Fran's voice would drive southern gopers crazy.

It's a testament to the strength of political correctness in America that McCain shied away from attacking the Obama-Wright connection. Note that he was willing to cite the much more tenuous Obama-Ayers connection, as that of course had no p.c. implications.

Steve Benen wrote: "Obama and Biden will meet with Al Gore today to discuss energy policy."

I hope that Gore will press Obama and Biden to adopt his proposal for the US to get 100 percent of its electricity from carbon-free sources (wind, solar, geothermal and biomass, plus the existing hydro and nuclear power plants) within ten years; to create a new-generation "smart grid" designed from the ground up to handle diverse, distributed, large and small scale, intermittent energy producers; and to establish an immediate nationwide ban on the construction of any new coal-fired power plants.

And I hope they listen. Their published plan for moving towards a clean, renewable energy economy is very good, but not good enough. What Gore's group has proposed can be done -- and can be done relatively easily. There are no major technical or economic obstacles; the only obstacle is the entrenched political power of the fossil fuel and nuclear power corporations.

"Very early polling in advance of next year's gubernatorial race in Virginia shows Terry McAuliffe struggling against the likely Republican candidate, state Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell."

I can't begin to state how great a disaster it would be for Virginia to have McDonnell as Governor. We nick named him "Taliban Bob" a few years ago on account of his religious war fare mailers he sent out when running for Attorney General. He is the darling of the religious right, and panders to them. He is not fit to be governor. It goes without saying that McAuliffe should not be the gubernatorial Democratic nominee. At the DNC, he ran our party into the ground, then blamed others for his mistakes. And, as you show in that poll, he would have a tough time defeating the sectarian McDonnell in a state that has been trending blue.

She doesn't really talk like that.

But maybe she could whip that voice out every once in a while just to irritate McConnell.

Sorry, not buying it that McCain refused to air the ad. I would bet a month's pay it was going to be their 9th inning rally ad slated but they got killed when they focus grouped and polled it.

Oh, Oh! I love Bill White! Best. Mayor. Ever.

Bill White would be a fantastic senator. Can you imagine Bill White as a US Senator from Texas and Ron Kirk as Governor of Texas? I can't get the smile off my face just thinking about it.

She's the lady in red
When everybody else is wearing tan
The flashy girl from Flushing
The senator named Fran!

She has style, she has flair, she is there. Ah, hell...why not?

> Former state Comptroller John Sharp and Houston Mayor Bill White
> are reportedly considering [running for Senator Hutchison's seat].

Both are centrist Democrats who've done well in a red state (although the Houston mayor's office is nominally non-partisan). Given that a gen-yew-wine librul can't hope to take Hutchison's seat, we Dems in Texas could do worse than either of these.

Why would Hutchison give up a Senate seat for what is essentially a ceremonial job?

I'm relieved that Al Gore has no intention of serving in the Obama administration, where he'd be a surrogate for Obama's insufficient energy proposals. He needs to keep waging the battle from outside government, where he can be most effective. Unfortunately, Al is just not a charismatic leader. He can't rally the world the way Obama can. Hopefully, though, Al will be able to persuade Obama that he needs to be much bolder and forward looking in order to overcome the status quo - the entrenched gas, coal, oil and American auto industries bent upon maintaining our dependence on fossil fuels and the road hogs that thrive on them.

Why would Hutchison give up a Senate seat for what is essentially a ceremonial job?

That's what Blagojevich is wondering.

When the bandwagon's rolling everybody wants to jump on. Fran Drescher for Senator? Most bizarre reason to watch the classic rock 'n roll movie American Hot Wax: Drescher and Jay Leno as sniping teenage lovers with a collective IQ lower than the bottom of the Top 40.

Chris Matthews? That's okay, got his contract with a nice raise. Caroline Kennedy? If hosting tea parties around the world qualifies you to be President, crawling around under the president's desk should be enough for the Senate. (Didn't mean to suggest that includes Monica Lewinsky. Really just went someplace strange. Brain shrug.)

But if I were still a Virginia resident, I might vote against Terry McAuliffe myself. A very major player in the Democratic debacle we've been crawling out from ever since, and a guy who "accidentally" made eighteen million dollars on one deal while serving in the White House, it'd be better for all of us if he was sharing a cell with Rod and Jeff instead of returning to government.

Speaking of whom, I've been e-mailing around comments from PA posters all morning. Thanks everybody -- very funny, at a time when some humor is badly needed.

I hope Obama, Biden and Gore have read "Hot, Flat and Crowded," and invite Friedman to join the meeting.

John Sharp is a retread loser AND a collaborationist with the Texas GOP, and Gov. Helmethair in particular. Texas Dems need him to run for statewide office like they need another hole in their collective heads.

Andy, you may be right on Bill White, but not at all right on John Sharp.

* Very early polling in advance of next year's gubernatorial race in Virginia shows Terry McAuliffe struggling against the likely Republican candidate, state Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell. -- Steve Benen

With luck, it won't ever become an issue. I have yet to meet a single (Dem) person who's prepared to vote for him in the primaries. Some of us like Deeds and some of us like Moran but none of us like McAuliffe (for a thousand and one reasons)...

Drescher? At least no one could accuse *her* of being a carpet-bagger.