This week brought even more major league defections from the Presidential primary campaigns of Republican candidates, this time its John McCain (again) and (unannounced) Fred Thompson, although Rudy has lost his share to the law of late. Leaves one wondering just who will be left when it actually comes time for right-wingers to vote?

Pawn finds this all vaguely reminiscent of the Summer of 2004, when one Barack Obama was running for US Senate from Illinois, the seat vacated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald, and his opponent Jack Ryan had spent a small fortune to wrap up the Republican primary against well qualified opponents. Ryan’s campaign flamed out amid allegations by his ex-wife, actress and Star Trek bombshell Jeri Ryan, that he had forced her to go to sex clubs. After Ryan finally heeded the calls of his party, and dropped out of the race, the Republicans had a mad time finding a replacement, even briefly flirting with the idea of a Mike Ditka candidacy. Finally they settled on Alan Keyes, who during a laughable campaign came out against his own daughter coming out and claimed that Jesus wouldn’t vote for Obama, and ended with 27% of the vote to Obama’s 70%.

So, “What’s your point?” you may well ask. It is this: At the rate things are going it is almost as though the Republican party must be hoping that at least one obscure candidate can hang on long enough and not self immolate, so that they have someone to prop up in November 2008 to face off against a strong Democratic candidate.

One wonders how long Ron Paul can keep up that respectable bank balance of his?

Republican Senator Arlen Specter (PA), took AG Alberto Gonzales to task yesterday for his repeated prevarication on the subject of just what went down in the hospital room of his predecessor several years back. Here, from Time Magazine, we have an interesting side note (emphasis mine):

Specter later circled back to Gonzales on the matter, warning him: “My suggestion to you is you review your testimony to find out if your credibility has been breached to the point of being actionable,” Specter said. The maximum penalty for being caught lying to Congress is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 per count. Specter wryly noted to reporters during a break that there is a jail in the Capitol complex.
Gonzales Digs a Deeper Hole – TIME

Do yourself a favor and follow the link, there are many more such juicy nuggets in the full story.

From The Note over at Mickey Mouse dot com, comes this collection of observations about Elizabeth Edwards taking Hillary Clinton to task for net being fem enough.  Jeez, what’s next?

…Elizabeth Edwards’ sharp tongue is again dominating the 2008 race — and that may actually be a good thing for the candidate.
In a jab that will be the subject of a good dissertation on feminism some day, Elizabeth Edwards posited that her husband — not Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. — is the best candidate for female voters. “Sometimes you feel you have to behave as a man and not talk about women’s issues,” she said when discussing Clinton in an interview with Salon.com. “I’m not convinced she’d be as good an advocate for women.”
Straight-talking spousal comments are often massively distracting to campaigns. (Imagine if Teresa Heinz Kerry had taken a swipe at Laura Bush, or if President Clinton were to argue that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., isn’t man enough for the job.) But whether it’s her battle with cancer, her real-mom looks, or her general likeability, there looks to be little downside for Edwards in having his wife mix it up.
The Note: Elizabeth Edwards Dukes it Out on Her Husband’s Behalf