America Conor O'CleryNow that John Kerry has secured the Democratic nomination, the game of pick the running mate is under way. The Massachusetts senator has appointed Wall Street figure Jim Johnson to conduct the search.
Yale law professor Stephen Gillers floated the idea in the New York Times that former president Bill Clinton would be an ideal vote catcher. That of course would make the election all about Clinton and Ms Lewinsky.
Hillary Clinton was asked on CNN if she wanted to run with Kerry and replied, "I don't think I would be offered, and I don't think I would accept," which could be taken as a "Yes". But she may be too polarising and intimidating for Kerry. Some Democrats are pushing retired Gen Wesley Clark to reinforce Kerry's military record, but his inexperience and slightly creepy image make this unlikely. Others are promoting Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt, who is big in the Mid West but lacks that wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee personality, and New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who would be the first Hispanic on a presidential ticket. Others mentioned include former treasury secretary Robert Rubin, Sen Dianne Feinstein of California, Sen Evan Bayh from Indiana, Sen Bob Graham of Florida and governors Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Tom Vilsack of Iowa.
The criteria for Kerry will be electoral advantage, just as it was for John F. Kennedy when he picked Lyndon Johnson to secure Texas. Most analysts say that John Edwards is at the top of Kerry's list, even though he accused the Massachusetts senator of the "same old Washington talk" in the last debate. The populist Edwards would bring in southern votes. Moreover, he and his smart, down-to-earth lawyer wife, Elizabeth, have already been vetted in the primary process. His spokesman said he would not say "No".
However, few nominees pick rivals as running mates. The last time it happened was in 1980, when Ronald Reagan picked George H.W. Bush - who had memorably dismissed Reagan's ideas as "Voodoo economics". One name no one is mentioning for Kerry's ticket is Howard Dean, who only eight weeks ago was the front-runner. Today it's as if he never existed.
When George W. Bush won the Republican nomination in 2000 he asked Dick Cheney to find a running mate, and Cheney picked himself. The Vice President said this week that the President joked he could do the same again this year. The reclusive Veep disclosed this in three rare TV interviews designed to counter rumours that he has become a liability over his association with Haliburton and other controversies, such as his ties to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court. Mr Cheney took Judge Scalia on Air Force Two for a duck shooting jaunt in January shortly after the justice accepted a case in which the Vice President is appealing a lower court demand to reveal details of his secret energy task force. Cheney was also responsible for some of the most misleading assertions about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and links between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. He is still at it. The Vice President told CNN that the terrorist al-Zarqawi - believed responsible for the carnage in Iraq this week - left Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban and "took refuge in Iraq and was there prior to our invasion of Iraq" and "oversaw the poison labs in north-eastern Iraq that were al-Qaeda-affiliated..." No mention of the fact that al-Zarqawi took refuge in a Kurdish enclave outside Saddam's control or that when New York Times reporters went to his camp all they found was "a small and largely underdeveloped cluster of buildings that appeared to lack substantial industrial capacity".
One prominent Democrat not on Kerry's list is former senate majority leader George Mitchell. Bill Clinton's peace envoy to Northern Ireland is otherwise engaged. On Wednesday he was appointed chairman of the troubled Disney company, a position so steeped in intrigue and backbiting that he may find himself longing for the relative simplicities of the Good Friday talks. Mitchell (70), recruited originally to Disney by CEO Michael Eisner to give the Magic Kingdom an "ethical and moral compass", must now negotiate Disney's future among furious investor factions, agitated board members and the haughty Eisner, while coping with a hostile take-over bid by cable giant Comcast.
Mr Mitchell is remembered as a tough negotiator on Capitol Hill where he first made his name as a junior senator by challenging Col Oliver North during the Iran-Contra hearings by saying, "Please remember it is possible for an American to disagree with you on aid to the Contras and still love God and still love this country."
Bad news for Bono. Under pressure from family groups, the Federal Communications Commission is planning to announce next week that it will reverse its earlier finding that the singer's use of a banned word on live television during the 2003 Golden Globes broadcast was not indecent. This comes in a widening culture war on sex and bad language, sparked by Janet Jackson's breast exposure in the Super Bowl broadcast. The latest target of the FCC is Howard Stern, the popular "shock-jock" who has been suspended by Clear Channel radio network. Stern, who likes asking guests such questions as "Did you ever have anal sex?", blames his recent criticisms of George Bush over the gay marriage issue for his suspension.
He is proposing a protest by fans: a Million Moron March on Washington. He reckons his career is over unless he calls Mr Bush and says "Look man, I'm going to support you, so don't do this."