I ask this in the spirit of honest inquiry as someone who's most expensive regularly worn piece of clothing (not worn too regularly) is a blue sport coat I purchased from JC Penney's about 12 years ago for less than $100: Would it be reasonable to expect Governor Palin could be outfitted in clothing and accessories that total $1000 per outfit? The whole shebang, clothes, shoes, etc.?

If the answer is yes, then I don't think a clothing budget of about $25,000 would be unreasonable. She'd get about two dozen outfits at $1000 a pop. $25k is probably more than I'll spend on clothes in a lifetime but as several people mentioned, image matters in politics.

If the answer is no, what would constitute a reasonable budget for someone in Gov. Palin's position to outfit themselves? By reasonable I would mean that something most people would look at and say, "Yeah, that makes sense."

Yes, very well done. Harlan Ellison had Brokaw's number when he passingly commented, in "The Glass Teat," that Brokaw was one of several lightweight, interchangeable anchors in LA. This was ca. 1969-1970. Brokaw has acquired a veneer of gravitas since then but the lightweight anchor's always been visible underneath to anyone bothering to look.

They can't find a permanent host for MTP soon enough. In a just world they'd give it to Rachel Maddow who is what an anchor should be: Tough but fair (which is not the same as unbiased) and committed to bringing the truth to light. Not preserving "access." People who watch or listen to Rachel will know she tries to let both sides of an argument have their say; when one side refuses the opportunity--as the McCain campaign has done with her with one single exception--then they don't get their side of the story told. Access works both ways after all.

I feel no sympathy whatsoever for Sarah Palin. Yes, not-so-veiled comments about her grasp of the issues from within the McCain-Palin campaign are classless, but doesn't it confirm what we see every day from her on the campaign trail?

No, she and McCain are getting what they richly deserve. They are both nasty and contemptuous of people and ideas that do not fit into their picture of what the world should be. Sarah Palin sowed the wind and is reaping the whirlwind.

One of the districts drawn when DeLay's cronies in the Texas Legislature decided to dismember Travis County, it runs from north Austin to the Houston suburbs. Democratic challenger Larry Joe Doherty was down only 4 to incumbent Michael McCaul in a poll published last week.

The wildcard will be Libertarian candidate Matt Finkel. It will be interesting to see if he can siphon off enough support from McCaul to throw the election to Doherty.

Moreover, McCain knows it. Or else he's forgotten all about his and Obama's Senate colleague, Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Sanders is the most liberal member of the Senate, and is, or has been, a self-identified socialist.

Hell, that was one of the reasons I voted for Sanders for Congress three times in the 1990s when I was registered to vote in Vermont.

1. Popular vote margin: Obama by 5

2. Obama EV count: 353

3. Democrats: +25 seats in the House

4. Democrats: +7 in the Senate (CO, NM, NC, MN, AK, NH, OR)

5. Murtha retains seat (barely)

6. Tinklenberg defeats Bachmann

7. Chambliss retains seat

8. Franken defeats Coleman

9. Hagan defeats Dole

TIE BREAKER:

Race called for Obama at 11 pm Eastern, as soon as polls close in CA

They've been rendered irrelevant with this election, they just don't realize it yet. If Penn and Schoen were so brilliant it would have been Hillary Clinton at the head of the Democratic ticket this year; her successes in the primaries this year was in spite of the DLC's help.

The best thing President Obama could do would be to nod politely at any advice the DLC gives him and promptly ignore it.

I'll be looking forward to "Wonderboy" taking over for Incompetent Boob and his kleptocrat cronies. If they don't manage to destroy the works between now and January 20.

If I'd voted early in the morning, it would have been Bacon, hands down. Lunch or dinner, perhaps Fries though Bacon is yummy throughout the day.

Mmmmm...bacon.

All due respect to the President-elect and his like-minded Senate colleagues, but there have to be consequences. Whether this is admirable mercy or craven spinelessness, I don't know. What I do know is that we have a senator who has consistently broken his word and gotten away with it. Losing chairmanship of Homeland Security should be the least of it, and should be non-negotiable.

At his first press conference, President-elect Obama (and I DO love typing that, when all is said and done) said he's been talking with living ex-presidents and studying others. I suggest he have a talk with one Bill Don Moyers, and ask Moyers one question: What would LBJ have done? Obama could do worse by emulating that course of action, maybe without also holding meetings in the john or while skinny-dipping.

You get my highly unofficial red star of the day with your perfectly timed and executed zinger/reference. :-)

Palin and Perry on stage together...two of my least favorite politicians in one place. Put Bush or Cheney in there and I could have had a trifecta.

The thing that strikes me as a Texas resident is how little Perry seems to be liked by anyone. If only the Texas Democratic Party had had a stronger candidate in 2006. Chris Bell wasn't horrible, but he wasn't great. Where one strong candidate might have knocked Perry off, you had three candidates splitting the vote.

Still, Palin-Perry 2012, the possibilities boggle the mind. They'd have the hair-stylist vote sewed up between them.

In medieval France and Germany, almost any minor noble had the right to coin their own money, with the result that economic development was stifled. Why does Rep. Paul think private mints would be any better in the 21st century?