It appears that the Democratic Speaker of Oregon's House is getting ready to run against Sen. Smith. This is worrying because Mr. Merkley (that's the Speaker's name) is the guy who engineered the Democratic takeover of Oregon's House last year-- so he knows how to beat Republicans. It's also worrying because, apparently, polling is showing him within striking distance of Smith already.

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So, I'm watching the YouTube debate on CNN. My favorite bits thus far:

* Joe Biden hammering everyone for voting to take body armor away from the troops (Ok, it's Joe Biden, but he has a point)

* John Edwards' hair

* Bill Richardson saying that we should teach sculpture in schools (the ceramics teacher at my school had better be stoked)

* Dennis Kucinich hammering Hillary and Obama about their support for the war (because we know they are big hypocrites, and it's fun to hear it, even if it comes from the guy who looks like the lead singer of The Cramps)

Disappointments:

* Barack Obama sure is spending a lot of time standing around with his nose in the air, looking like a snotty teenage Tory

* Hillary is wearing another atrocious jacket. Yes, I like the color, but what is with these minimal mandarin collars, and weird wavy prints?

* Dennis Kucinich is not debating wearing leather trousers, and interspersing his commentary with rockabilly/punk-esque renditions of "Bird is the Word."

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This morning, I had breakfast, together with a bunch of other conservative press types, with Newt Gingrich.



Newt talked a lot about Republican prospects in 2008, and how we've ended up in a situation where we have a deficit of ideas (something with which I wholeheartedly agree).

More interestingly, to me, though were his comments on the presidential race, some of which were alluded to in the mainstream media today, his comments on the President's handling of Iraq, and (to me, anyway) his interchange with one attendee on the subject of the Endangered Species Act.

Newt was at his usual punchy, somewhat grouchy and combative self when it came to the presidential race. He quipped "I'm perfectly happy to do what I do. Whether that leads to the presidency is the country's problem, not mine," and compared the other GOP contenders to pygmies saying in response to a question about him entering the field, "This is like going to De Gaulle when he was at Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises during the Fourth Republic and saying, 'Don't you want to rush in and join the pygmies?'"

Nice. But pretty much what one banks on getting from Newt, and not a sentiment with which I entirely disagree.

Newt also commented that the President needs to shut up about Iraq. I wholeheartedly agree. The President's voice on the subject of Iraq is now utterly toxic. Newt's suggestion that Petraeus and the Congress needing to sit down and sort out what they're going to do about Iraq, and the President should basically shut up seems exactly right to me-- even though several people who attended this morning treated this as a rather controversial statement.

The other thing that I was struck by this morning? One attendee beat up on Newt a little for "refusing"...

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