Mention the name Charles Pickering to anyone but the most committed news junkie, and you’re apt to get a blank look or, at best, one of dim recognition. In the era of the 24-hour news cycle aimed at the ever-shortening attention span, the bitter Senate battles over the federal judiciary in which Pickering played so dramatic a part a few years back can seem like ancient history.
It’s no secret that Rudy Giuliani remains a tough sell to the social conservatives who will almost surely determine the outcome of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Indeed, despite his surprisingly strong lead in the early polls, no less an authority than veteran analyst Charlie Cook, editor of The Cook Political Report, declares flat-out that Rudy will never get the GOP nomination.
Before the Joe Biden’s notorious Obama ‘gaffe’ disappears forever down the memory hole, let’s give Biden his (modest) due. Incredibly, he made more of a mess speaking his own words than he did last time out lifting somebody else’s. Yet in this season of political ‘Historic Firsts,’ Biden achieved an important one of his own: he became the first liberal Democratic presidential candidate in memory to tell some hard truths about race in America.
Senator Barack Obama’s assertion on ‘Meet the Press’ this past Sunday that he is seriously considering a presidential run in 2008 has only heightened what Time Magazine recently called “Obama mania.” Needless to say, the frenzy is especially intense among liberal Democrats, who greet the prospect of an Obama candidacy with the sort of orgasmic hysteria normally associated with teenage girls and scowling rock stars.
