Politics

The Friday Political Thread: Remember, Remember the Thread of November

|

Not much to thread about today, as Guy Fawkes day was covered to death all week and I'll be joining Ron Paul supporters in Philadelphia tomorrow, with a full report (and some video) to follow.

The week in brief…

– Voters across the country (possibly not your part of the country) went to the polls, and with a few exceptions the Democrats came out looking good.

– Bush's attorney general nominee was confirmed, and for the first time one of his vetoes was overidden. Enjoy your water! Or, more accurately, enjoy your congressman's pet project!

– Hillary (and Bill) Clinton struggled to recover from attacks in the last Democratic debate, and the frontrunner fell in the polls for the first time since the spring. It got less notice, but Fred "the Energizer" Thompson sagged into a tie for second with John McCain. (Ron Paul is still running third in Intrade, though.)

– Bernie Kerik got indicted, and future President Giuliani might pardon him.

– Wyoming Rep. Barbara Cubin (R), who threatened to slap Libertarian candidate Thomas Rankin last year, is calling it quits.

Below the fold…

– The Prowler asks some good questions about Mike Huckabee's aw-shucks brand of secrecy.

– Brainy populist David Sirota labels Mike Huckabee and John Edwards the "Huey Longs of Iowa." He means this in a positive way, although when he points out that the last populist winner on the Democratic side was Dynamite Dick Gephardt, his thesis gets a little creaky. (He's stronger on the GOP side: the state where Pats Robertson and Buchanan pulled close seconds are clealy not wedded to Mitt Romney right now.)

Parents magazine asks which future leader you'd want to babysit your kids. What the hell does Mitt Romney have to do to win this?

This week's installment of Politics 'n' Prog is an inevitable visit from Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett with the first track from his first solo album: "Ace of Wands."