The acting was mostly better than it usually is in period pieces, I thought. The screenplay did an interesting job of not whitewashing his relations with his children.

What I hated was the Geopolitik, which seemed like straight 21st century GOP party line. French people are icky painted harlots or rabble-rousing Communists; English people are so refined, so much more like upper-class Americans. Please. It wasn't the French who burned the White House, it was the damned Brits.  

Whose agenda is it to promote American sentiment against the French? Not mine.  And which country was consistently our enemy during John Adams' own lifetime? The Brits.

Haven't yet seen the last episode. Will be curious to see how they reconcile this portrayal with Abigail packing up the White House crockery to save it from the approaching BRITISH ARMY.

Googling his name, Joseph A Dugan, produces evidence suggesting that judges are appointed to that bench but the public has sporadic opportunities to vote not to retain them. He passed such a checkpoint in 2002, evidently. I don't know how long the term is.

Unfortunately, in my observation, the public has a very short memory when applied to retaining judges, and it's extremely rare that one is retired by ballot. We retired a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice recently that way, but I can't at the moment remember another instance. People forget.  

My own routine habit is to vote against retaining any judge unless I happen to know that he or she is pretty good.  

If we get a change in that leadership post I'd rather have Dodd or Patrick Leahy.

My state hasn't voted yet, and I'm voting for Mike Gravel when we do. I'm sick of both of them. I'll vote in the General for whichever wins, but at this point I couldn't be bothered to open a newspaper the day after the convention chooses, and find  out which it is. I'll let it be a surprise, when I see a name on the November ballot.

A close call, but a meaningful win. We avoid an expense-deflecting run-off and can concentrate on the general election in November.

Texans, is there really no solution to perennial candidate Gene Kelly?  For instance, if a Democratic President offered him a blue-ribbon job, would he take it, and stop spoiling elections in Texas?

I, too, thought of the Reagans and their astrologers. I personally find these details pathetic and ridiculous, but I think I agree with others here that they're not especially useful as talking points. In addition to those who are willing to say they find them "charming," personal experience suggests to me that a fair number of people who are not obviously and openly superstitious do have some private rituals or tokens that seem meaningful to them.

On a broader level there is room for speculation that some of the mystifying aspects of Bush wing Republican disdain for science, in various manifestations, comes from the way it obscurely interferes with their underlying belief system, which has to do with magic. If I refuse to call it a war, it isnt a war; if I insist that the economy is robust, it's robust; if I repeat a certain number of times, using a glib formula, that reducing taxes for the very rich helps everybody, it is true, or it will become true, or the fact that it is not true won't come out until I'm out of office. The power that they invest in words like "helping the terrorists" is reminiscent of ritualistic magic.  

The major news from Tuesday, for me, is that reform lost in IL-14 and IL-03.  

If Donna Edwards loses next Tuesday in MD-04, I may find that I have time to follow some of my non-political interests, after all.  

when mccain says, "my friend" and then slams someone.

Like that time PM Thatcher said on the floor of the House of Commons 'The Honorable Member from [wherever it was] is guilty of cant and humbug.'

Evan Bayh built up that fairly extensive warchest over a period of many, many electoral cycles. He's been squirrelling away money for years, just like Senator Clinton, and for the same reason: to fund a campaign for the nomination to be President. Not Vice-President.

Evan Bayh is only 52 years old. He has told himself, every morning when he looks in the mirror to straighten his tie, that he will be President one day. He bowed out this cycle when it became clear that it wasn't his shot, this time. But he's young.
He could let Senator Clinton (or whoever) serve not one, but two terms, and still be young enough to run after that.

He'll be keeping most of that money, guys.

He didn't raise it to give it to Senator Clinton or Senator Obama or anybody else. He'll be adding to it, little by little, for the next 4 years if we don't take the White House in 2008, or for the next 8 years, if we do.

I watched Senator Clinton do the exact same thing. I've had fund-raising letters every cycle from her, since before she won her first term, though I've never lived in New York or Arkansas. That's how it's done. That's where her warchest came from. Amassed over a long period.

I get fund-raising letters from Ted Kennedy, too, but he has a better sense of the limitations on his political future. He knows he will never be President, so Senator Kennedy actually does give it away.  

Setting aside political considerations that have to do with campaigning, and not qualifications, would Vilsack be a good President, if called upon?

I know we focus our discussions here on winning elections; but, after all, the most important job of the vice presidential candidate is to be ready and qualified to be President, should something happen to the POTUS.

Kaine and Bob Graham are interesting possibilities. But I think the Party would be wise to find a Westerner for one of the two slots at the top of the ticket, if possible, because I think that's where the Party had growth potential.

We need to finish consolidating control of the Congressional delegations from the NorthEast; re-link with labor unions in the MidWest and Rust Belt; and woo Westerners with tickets that are pro-environment and that emphasize populist themes.

The key to Florida and Arizona and maybe Texas (in the long run) is to reassure older voters that Social Security is at risk with that other party, not with us. And thank god the Cuban-American demographic in Florida is finally shifting away from old-timers who can only remember one political idea (that they hate Castro). As younger Cuban-Americans assimilate, the GOP may lose their grip on their votes.

Bentsen added gravitas to the ticket, and he was an effective public speaker. Not benefits Bayh would have in his favor.

Well, I don't like him, and I'm allowed to say so, because I have voted for him 4 times: twice for governor, twice for Senate. But he's cautious, sly, not very good on women's issues or social issues in general, and boring. Evan Bayh is as dull as ditchwater. I do not want him to ever be president, and, therefore, I would not care to see him on the ticket.

Senator Clinton isn't my favorite among the candidates and I wasn't rooting for General Clark, either, when he was still in the race for the top of the ticket; but I do agree that they make a fairly strong combination together. If she hasn't already promised it to Vilsack, she could do worse.

I think, on the other hand, that General Clark may very well be offered his choice of cabinet seats by virtually any winning Democratic presidential contender.  He could be the 'General Colin Powell' of the Democratic nominee - the pre-announced cabinet appointment who gives a tiny boost to the nominee even before they win.

Before we confuse too many people trying to parse all these tongue-in-cheek negatives, I'm not spoiing for a fight on the NC-SEN nomination. I'm glad to see interest raised in the senate contest and I hope to learn more as I observe a clean contest between or among the Democrats who may come forward for it.  

But I have to admit it isn't my top-priority concern for North Carolina in the 2008 cycle. My top priority interest in North Carolina remains facing up to the unfinished business left on our plates from 2006, when national forces coalesced to push a blue dog across the finish line in NC-11, but left a great candidate only hundreds of votes shy of victory in NC-08.

I'm glad we got the blue dog and retired the GOP incumbent in the 11th district, but the failure to fund both races with enough support has left us with a much bigger task on our hands this time in NC-08, because the advantage of surprise is gone.  

In NC-08, one of our best is in a re-match with one of their worst. I'm backing Larry Kissell. If we can make a real contest out of the senate seat, that's terrific. But NC-08 is the most important race, for me, in the New South area, in either chamber.

http://www.actblue.com/page/2008fund?ref code=myddlkissell