Broadcasting Network. Obama pushed back hard (and heated) against claims that he would not provide life-saving medical care for fetuses still alive after a late-term abortion. He used the word "lie." As Brody described him, Obama was "hot" about the charge and his pushback was "as heated as I have ever seen him," Brody said. Viewing the segment, I have to agree.

So I wouldn't despair. The knee-jerk reaction is always that Obama's opponents did better than he did. It was that way with Clinton, too. But over the course of the news cycle a contrarian view will emerge and Obama's performance will be seen as highly positive.