Come Home, Joe.

Come Home, Joe.

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I was in line to pick up my lunch order in Philadelphia at around noon. I looked up to the TV in the shop, tuned always and thankfully to MSNBC, and I see a live shot of an empty podium in the White House Rose Garden. The red Breaking News chyron at the bottom of the screen informs me that we are awaiting a "statement" from the Vice President. Brian Williams and Andrea Mitchell are breathlessly speculating that if this is a Presidential campaign announcement, the expected presence of the President along side the Vice President during his announcement would be a massive rebuke to Hillary Clinton. I suppose it never crossed their mind that no Vice President in their right mind would announce a campaign from the Rose Garden, and no President would allow him to do it while there was an active campaign in his party. But you would announce you are not running. So I immediately assumed, correctly, that the Vice President was going to announce he was not running, while our wonderful liberal media continued to engage in their favorite game for a few more minutes. It was the same game we have all engaged in for months if not years. The speculation over whether Joe Biden would mount a third campaign for President. He was never going to.
Wednesday Open Thread [10.21.15]

Wednesday Open Thread [10.21.15]

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Markos on the Clinton bounce she received from the debate and why Sanders supporters are partly to blame for it:
I too thought she "won" the debate. [...] She didn't out-debate Sanders. He was great. And she was great. In a neutral world, I'd say they both acquitted themselves well, and the polling above bears that out—Clinton improved and Sanders either improved or stayed even. Neither candidate flopped. But Sanders' supporters spent the last six months telling everyone that the DNC was protecting Clinton with its ridiculous debate schedule, which was true. But many of his supporters went further—that Clinton was afraid to debate, that Sanders would crush her head-to-head. They also spent months painting a caricature of Clinton that simply wasn't based on reality—that she was dull, that she was a neoliberal, etc, etc. So you'd be excused if you tuned in to the debate expecting her to sound like Mitt Romney (and about as engaging as him, as well). You'd be excused if you ended up surprised that Clinton could take command of the stage, confident rather than afraid. So Clinton didn't win because she was better than Sanders, she won because she far exceeded the expectations that Sanders' supporters themselves created. In politics, you don't make news when you meet expectations (Bernie was as awesome as everyone expected him to be), you make news when you either blow expectations away, or you blow up. And she certainly didn't blow up. So a lesson to underdogs: you're supposed to lower expectation for YOUR guy, not the front-runner. And for crissakes, don't underestimate Clinton! She's actually a damn impressive political figure, and talking her down got you nothing in the end. One final note, take a look at the Democratic poll trendlines above once more, and notice Sanders' flatline. That's what maxing out the white, educated, liberal Democratic electorate looks like. He's gotta bust out of that if he's going to be competitive past the two early states.
What Could Possibly Go Wrong By Bringing A Gun Into A Haunted House?

What Could Possibly Go Wrong By Bringing A Gun Into A Haunted House?

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I'm going to let TBogg set the scene:
Outside of going to the gun range and blasting away at paper targets while pretending that they are Muslims or black teenagers, there is nothing Armed-Americans enjoy more than showing off their guns in public. Open carry rules! No self-respecting NRA member would think about making a grudging late-night emergency run to CVS to pick up some tampons for his wife without first pulling on some camouflage pants, strapping a Glock to his hip, and pulling the whole ensemble together with an AR15 dangling from his neck. Because…. Something Might Happen.
It's always Something Might Happen with this group - that would shoot their own shadow, or toddler. But this is a story happening in our own backyard - at Frightland.
Paul Ryan Tries To Herd Cats

Paul Ryan Tries To Herd Cats

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It's really, really obvious that Paul Ryan is being dragged, kicking and screaming, into running for the House Speaker. He really, really doesn't want the job.
Rep. Paul Ryan has told House Republicans he will run for House Speaker if he is the unity candidate of the divided party.
Ryan spoke to the House GOP behind closed doors Tuesday and said if all factions can share his vision and he can get the endorsement of the major caucuses, then he will serve as speaker. The news was confirmed by his spokesman Brendan Buck, who said according to reports, "If he is not a unifying figure for the conference, then he will not run."
So, he wants the vote before the vote. And he has conditions:
He said Republicans needed to move from being "an opposition party to an proposition party." He also said he would seek updates to the House rules -- a common demand by the conservative hardliners that roiled Speaker John Boehner's tenure -- "so everyone can be a more effective representative."