Want to Be Veep? What to Do, and Not to Do

He's a strong conservative, and a demographic win: William McGurn

(NEWSER) - Hey, Republican strategists, interested in a young, dynamic, Latino vice presidential nominee? Then William McGurn has a name for you, "And he's not Marco Rubio." Instead, the Wall Street Journal columnist suggests the less-famed Luis Fortuño, governor of Puerto Rico, who's "part of a rising generation of Republicans pushing pro-growth, small-government agendas." When Fortuño took office, one in three Puerto Ricans worked for the government, and the state couldn't make payroll. So he slashed 20,000 government jobs, and then cut individual and corporate taxes. More»

And yes, there's a Sarah Palin character

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama's 2008 campaign is the subject of Hope!, a musical set to premiere Jan. 17 in Frankfurt. The production features musical-theater versions of the major players: Michelle, Hillary—looking quite young—John McCain and even Sarah Palin, who sings a solo surrounded by scantily clad dancers. Writer and composer Randall Hutchins, who is American, tells Der Spiegel he got the idea for the production "right at the start of Obama's electoral campaign. I found the atmosphere exciting and that was my inspiration." More»

Clinton was still in contention in June: new memoir

(NEWSER) - The Obama campaign seriously considered Hillary Clinton for vice president, but ultimately the perception that her husband was "too big a complication" combined with bad memories from the primary campaign to sink her chances. Barack Obama “said if his central criterion measured who could be the best VP, she had to be included in that list," writes campaign manager David Plouffe in a new memoir, The Audacity to Win. More»

(NEWSER) - Time has unveiled its latest tallying of the world’s 100 most influential people, and yes, of course, Barack Obama is on it. But the other 99 choices aren’t as obvious. Bernie Madoff makes the list, as do Rush Limbaugh, George Clooney, and 4Chan’s Moot. And as usual, Time has snagged some celebrity writers, making for some great pairings, like JK Rowling on Gordon Brown, Ashton Kutcher on the Twitter guys, and Arnold Schwarzenegger on uncle-in-law Ted Kennedy. More»

Lefty says prez sticks to center; a socialist only to 'odd conservatives'

(NEWSER) - Thanks to conservative politicians and pundits, socialists are in the limelight as never before, writes Billy Wharton in the Washington Post—and Wharton, as editor of Socialist magazine, ought to know. Mike Huckabee and John McCain became "our most effective promoters," he says, as they portrayed Obama as a political radical. As much as Wharton's movement "appreciated the newfound attention," the "funny thing is, of course, that socialists know that Barack Obama is not one of us." More»