McBush Second Bad Week —Must See Tv....and some predictions from Jed

Chuck Todd:

You know you had a problematic weekend when: 1) one of your top economic advisers/surrogates finally steps down from the campaign after his “nation of whiners” remark; 2) you get panned for breaking CODEL protocol/etiquette by announcing (incorrectly) at a fundraiser that your opponent is headed to Iraq on Friday or Saturday; 3) the prime minister of Iraq tells a German magazine that he backs your opponent's plan for withdrawing troops from that country; and 4) when the Iraqi government tries to walk back that support, it does so unconvincingly.


McCain Says No To Timetable: I Know What They Want

In separate interviews, John McCain explains to Meredith Vieira (today) and Tim Russert (in May '07) why he opposes Iraq's demand for a troop withdrawal timetable.

Two predictions From The Jeb Report

So I've got two predictions for you.

First: John McCain will pick Mitt Romney for VP. There's nothing terribly special about this prediction -- it's almost conventional wisdom now, though I think Pawlenty has a good shot. (I think that McCain should, but won't, pick Huckabee.)

Second: John McCain will select his VP choice this week, perhaps on Wednesday. His intention? Distract attention from the utter collapse of his agenda on Iraq, his total flip-flop on Afghanistan, and, last but not least, Barack Obama's successful trip overseas.

Bonus time: I'll venture a third one for you -- if I get both of these predictions right, you'll never hear the end of it.

Update: A fourth prediction, from the comments: "John McCain announces his VP pick on Wednesday, but the ratings are a distant second to the viewer ratings of Barack Obama's trip to Europe." Only thing I'd add is that if we're really lucky, at least some of the coverage will frame McCain's pick as a desperate attempt to keep up with Obama.