It looks like the New York Times just cleaned up my piece on Jeb and made it a little more respectable. It says all the same things without being overtly hostile to the Bush family.
On another note, the new CNN debate rules favor Carly Fiorina and relegate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to the kiddie table. Since the new rules take a more recent sampling of polling, it’s hard to argue that this is some kind of injustice. I also note that Lindsey Graham is getting a Flounder: 0 point 0 in the average of polls. Considering how much more often he appears on television than George Pataki or Rick Santorum or Rick Perry, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that his ambiguously single status has something to do with his inability to find a Republican who will support him pretty much anywhere in the country. His other problem is that he’s basically John McCain’s mini-me and, defying the expectations of the Washington press, John McCain is about as popular with Republicans as an unruptured boil. Going on television and complaining about the wacko birds, it turns out, is not a recipe for popularity among the wacko birds.
It’s a good thing for House Clinton that Hillary started off in such a commanding position because she’s fallen a very long way and still has a commanding position. I’m seeing some irrational exuberance from Camp Bernie but he could hardly have hoped for quicker and more meaningful progress. It’s the trend lines that look horrible for Clinton, but she’s still in good shape today.
Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland came out this morning in favor of the deal with Iran which gives the president an effective block on any attempt to override his veto. This is checkmate, and the deal will go through. There’s no upside now to waiting any longer or in taking the losing side, so I expect the undecideds to spill over and maybe even provide the 40 votes needed to filibuster the GOP’s bad faith effort to torpedo the international deal. Obama wins again, and here’s a big tall glass of Joe Lieberman’s tears for you to imbibe. Oh, and John Kerry can begin preparing his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Nice work, gentlemen.
I believe today is also the 10-year anniversary of George W. Bush telling his Arabian horse lobbyist that he was doing a heckuva job letting the people of New Orleans drown. I’ve known you folks for a long time. It’s been a privilege and a pleasure.
