Random thoughts about the state of the presidential race, in no particular order:

(1) In New Jersey yesterday, my parents canceled each other out. My dad voted for Clinton and my mom for Obama (she was undecided as late as yesterday). Yay for bucking gender roles!

(2) It’s interesting how many candidates have multiple home states. Clinton is “from” Illinois, Arkansas and New York. Obama is “from” Hawaii, Kansas and Illinois. Romney is “from” Michigan, Massachusetts, and Utah (kinda).

(3) Running mates:

(a) McCain would be a fool not to pick Huckabee. He brings in the evangelicals and the South, yet they’re both appealing mavericks. But I was hoping to see a decline of evangelical influence in the White House.

(b) If Clinton gets the nomination, how could she not pick Obama? Not that I necessarily think she should. But she’d look like a chump if she didn’t ask him, and he’d look like a chump if he turned her down. But there are ways to avoid it and still save face. Meanwhile, would he be under pressure to pick her as a running mate?

(c) On the other hand, it’s unusual for nominees to pick primary opponents as running mates. Kerry/Edwards in 2004 was the exception; before that, the last such ticket was Reagan/Bush in 1980. So take (a) and (b) with a grain of salt.

(4) I can’t get the MSNBC election music out of my head.