Put Angus First.

Tuesday night brought all of the heavy hitters, except that one commander-in-chief guy, to St. Paul. That's not to say he wasn't featured (he spoke via satellite), but when Joe Leibermann and Fred Thompson upstage the president, it's safe to say he's reached irrelevancy.

Strangest talking point of the night: "doesn't care what the polls say." Laura Bush, in reference to her husband, and Fred Thompson, in reference to JMac, uttered this sentiment. That logic seems a bit flawed when your sitting president has a 28% approval rating, and you have a foreign policy that, more or less, could follow in his footsteps. I'd have tossed that line if I were the elephants in the speech writing room.

That Huskie independent and thorn in the side of the Dems, Joe Leibermann, took headliner status. With a voice that could put a meth binge to sleep, the same guy that debated Dick Cheney just eight years ago strode to the podium. His calls for unity and general eloquence didn't quite receive the same applause as Fred's drawl. Joe walked a tightrope with comments like "we're living our worst nightmare." The applause was tepid.

Fred "Red Truck" Thompson delivered an impassioned homage to JMac and Reagan. For a party platform that isn't hip to two dudes getting hitched, Republican males have a creepy infatuation with Ronald Reagan. Nevertheless, the speech indicates that Thompson shines when he isn't running for president.

Note, speakers didn't mention Biden. This bodes well for the Dems. The GOP has a hard time attacking someone so experienced.

Ed Kilgore takes us behind the scenes and tells us what, through his lens, really transpired.

JMac canceled an interview with Larry King. It was part of a busy day of retaliation for supposed misspeaks and insensitiveness made against Gov. Palin.

Megan McArdle offers some nice perspective on the Palin pregnancy. If stories like this keep emerging from the woodwork, Joshua Green wonders if they could yank her. Orr says that Dems patronize Palin to their own detriment. WVPC's angle: when did being mayor become more noble than being senator? If you listened tonight, you'd think a senator is the least noble profession in America. I'm just curious; what again is the GOP nominee's profession?

Question of the day: Do speakers like Giuliani and Leibermann indicate that the GOP has a bigger tent than often given credit for? In an interview on MSNBC, Newt Gingrich answered yes. WVPC: Not really. The party has always contained mods, cons, and a few in-betweens. Rudy and Leibermann are just foreign policy hawks. The party has some doves, or at least cautionary isolationists, too. On that note, congrats to Ron Paul, 2008's real maverick. Some of Paul's rhetoric would have been a welcome addition to the slate of speakers.

See you tomorrow.

DNC wraps-up. JMac nabs MILF.

New VP qualification: dead bear on sofa.

If the jedi owned Thursday, a governor had the headlines on Friday. No, one of Huckabee's kids didn't hang another dog. JMac tapped a little known Alaskan governor as his running mate. The good news: she's, and be prepared to hear this term quite a bit over the next 60 odd days, an "outsider," and, because of this, she has more in common with JMac than you may have thought. Here's some initial reaction from Obama's camp.

Before the GOP gets too erect and makes premature comments like this, she's under investigation. A little known state saga moves from the Anchorage Daily News to The Chicago Tribune to MSNBC. The gamut has heralded her as a fellow maverick, "a cross between a Fox anchor and a character on "Northern Exposure," and a potential "Dan Qualye in drag." Ouch.

Is JMac's move a trap to catch undecided Hillary voters? The world's worst political columnist, who works for the world's worst newspaper, ponders that same question.

WVPC's verdict: Once the buzz dies down, Palin will have her work cut out for her, particularly against Biden in October. Joe will want want to be stern but not bullying. Palin will gain the admiration of many women across spectrum of politics. She'll capture the hearts of those who don't really follow politics, the people, mainly middle class women, who want a mom in the upper echelons of Washington power. Her acceptance speech in Ohio played admirably with shout outs to Ferraro and Hillary, predictably with fawning over JMac's military experience, and regionally with energy policy reform. Columnists, bloggers, Dems and some cons will patronize her. We don't know if she has Reagan's Teflon quality or the jedi's charm. All we know is that now JMac doesn't have much of a case with that whole "Obama's inexperienced argument." But he'll push it anyway. The race will be close, and this VP choice isn't as bad as it looks.

The Dems have packed up their bags and left Denver. Obama delivered one of his better speeches of the last two months, but the convention failed to deliver a unified message. They need talking points, but they, at least until Obama's above average acceptance speech, delivered mostly pageantry, accolades to party veterans, and apologies to Hillary and her followers.

Palin's social views, at least one of them, come at the perfect time: the party platform's slam dunk issue that turns out the base.

If the 2008 campaign excites you so much that you're already salivating for 2012, here's something that will dampen your spirits. I hear an old red prop revving up its engine.

The Wind Cries Thompson

The red pickup truck has finally run out of gas. Did he really ever have that much in the tank? You've heard the stories: he's lazy, he lacked motivation, Jeri was pulling the strings, etc. Fred Thompson seems like the quintessential example of politics ruining probably a decent human being. Yeah, the red pick up truck was a sad plea for redneck votes, but no more than putting Al Gore in flannel shirts or giving John Kerry a rifle. Fred seems like he would be a good neighbor. One of those "you mind your business, and I'll mind mine" types.

He was mellow and had somewhat refined tastes. Few supporters noticed he was more Gucci than NASCAR, more Hollywood and Washington than Tennessee, and apparently more of a mack than his appearance lets on. His Senate tenure was fairly uneventful, and past voting tendencies illustrate a small handful of moderate inclinations. Maybe he just got sick of the charade? Anyway, it was a very brief love affair between Fred and the GOP.

