A Jewish Mother for Obama?

If he decides against Hillary Clinton as a running mate, the Democratic nominee might consider Dianne Feinstein, who played Jewish mother last night by getting them together at her Washington home for a "play nice, children" moment.

“They talked for about an hour,” California's senior Senator told reporters. “Just them. No staff. There were no press, no staff. They had one person from each campaign that was in my study separately and I guess the security people outside. They got along very well.”

As a running mate, Feinstein has a good deal to offer beyond her appeal to Jewish voters--for disappointed women, her staunch support of Clinton during the campaign; for doubters about Obama's youth, more than a decade of executive experience as Mayor of San Francisco; for ideologues, her relative centrism over 16 years in the Senate.

Like John McCain, she has a very rich spouse, whose business ties may raise some questions but not as many as those of the Clintons would.

Taking the game of fantasy politics a step further, if Obama-Feinstein turned out to be a winning ticket, her ascension could open the way for Californians to achieve a demographic twofer by electing Condi Rice to fill her seat.

This weird year, anything is possible.

Kiss for Condi

The Secretary of State must be thinking about Life After Bush. In Sweden for an international conference on Iraq this week, Condoleeza Rice accepted an invitation to attend a rock concert by Kiss and pose for pictures with Gene Simmons and the guys.

The prospect of going back to teach at Stanford and write her memoirs may seem a little tame after all the years of globe-hopping and, despite the rumors, there is little chance Rice will end up as John McCain's running mate. Granted that she is a demographic twofer, the Republican candidate will have enough trouble answering charges about Bush's third term without her presence on the ticket.

But running for the Senate against one of California's two women there may be something else again. Barbara Boxer is up for reelection two years from now and Dianne Feinstein in 2012.

By then, Rice's White House albatross may have withered, leaving her name recognition and foreign policy experience as assets.

After attending only the fourth rock concert in her life--she saw Smokey Robinson, Earth Wind and Fire and U2--if the classical music-loving Secretary starts being sighted at other pop culture events, it will confirm that something is up.