Question: "Do you think that if Hillary ends up with the nomination as a result of the race battle raging within the Democrats, it just begs for McCain to select one of the several possible black Republicans for his VP? Would there ever be a better opportunity to demographically eradicate the Dems?" -- Mike_M

Answer: Conceptually, under those circumstances, that would be an interesting tactic that could very well lead to a significant number of black Democrats voting Republican. If, let's say McCain could even pull 20% of the black vote, it would doom Hillary and make it easier for black Americans to pull the lever for the GOP in the future.

On the other hand, practically, it would be tough because there is such a dearth of qualified black candidates for the Veep slot on the GOP side.

Condi is tightly tied to George Bush and hasn't set the world on fire as Secretary of State. Colin Powell is poplar enough and well respected, but VERY squishy. Michael Steele & Ken Blackwell don't have enough seasoning. JC Watts has some baggage and has been out of office for a while.

If McCain were to pick anyone from that group, my best guess would be Colin Powell, and given that McCain isn't well liked amongst conservatives, adding a RINO like Powell to the ticket could risk further depressing the base. Still, you never know with McCain...