Dick Polman has tough words for the last days of the beyond struggling Edwards campaign.

John Gibson. You may know him as the Fox News blowhard who believes there's some PC/liberal assault on Christmas. Well, his latest remarks are as invidious as ever. What? Me insensitive?




Gibson, you have incurred the wrath of cat nation.

Slow day. Mitt visits Staples. "Have you met an SP?...One day it'll be like that."

Wevoteprocat will shatter suppression like nobody's risky business. Spectatorism is something that we don't have time for. We jump right in...

While in South Carolina, Mitt Romney visited a local Staples Office Store, a little mom and pop operation. Apparently, saving money on Post-It notes wasn't the only thing on this reporter's mind:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3724214n

Not familiar with the Palmetto State's upcoming fight?

Red pickup truck (prop). Check. Nice drawl (sleep inducing). Check. Grandfatherly charms (and looks). Check. Why isn't Thompson faring better in South Carolina? Regardless of his poor poll position, Thompson bets it all on the land of grits. Ya gotta admit, the man can read the cue cards.

The Mitt man assessed his chances down South. He bailed when he saw the first Camaro on cinder blocks..


Has the media ignored Edwards? He did make the cover of Newsweek in the coveted spot of a week before Iowa.

Onto another campaign marching to its death, Rudy is giving his all to Florida. In fact, he'll probably settle down there after the loss. Why has Rudy suffered so much? The media pitched the McCain comeback? Romney's clean look charmed the fragmented GOP audience? Kansas? Some say not so fast, Wevoteprocat!

What about the land of gambling, buffets and The Moody Blues? Headline predictions: "The wild west shootout in Nevada," "Candidate X rolls the dice in...," "John McCain joins Blue Man Group, croaks on stage," "Giuliani caught in prostitution sting."

If you cross Russert,




you cross Angus.


Be forewarned, Michael Yglesias.

Richardson bows out of race. Will nation ever move on?

What do you need to win the presidency? A good resume? Impeccable credentials? Diplomacy experience? I guess you just can't compete when you're up against a Clinton or an Obama. Richardson, the perpetual fourth place finisher, decides to call it quits.

Who's the next to go? I guess Duncan Hunter is still in. Let's just say a certain red pickup is running out of gas.


Now for a Wevoteprocat exclusive. We call it The Thermometer.

Okay, it could use a better name. While it may not have the best moniker, you can count on its reading.

The Dems are pretty obvious this week:
Hillary: Hot! Duh. However, NH should be seen as a life preserver rather than a checkered flag.
Obama: Warm. The second place in NH may have cooled him off, but he's certainly not slowing down. He enters next week as the man to beat.
Edwards: Let me express my feelings in borrowed verse:

I am an American left-leaning voter
I live on Foster Avenue
I'm hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I endorsed you?
Edwards is trying to break our hearts.

The GOP is a bit trickier.
McCain: Scorching. In case you missed it, J-Mac has owned every political headline for the last 24 hours.
Rudy: Warming up. His late state strategy has captured the media's attention. Will people care come Feb. 5? America's mayor might be in for a letdown: a New York City sized ego might yield a Youngstown, Ohio result: rusted out and going nowhere.
Huckabee: Cooling off. No one thought he would do well in New Hampshire, but he did better than expected. So, why is he cold? The party faithful are flocking to McCain.
Thompson: Cold. South Carolina could create a bit of an upswing, but he's looking, drumroll, tired and the latest web push is painful. Reagan dreams are over. Go home and enjoy your twilight years with the woman who could pass for your daughter.
Romney: Cold. The Stormin' Mormon enters his home state with everything on the line. The masses are catching on to the shtick.

See you Sunday! We'll have exclusive endorsements from Annie, Malcolm and Lady. Wevoteprocat out.

Working for the Weekend...

And it's already gone before you know it. I make it a point to catch the Sunday morning news shows (Meet the Press and This Week are my top choices. I'll flip to Face the Nation, and, because I'm neither fair nor balanced, I usually skip Fox News Sunday. Chris Wallace is a hack.). Anyway, I only caught Meet The Press this morning. It was the second week in a row where Russert didn't have a candidate for a guest. It was just some round table strategists. Here are some highlights:

- Fred Thompson's campaign is like "watching the creek run dry," according to Bob Shrum. I couldn't agree more, Bob. If you haven't followed Thompson, he's got this faux good ol' boy thing mastered, but nobody is really listening. Come to think of it, another faux good ol' boy has had a hard time finding a supportive audience. But that's old news. Let's look ahead.

- As many already know, Barack Obama and Hillary are running close in Iowa. Here at We Vote Pro-Cat, we like Barack Obama (that's not an endorsement!), but even his most ardent supporters have to admit the following crucial pieces of information:
1.) His resume is pretty thin. Hillary has jumped all over that. However, it's a valid criticism.
2.) He's run a pretty shitty campaign. It's really only picked up steam in the last two weeks.
Here's some fodder for the experience argument.

I can't help but see some striking similarities in the Obama and Thompson campaigns. Public opinion and perception swayed both to join the race. Obama had little desire to run before everyone started shouting his name. The press and his high school yearbook have dubbed Thompson lazy; therefore, he didn't really want to run but the GOP was desperate to field a conservative candidate, and his wife is an emerging power player in DC. Also, both men have run lackluster campaigns despite tremendous early buzz. Consequently, both have suffered some setbacks among the voters they may have courted. African-Americans favor Hillary, and Thompson never really gained evangelical support.

I'll have coverage of the Wednesday night GOP debate.