According to a report in Politico, Bob Novak appears to have attempted to flee the scene of the crime after smashing into a pedestrian with his Corvette (how not surprising) in downtown Washington D.C. today. 

Novak may well have escaped if not for the valiant efforts of a cyclist who witnessed the accident and pursued Novak's car, eventually stopping his bike in front of Novak in order to prevent him from continuing his attempts to drive away. 

Novak then apparently lied to reporters on the scene, telling them that he didn't know he hit the pedestrian, who the bicyclist described as "splayed" on the windshield of Novak's Corvette.

Gives new meaning to Rush Limbaugh's term, the drive-by media.  I guess for Conservatives, it's the hit-and-run media.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11985.html

The bicyclist was David Bono, a partner at Harkins Cunningham, who was on his usual bike commute to work at 1700 K St. N.W. when he witnessed the accident.

As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, Bono said a "black Corvette convertible with top closed plowed into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed onto the windshield.”

Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. “The car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away,” Bono said. 

He said he chased Novak a half block down K Street, finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block it and called 911. Traffic immediately backed up, horns blared and commuters finally went into reverse to allow Novak to pull over.

Bono said that throughout, Novak "keeps trying to get away. He keeps trying to go.” He said he vaguely recognized the longtime political reporter and columnist as a Washington celebrity but could not precisely place him. 

Finally, Bono said, Novak put his head out the window of his car and motioned him over. Bono said he told him that you can't hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding:  “I didn’t see him there.”

A concierge at 1700 K Street said that she saw a bicyclist yelling and walked outside to see what the commotion was about.

"This guy hit somebody and he won't stop so I'm going to stay here until the police come," Aleta Petty quoted Bono as saying, as he stood in K Street, blocking traffic.

D.C. police confirmed that there was an accident at 18th and K streets NW at approximately 10 a.m. involving a black Corvette convertible and that the driver was a white male.

The intersection is in the hub of Washington’s business district and is filled with pedestrians who work in the law firms and lobby shops that line the corridor.

Novak, 77, has earned a reputation around the capital as an aggressive driver, easily identified in his convertible sports car.

In 2001, he cursed at a pedestrian on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th streets Northwest for allegedly jaywalking.

“’Learn to read the signs, [bodily orifice]!’ Novak snapped before speeding away,” according to an item in The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column.

Novak explained to the paper: "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."

The Evans-Novak Political Report lists some potential VP choices for Barack Obama, and speculation is mounting that Obama will pick in the 10 days after he returns from his trip and before the Beijing Olympics.  I have some different views to share, and I'd love to hear what others think as well.  Who should he pick and why?

Right now, my top four choices, in no particular order, are Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, and John Edwards.  All four are familiar with the process and have been vetted by running themselves, so gaffes and blunders are hopefully less likely.  They are all very solid progressives, some better on some issues than others (Dodd on FISA, Edwards on poverty and trade, Richardson on energy, Biden on foreign policy, etc.). 

Biden, Richardson, and Dodd all have foreign policy experience.  Richardson and Edwards help reinforce Obama's message of change and can run as D.C. outsiders.  Richardson has executive and diplomatic experience and may help with the Western and Hispanic vote. 

I do think age is potentially a factor.  None of them are too old to run for VP right now, but as Dodd is 64 and Biden is 65, they might be too old to run for president themselves after serving as VP.  That has some potential upside as well, however, as it may align their interests better with Obama, without requiring them to chart their own paths in order to run in 2016.  Richardson is 60, and Edwards is 55, so they would not be too old to run in 2016.  (I realize this is getting ahead of ourselves to some degree.)

I would love to see him pick Claire McCaskill, but I think her Senate seat is too important.  I don't know enough about Janet Napolitano or Kathleen Sebelius to have an informed opinion.  Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

I don't want Obama to pick a VP who is more conservative or less experienced than he is.  I don't think that will help him in the White House, as that person could potentially undermine some of the progressive parts of Obama's agenda, and I doubt it will really help him much in the campaign.