Do you have a favorite Olympic moment so far? To see mine, click here.

And treat yourself to one of the best pieces, out there on the web about it. Whether it’s the title—“Your Father Smelt of Elderberries, and Your Speedo Is Ill-Fitting!”—the picture, the French swimmer being referred to as “orca-sized” or the characterization of the showdown as “The Official Lee Greenwood ‘Proud to be an American’ Moment of the 2008 Olympic Games,” I love everything about this post! You will, too!

... Unless you hate America or something!

Speaking of potential vice presidential picks, former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee explained today why John McCain would be wise to pass over former GOP rival Mitt Romney for the No. 2. spot. From CNN’s Political Ticker:

“I think the issue is that, you know, in many ways, Mitt Romney has had very definite swings of position, not just on one or two things, but on many of the issues,” Huckabee said Thursday on Fox News.

There has been buzz over the past few days that McCain could pick a pro-choice running mate like fomer-Democratic-vice-presidential-candidate-turned-independent Joe Lieberman or former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.

Doing so would be the final nail in the enthusiasm coffin among evangelical and other socially conservative voters for McCain’s campaign. It would signal that McCain, for all his talk about his values and the values of social conservatives, really doesn’t consider those values—the values he says he shares—a priority in picking his No. 2.

Put another way, McCain has a choice in his vice presidential pick: Either he’ll choose to pick someone who represents the party’s beliefs—and those of most of its members—or he won’t.

If he doesn’t, don’t be surprised if the base of the party, for all intents and purposes, cuts him loose. They will likely still vote for him, but they won’t work for him the way they have for conservative nominees in the past.

And that could make all the difference in an election as close as this one is expected to be.

See also:

As everyone endures the interminable wait for the candidates’ VP selections, conservative historian Lee Edwards offers his compilation of the best and worst VP picks since the 1950s.

Edwards’ estimation of the best vice presidential pick in modern times is John Kennedy’s selection of Lyndon Johnson in 1960. Johnson was a congressman and U.S. senator from Texas who eventually became Senate Majority Leader. He was renowned for his ability to twist the arms of even the most powerful politicians to advance his legislative agenda. Kennedy picking Johnson was something of a surprise; the two had a difficult relationship. But the pick did what it was supposed to do, which was win Texas and balance out the South for Kennedy, thus securing the 1960 election for the senator from Massachusetts.

Rounding out Edwards’ top five are George H.W. Bush, Al Gore, Richard Nixon and Dick Cheney.

The worst VP pick of all time, in Edwards’ estimation, was made by George McGovern, who tapped Sen. Thomas Eagleton as his running mate in 1972.

Who?

The Democrat from Missouri was Sen. George McGovern’s pick for VP in 1972. Eagleton got dumped for Sargent Shriver after reports he’d been hospitalized for “nervous exhaustion” and had received electroshock treatments. Those reports raised questions about Eagleton’s fitness to serve, and the concerns about his health were disastrous for McGovern’s campaign against Nixon.

Dan Quayle was the second-worst VP pick of all time, Edwards says. Lloyd Bentsen had shredded Quayle and eviscerated the JFK comparisons that were being made about him with just two lines in the 1988 vice presidential debate, but it was Quayle’s famous misspelling of “potatoe” in 1992—which went down in history as one of the biggest gaffes ever by someone in the public eye—that sealed his political fate.

Spiro Agnew and Dick Cheney (he is considered one of the best VP picks in potential but one of the worst VPs in execution: Talk about your missed opportunities.) round out Edwards’ bottom four.

I have heard some suggestions that would make this list if the candidates followed them. Back in May, Democratic strategist Tanya Acker said U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) would be a good pick; last week, I heard someone on Fox News Channel (whose name escapes me now) say that John McCain should pick T. Boone Pickens.

McCain—already under fire for supporting tax breaks for oil companies—running with a Texas oil man—who just so happens to support Obama’s energy plan? Now there’s a recipe for success.

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Non-political post alert!

Get ready to hear that famous horn line again: The cast of “Dallas” is reuniting for the 30th anniversary of the CBS smash.

The public is welcomed to festivities at the Southfork Ranch. You have to read the above article from CNN, if only for the last two paragraphs. With quips like those, who needs writers?

If you’re a fan, YouTube has all sorts of “Dallas” clips, including the revelation that resolved the greatest mystery in television history: Who shot J.R.?

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Here is Barack Obama’s new ad attacking John McCain:

What do you guys think of the ad? I thought that compared to Obama’s other efforts and those of McCain of late, this one is weak.

RealClearPolitics reports that ‘Book’ will air in 16 states. You can probably guess some of them—the usual suspects of Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and the “new” swing states of Colorado, Nevada and Virginia. But you can extrapolate a little something about Obama’s strategy from his campaign’s inclusion of the other states: Alaska, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota and Wisconsin. John Kerry carried only four of these 16 states for the Democrats in 2004.

From CNN:

By 2050, minorities will be the majority in America, and the number of residents older than 65 will more than double, according to projections released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Minorities, classified as those of any race other than non-Hispanic, single-race whites, currently constitute about a third of the U.S. population, according to Census figures. But by 2042, they are projected to become the majority, making up more than half the population. By 2050, 54 percent of the population will be minorities.

Minority children are projected to reach that milestone even sooner. By 2023, the bureau said, more than half of all children will be minorities.

Wow.

More here and here.

Colin Powell has denied reports from earlier today that he is on the verge of endoring Barack Obama.

But in beating back those reports, the damage to John McCain has likely already been done.

Powell reiterated that he has no plans to attend the upcoming Democratic National Convention. That would make it difficult for him to deliver an address there on Wednesday night, as Bill Kristol had reported he had plans to do.

But Powell did not signal that he is at all enthusiastic about McCain’s candidacy.

Powell “likes and admires John McCain, and that would be a factor in anything he does if he decides to get more involved,” one of his advisers said.

But, another Powell pal said, Powell “is looking for a reason to vote for him. He hasn’t found it yet.”

Wouldn’t you think that someone who has known a presidential candidate for more than 30 years—as Powell has known McCain—would know enough about him to know whether he wanted to support him?

You would. And Powell does. And that’s why he said this:

“I am keeping my options open at the moment,” Powell said.

Powell’s formal endorsement of Barack Obama may never come. But it may be a moot point: Powell’s rejection of McCain’s candidacy is clear.