Sebelius

I'd have detected the Obamamentum too, but the -mentum implies movement. It was more like Obamanertia.

Well, its cold in Kansas in Jan, and I've never thought of Kansans as emotional folks, so her chilly persona is sort of understandable. Ya, she's attractive in the physical sense, and she sounds grounded in reality. But I share your reaction that she's not VP caliber material at this time - as some have suggested.

Her endorsement may help in the plains states, but she's no Ted Kennedy (and Ted is a personal icon of committment to progressive values, but no close friend of mine.)

Another thought about today; Kennedy's words and obvious conviction for Obama were really powerful. A weird analogy popped into my mind after percolating in my brain after hearing him deliver his endorsement. Recall when we brought out the WWII battleships (Iowa and Missouri) out of mouthballs to bombard the coasts of Vietnam because of their ability to send Volkswagen-sized shells into fortifications? Ted has been kinda quiet in Democratic politics since he hauled Kerry around Iowas introducing him to the workers, farmers and retirees in 2004, athough he's been quite active in the Senate.

Ted is the battleship MO brought back into fighting shape to help project the progressive vision of America in Obama's behalf. He was awesome!

Bush may have had a wire in his ear, but Sebelius had one implanted in her brain. Why couldn't the aliens crank it up a notch and give her a dram of personality? By the way, how much is a dram?

The problem is that you cannot give a SOTU-like speech to a camera in an empty room and expect it to be tolerable. To add interest, you can either give a different kind of speech (i.e., less wonkery, more storytelling) or you can turn up the rhetorical volume somewhat. Webb did both, which is why his SOTU response was so effective.