Barrack Obama announced yesterday that he would forgo public financing. Needless to say, I find this move disappointing and a little puzzling.

In his article today, David Brooks stated that there are actually 2 Obamas. One is the Hope we can believe in, the other is a savvy politician who will say and do virtually anything to get elected. Brooks despised the Obama flip flop while at the same time almost admiring Obama's political competence and scrap.

But as i first commented, I believe this to be a mistake for Obama. First off, his entire campaign is built on getting money OUT of Washington. This will undercut his credibility on the issue. Second, he doesn't need the money! He is going to win the election. McCain is going to go down big between now and September, fight back to within striking distance, but end up losing in a landslide.

Politically, this will not hurt him though. The only people who are disappointed are the liberals (which he already has). Republicans (see David Brooks) and Independents believe that a Presidential candidate must get 'down and dirty' and tend to like scrappy, do anything fighters (see Hillary Clinton).

But Democrats should be against this move. They can't be against money in politics until they are the ones with all the money.

We lost the best political analyst and interviewer on the planet today. Tim Russert unexpectedly died of a heart attack today at the age of 58.

He was, quite simply, the best. Politicians didn't go on Meet the Press willingly. Tim would crucify them, regardless of their political party or persuasion. They went on because he had the audience and the clout. He had the audience and the clout because the public knew he would not let politicians off with a simple answer. He would work tirelessly to get the facts and hold politicians to their past statements and deeds. He was a true believer in his old boss's adage:

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts".

In a complete surprise, Barrack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination for President today.

Score one for the math and logic of 3 months ago.

The big question is if Obama has been weakened sufficiently to be forced to take Hillary as VP. I place that likelyhood at about 15%. Here are my predictions:

John Edwards - 35%
Jim Webb - 25%
Hillary Clinton - 15%
Mark Warner - 10%
Bill Richardson - 8%
Chuck Hagel - 5%
Ted Strickland - 2%