Obama on Rice

Barack Obama, the immensely likable junior senator from Illinois, did an impressive job asking Condeleeza Rice respectful questions during her confirmation hearings.

I caught a few minutes of coverage, and there was quite a bit of the usual posturing, with two exceptions. Erratic Democrat Joe Biden, to his credit, told Europe to get over it. And Obama asked a question to which I would like an answer myself: How (and why) do we distinguish between tyrants and terrorists when applying U.S. foreign policy and going to war?

The answer was hazy, and boils down to "It depends." The overall performance, however, appears to have pleased conservatives to the point of comparing her, curiously, to an Egyptian queen.

Politically, for Democrats, it must be demoralizing to be reduced to noisemaking and obstructionism, with all three branches of government out of their control. But if Hillary chooses Obama as a running mate, the Republicans are in very serious trouble.