Take Me To Post Comment Form While the Elephants have been lying patiently in wait, the Donkeys have been duking it out in a race of tortoise-like proportions.

John McCain has safely secured his seat atop a battered Elephant, as he hopes to quietly keep the Grand Ole safari animal playing on the White House lawn.

The Donkey is still waiting for someone to come play with him, as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are still tussling who should exit the sandbox first.

After making a mess of schoolhouse playgrounds in Indiana and North Carolina, a few teachers have recently said Hillary needs to behave. Some have said she needs to go to the corner, allowing a sandy Barack to wash himself before getting dirty again while riding the ole mule, err, Donkey.

A few people mistaken as "pundits" by an East Coast publication declared the sand bucket and shovel war over.

According to reports, several students standing outside the sandbox told the teachers who gets to play Don Quixote and take a ride on Donkey for the next few months.

These "pundits" apparently agree with what the students told teachers -- that Obama is on the inside track to serve as the Party's mythical saint and savior.

The question now, many argue, is who will serve as the Sancho Panza to the Dem's Don Quixote (not to be confused with Don-Key Hotay)?

Yet I doubt Sancho Panza will walk alongside Don Quixote, aka Obama, and tell him that he is delusional in saying the donkey is a, well, stallion.

"It's not a stallion, senor," the loyal sidekick said. "We can't call a donkey a stallion."

To which, Obama delivered his most popular of sermons:
"Yes, we can!"

A man can hope, I guess.

Another thing I can guess at -- who is playing the role of Sancho Panza?

Last week, I tried to cast a few people, Hollywood-style, for the role. In that blog, I was delusional myself, attempting to play the role of casting director in throwing out some names for Veep, aka Sancho Panza, solely based on name recognition.

I was so delusional, that a few people replied to me over email, attempting to bring me back to reality and reminding me that I overlooked a name or two. But I am not talking about who will serve as McCain's hospice attendant.

This is about Sancho Panza.

A few names I dropped to play the cynical yet loyal sidekick included:
- Hillary, the schoolyard bully herself;
- John Edwards;
- Bill Richardson;
- Sam Nunn;
- Jim Webb;
- Evan Bayh;
- Ted Strickland;
- Tim Kaine;
- Tom Daschle.

Hey, what do you know, a few people want to prod along with Donkey and support Don Obama's notion that it's really a stallion.

"Perhaps we can make people hope that the donkey is a stallion," one burro insider said.

That same insider tried to make me believe I really was a good casting director, and threw a few more name my way.

"You can't forget about the woman vote," he barked at me as he spewed out names such as Janet Napolitano, Claire McCaskill, Jennifer Granholm and Kathleen Sebulius.

"Of course, there is always the military vote," Mr. Want-to-be Pundit said, reminding me that Wesley Clark, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden must not be overlooked.

"And while Hillary won't join you, why not secure her support and voting base by adding Ed Rendell and Mike Easley to your list?" he concluded.

I scratched my head, simultaneously squinted my eyes as I look up in the air during feigned thought, then replied back to the Donkey-backer.

"Ehh, you're on to something. Let me get to my computer and tell everyone a little about these guys and gals."

So, here it goes -- as casting director for Sancho Panza, I present to you some thoughts on Donkey's sidekick. I promise all movie-, err, ballot-goers a synopsis for the similar role of Hospice Attendant and Elephant Trainer tomorrow.

In the meantime:

- Janet Napolitano: Hillary supporters may like this current Arizona governor. She was the attorney for Anita Hill in during the Clarence Thomas investigation almost 20 years ago.

- Claire McCaskill: The junior Missouri senator partnered with Obama on a few legislative items, especially after the Walter Reed scandal broke out.

- Jennifer Granholm: So the Canadian-born politician who was Michigan's first female governor wants to run for Veep, eh? Good luck getting past the 12th Amendment.

- Kathleen Sebulius: The Kansas governor is the dark-horse candidate who is gaining steam fast. The economy specialist was chosen by the donkeys to give their official response to Dubya Bush's 2008 State of the Union Address.

- Wesley Clark: The retired four-star general of the US Army has tremendous support of veterans. His southern and national security credentials have tremendous value.

- Chris Dodd: The longest-serving senator in Connecticut's history favors a one-year troop withdrawal timetable to end the Iraq War and is against warrantless surveillance.

- Joe Biden: Delaware's longest-serving senator favors Roe v. Wade and authored several innovative and far-reaching criminal justice proposals, such as the Violence Against Women Act.

- Ed Rendell: The hard-core sports fan and Philadelphia governor said this about being Veep: "I like to be my own boss." Hey, this guy physically cleaned Philly's city hall after an election. He has appeal because of his "everyman" persona.

- Mike Easley: A conservative little Donkey, Easley was the first Catholic governor in North Carolina elected by popular vote. As governor, he oversaw 27 death penalty executions.

So many choices, yet only one Sancho Panza. Of this list, I make my case for Kathleen Sebulius.

Why, you ask?
Well:
- Track record of winning moderate and Republican votes;
- Yet has not abandoned her core progressive principles;
- Has strong ties with Democratic governors;
- Named by Time magazine as one of nation's Top 5 governors;
- Balanced Kansas' $1.1B deficit without raising taxes or cutting education funding;
- Convinced several Kansas Elephants to convert to Donkeys;
- She is a top-notch campaigner and communicator;
- She has the same persona and ideology as Obama.

Besides, doesn't "Obama-Sebulius" have the most unique feel to it? It's definitely better than "Quixote-Panza," don't you think?

(Note: Courtesy File Photo)