Mr Scherer's article is a mighty weapon against those who scream about a liberal media, mocking the values and stature of those on the right. I believe he struck exactly the right tone: while somewhat amused by Harris' quixotic candidacy, Scherer is also sympathetic to a woman who is busting her ass to attain her goal. Yes, I consider Harris somewhat comical (an odd transformation from the evil-doer of yore), but perhaps it is pure cynicism. She is right in that the incumbent, Bill Nelson, is a bit of a non-entity.

Quite frankly, you'd think she had enough on the national party to force them to pile buckets of money into her campaign. The president and the governor both giving her the cold shoulder strikes me as the ultimate illustration of how the Bushes pick others to do their dirty work -- after that, it's back to "not our kind, dear."

So for all the protestations that she was cool about her man and that woman hanging out at Burning Man (still, huh?), the minute she finds out that there might be a continuing relationship the claws come out. She's a stripper -- she believes in aliens -- she can be Googled! Why that Jezebel is nothing but a slut! (And what's with "Anonymous" assuming she has VD?)

I sincerely hope the LW gives us an update somewhere down the road.

As a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, I thank the heavens that there is someone finally on the horizon that excites me in a way that JFK did for an earlier generation. I like Hillary and think she'd do a great job, but I'm already exhausted by the bashing. If she runs in '08, the Republicans will put such firepower into destroying her that the Swift Boaters will look like playground bullies shouting "cooties." Gore? Great, and on a karmic level deserves to serve in the office to which he was elected, but he is taking too long deciding. Kerry? Only after now saying that he'll kick the asses of those who sowed seeds of doubt about his medals, he only increases my anger that he did not do so in 2004. Edwards? Is there enough there there?

So I think that Obama should run; I do not think that it will decrease his chances, but much like JFK's bid for VP in '56, it may widen his appeal and raise his profile. And you know, after Bush, Harvard owes us something.

Remember how Will Patton professed his love for Gene Hackman in "No Way Out"? This is a perfect illustration of the glass closet -- and from 1987, no less. Even more to the point was how quickly Gene Hackman was ready to throw his gay staffer overboard when the murder of Sean Young was solved by Kevin Costner. (Sorry, don't remember the characters' names.) So now the Republicans are swinging their hatchets, pledged to purge of the GOP of its "gay problem." How obtuse can they be? The idea that it's OK to be gay in Washington, but don't let the folks back home hear about it is insulting on many levels. Gay staffers are forced to play an insulting game; the folks back home are infantilized; and Washington itself is made into a place that by implication is unfit for "real Americans."

Note, please, who the sole beneficiaries of such a system are.

What a superb, if early, Christmas present!

Bravo to Mr Epps for pointing out how many southern states are changing in ways that first see the light of day in Virginia. Thanks must go to the Virginians themselves, who spared the rest of us the prospect of having George Allen in our national consciousness. Yet another example of stunted frat-boy machismo, incapable and unwilling to evolve, Allen's departure, it is to be hoped, presages that of President Bush: when they go, finally rejected, they do so unloved and unmissed. Mr Epps makes the excellent observation that polarizing politics, dispensed from on high as if from a boardroom, prove exhausting eventually, and even die-hard partisans tire of the game.

The South, as a political entity, seems to be changing, if slowly. Note how Virginia attracts tech workers, who bring with them attitudes of tolerance and social progression, and begins electing Democrats. Other states, attractive to banking and other money interests like North Carolina and Tennessee, still elect Republicans, and of a particularly uninspiring sort (Richard Burr? Lamar Alexander? Elizabeth Dole?). The coverage of the Tennessee race showed Corker to be the kind of guy you see at a country club loudly discussing his golf game. If it takes a while for the other states of the south to catch up, we'll just have to wait. I mean, they can't just keep electing Jim Demint forever, can they?