Only a few things on which to base speculation. It's traditional to "balance" a ticket in the general, and if McCain's going to be the moderate, then perhaps somebody with more Conservative credentials is who he'd choose. I doubt he'd pick another moderate. The way things are going, he may have no choice but to pick Huckabee, but that's a problem: Being an evangical, Huck's identified with one of the more extreme factions in the GOP coalition, and that may scare people and undermine the ticket.

I hate to have to point this out to you, but it's too late to worry about Democrats "sweeping" Congress. The majority won't go away, and it's likely to increase in this election. I doubt it'll become veto-proof, though. I tend to think that having opposite parties holding the WH and Congress is generally a good idea.

"Where are we going with all this spending?" Uhhh...how big is the Bush deficit? I doubt you'll agree with me about this, but I think that reducing our commitment to occupying Iraq will make us stronger, militarily and reducing the drain on our resources, including money. Contrasting with the past eight years, Democrats are the party of fiscal responsibility--they're not dumb enough to simultaneously cut taxes and commit to spending vast sums on a war. Which kind of echoes something McCain said a long time ago. Smart guy.

What happened with Bush is an example of how ideology can really screw things up. Tax cuts are pure dogma, and apparently blinded Bush to simple arithmetic. There's a time and place for cutting taxes, but it sure as hell is not right now. Those chickens are coming home to roost, and there's absolutely no way anybody can pin this recession on Democrats.