Panic comes to town

May 8, 2008

1) "Louisiana 6 says 'Hello!'" Hey, when was the last time a House special election [or any House race for that matter] impacted a presidential nomination race? Anyone? Anyone?

2) Uncle Teddy kills the dream [ticket] Says HRC's not deserving of the office of Spiro Agnew or Dick Cheney. Hey! Doesn't Ted know that she has the Immunity Idol. That's what this is all about.....

3) Vito, We hardly knew ya (well, some did) When you hit the Congressional scandal hat trick - DUI, special friend the District knows nothing about and a love child - you've reached the Pantheon preserved for the select few. For wont of a driver on staff, how many have fallen?

4) 'Ster! 'Ster! Let me see your I.D. Poll worker Julie McGuire, herself a nun, was forced to turn away a dozen fellow Catholic nuns of St. Marys Convent in South Bend from an Indiana polling place the day of the presidential primary because they lacked a photo I.D. We're talking about nuns in their 80s or 90s. Some in wheelchairs, on walkers or using electric carts. Now that's the type of poll worker we all need.

5) "Every objective has been met and surpassed!" Rush Limbaugh, crowing to his audience that his "Operation Chaos" was hard at work in Indiana and North Carolina. To most folks "Operation Chaos" refer to that time period between when your prescription runs out and the date the insurance company will pay for the refill.

6) But for the Grace of God (and a bad ballot position) we are spared! Indiana 2: the Congressional District where GOP Congressional contender Tony Zirkle became a three-time loser last week, failing to capture his party's nomination and taking only 16 percent of the vote. In April, Zirkle spoke at a National Socialist Workers Party gathering to honor the birthday of Adolf Hitler. Asked whether he supported the Nazis, Zirkle said he did not "know enough about the group to either favor it or oppose it." In reporting on the story, Al Kamen's "In the Loop" column [Wash. Post 5-7-08] pictured Zirkle, an opponent of porn, feeding an issue of Playboy into a shredder.

7) Political Do-Overs. Are they still allowed? Under fire for having an affair with a staffer, Ohio Attorney general Marc Dann said that he wasn't really ready to administer such a large organization and told staff: "From here on out, we will conduct ourselves in a professional manner befitting the great work we have done." Wait! Okay, .......now!

8) Lt. Cmdr.! Bogies at three o'clock! (I thought you took care of them miles back) GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain still can't break 80% in the primaries. After taking 73% of the vote in Pennsylvania's GOP primary he went on to score 74% in North Carolina and 78% in Indiana. When's that "unity" thingie kick in?

9) One of ours is in trouble! New Hampsherite Gary Dodds was arrested this week, accused of throwing his wife to the floor. You may remember Dodds as a 2006 Democratic Congressional candidate in the state. After things weren't going so well in the campaign he left the scene of a staged car crash and disappeared for a day, saying that he had injured his head and almost drowned in a nearby river. According to reports, prosecutors were suspicious after finding Dodd the next day with "purple feet," the result, they theorized, of his soaking his feet in cold water to make it appear he had spent time in the water. He was convicted of "causing a false public alarm."[USA Today 5-8-08]

10) Rhodes Cook explains it all. Amid all the gasping of the TV chattering class comes veteran political analyst Rhodes Cook with a thoughtful op-ed in the NYT this week looking at the plausibility of an HRC win of the popular vote. While part of his equation is already moot do to poor showings in NC and Ind, it was refreshing to read a reasoned argument for once.