Soccer Dad

The first choice for second slot?

via memeorandum

Apparently the top two Democrats (or their supporters) still have some friction between them.

Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, faces dissent from dozens of top fund-raisers and other supporters of former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, who are angry over how she was treated during their bruising primary battle and are hesitating to back Sen. Obama.

Some leading Clinton supporters are starting new Web sites or political action committees aimed at prodding Sen. Obama on issues or pressuring him to give Sen. Clinton a big role in the general-election campaign. People familiar with the matter say the effort involves dozens of the roughly 300 Clinton "Hillraisers," individuals who raised at least $100,000 apiece for her campaign.

Still it's uncertain how big a deal this will be:

Meanwhile, an analysis of campaign-finance records conducted for The Wall Street Journal by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics shows that in May, when Sen. Obama was widely believed to have clinched the Democratic nomination, only one Hillraiser had switched allegiance to the Obama campaign. And while 115 individuals who had donated at least $1,000 to Sen. Clinton made their first donations to Sen. Obama, another 115 former Clinton backers made their first big donations to Sen. McCain.

Unless there's a move of the top Clinton supporters, this probably won't make much of a difference.

Still it's in marked contrast to what's going on on the other side.

Mitt Romney is soliciting his donor list for contributions to the McCain campaign.

He sent a letter to supporters that came with a "Mitt Romney, Belmont, Massachusetts," letterhead but was paid for by McCain's campaign.

There's an obvious reason for this show of love.

A former Romney supporter in Colorado sends along the return card with a photo of the former rivals, hopeful that it bodes well for Mitt's veep chances.

If that's how Romney loyalists interpret it, McCain's finance team certainly won't dispute the point.

Getting the vice presidential nod can overcome a lot of animosity. Despite some of the speculation about others, I'd have to conclude from this that Romney is McCain most likely pick for the VP.