The Friday Political Thread: Four-on-the-Floor Edition

David Weigel | February 1, 2008

Quote of the Week
"It is as outrageous as having Nazis march through Skokie, Ill." - The New America Foundation's Len Nichols on a conference call with press. He was describing Barack Obama's attacks on Hillary Clinton's health care plan.

The Week in Brief
- John McCain won the 5-way Florida primary by five points, demonstrating that he was completely unbeatable and that it was time to suck it up and make him president.
- The Democrats debated at a table and pretended to like each other.
- The Republicans debated at a table and didn't pretend.
- Endorsements flew in the presidential race, mostly to Obama on the Democratic side (a pack of Kennedys, both Seattle papers, most California papers) and to McCain on the Republican side (everyone not actually related to the Romney brothers).
- John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani left the presidential race, and the reason offices ran out of champagne.
- President Bush gave his final State of the Union address. Remember?

Below the Fold
- Quin Hillyer says that now is the time for Fred Thompson, Rick Santorum, Butch Otter and the rest of the conservative family to stop John McCain... by running for president themselves.
- Stanley Karnow, who knows a little about this, looks back to the Tet Offensive (forty years ago yesterday) for lessons about our current crises.
- Adam Reilly profiles one of Mitt Romney's notorious flacks. If you got a resume and the last job listed was "Mitt Romney campaign," would you hire him?
- Steve Appleford goes inside the Obama California operation.
- John Sugg writes about some... newsletters? Is that what they're called?
- Peter Gelzenis conjures up some truly pristine Romney-hatred in the Boston Herald. "Now, he limps back to us in Massachusetts, the least favorite of his 22 home states. Mitt comes back looking more like Willy Loman, his trunk heavy with the samples people failed to buy."

Politics 'n' Prog this week is given over to a band I don't actually listen to that much, but who have a political song that seems to appeal equally to Ron Paul voters and 70s sci-fi fans.