Excellent. That confirms my thoughts about the GOP race. Sorry, Governor Huckabee and everyone else. 2-way-race.

This is going to get interesting as neither McCain nor Romney can remotely be considered candidates of the Christian right. I thought Frist was making the most effort to suck up to the fundi-wing of the Republican party. With him out, who is going to try to capture those votes and the enormous ground machine that comes with them? Remember, the state party machinery in a whole lot of critical primary states is completely controlled by the fundamentalist Christian wing of the party.

I just don't see Dobson and his ilk sitting still with a choice between McCain and Romney and for that reason, I expect we'll see some new candidate emerge who is the clearly identified favorite of the Chrisian Right. Whether it is a Bush-type politician who plays footsies with the fundies, or an actual fundie candidate like Pat Robertson and Gary Bauer in primaries past, I really don't know.

One way or another, we're in for an entertaining ride. No way this becomes a 2-way race between two moderate Republican outsiders at this point in the game.

Please explain how McCain is: a. moderate b. outsider?

a. If you look at the positions of the xtianist riech he looks moderate by comparison.
b. Since he just recently began fellating foulwell et al he is an outsider to the Xtianist riech cabal that controls the rethug nomination process. Yea that's the ticket.

The Republicans are now racing cripples?

I guess Romney has a chance but McCain has no more chance than that famous snowball:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane_hydrate

Best, Terry

Gingrich thought he had a mandate to remake the country in 1995 with the Contract with America. He seems to hope that, enthralled by his superior policy proposals, the people will lift him on their shoulders and carry him to the White House.

Unfortunately, most of Gingrich's ideas are theoretical silver bullets sprinkled with technology, like laptops for every student as a kind of education reform. Or paying back student loans for college students who become math and science teachers for five years. Anything but pursuing policies known to work, like increasing teacher pay or reducing student-to-teacher ratios.