So I just read that ex-Virginian governor Douglas Wilder - who is, btw, African-American - just publicly declined to endorse Democratic candidate Creighton Deeds, in spite of a strong appeal from President Obama. Last week, embattled New York Governor David Patterson (I think you have to add the 'embattled' in front of his title - it's in the style guide) declined to step down after being directly asked by the President.

I've got three thoughts about this. The first is a crib from Will Rodgers: "I belong to no organized party, I'm a Democrat."

The next is that things that are easy with 67% strong popularity are really, really hard with a 51% 'somewhat approve' rating.

And finally, from my corporate work, no question at this level is supposed to get asked until quiet discussions have confirmed the answer. That's a bush-league (sorry...) mistake, and a sign of political immaturity at the senior staff level. We need to fix that, please, Mr. President.
-