Nothing about this election season so far has been predictable or ordinary, and certainly the Vice Presidential choices of both Barack Obama and John McCain will be riveting, strategic, and consequencial.

I am not of the camp believing that John McCain can count on states that went GOP back in 2004 and 2000 to continue to do so without extreme effort and resources. I talk about this two other posts of here and here. There is an element of Obama’s candidacy that is recognized but not talked about in a serious way. He is a charismatic persona like no other in recent memory and will move people to vote in ways that opinion polls and punditry cannot accurately gauge.

For this reason, John McCain’s VP choice will be extremely important as it will be his opportunity to counter the vigor, charisma, and quite frankly, the ethnic background of his opponent.

Terry McAuliffe, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, embodied both this delusional thinking and the blustering garbage rhetoric that is so typical of modern American politics, when in advance of her “victory” speech in New York City, he introduced her as the “next President of the United States.” Was this a joke? An old habit? Irony? A “misspeak”? Whatever his intention, the result is clear: that there is little clarity about Clinton’s intentions or agenda at this point.

In her speech, she spoke at length about her supporters, praising them in their steadfastedness and vowing to make sure their votes count. She mentioned repeatedly that she had the support of 18 million Americans, more than any other candidate in history during the Presidential Primaries. In other words, she was sending a message that she holds the keys to the Presidency and that Obama better play ball with her or she’ll send her Army home.

What she didn’t tell you (and neither did any of the pundits, at least the ones on MSNBC) was this idea that Clinton has “won” the popular vote is another fiction. The truth here is two-fold.