It made no sense to me at all that Representative Dick Gephardt’s name continually appeared in the scuttlebutt leading up to John Kerry’s selection of a vice presidential running mate, but apparently he was a mainstay on the short list right up until the last moment. Gephardt’s old school, protectionist rhetoric always struck me as a sure way to write a ticket to another damaging Democratic loss in November, so you can imagine the complete relief that I experienced upon hearing yesterday that Senator John Edwards got the official nod. Once in a while, to see something happen in politics with which you whole-heartedly agree, and to find that most pundits agree with you too — in my view, Edwards’s charisma and highly-regarded elocution are huge pluses on a ticket headed by an ashen-faced father figure, and against opponents marked by dim cronyism and pure, unmitigated mendacity.