How much like John F. Kennedy does Barack Obama want to be?

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Now that we’re nearing the end of 2008 it’s time for the top ten funniest political quotes of 2008.That’s the pattern and the premise. No further set-up required.

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Barack Obama is getting mostly plaudits for his developing economic team — from folks on the right as well as the left.

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For the second straight week, Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell tackles perceptions and realities of political bias at the paper.Equally compelling as last week’s quantitative evidence is this week’s qualitiative observations by Tom Rosenstiel, a former political reporter who directs the Project for Excellence in Journalism:

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Here now is the next installment of our regular series — the Joke Reality Check — in which we put jokes told on the campaign trail or in the media or in the general political discussion through a VIP check-up and washing. We check whether jokes are stolen, poorly-premised, or poorly written or delivered. And we offer strategic advice to improve the attempt. If we’re not too lazy

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What do you get for $66K at the King David?  It’s not all gefilte fish.  You also get your own marketing page on the hotel’s website:

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This year, let’s do something about it. Let’s resolve to shame our presidential and vice-presidential candidates into pledging no Halloween-themed rhetoric. How will we do that? Simple: With sunshine, the best disinfectant. Every time a candidate uses Halloween-based language we will say, no mas. Never again.

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Is the Judiciary Branch switching formats to all poetry, all the time? Last week Chief Justice John Roberts quoted Dylan. Not Dylan Thomas — Bob Dylan.

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Best case we’ve heard yet for John McCain to pick Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for his running-mate. From “Fox News Sunday”:

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Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama lovingly embrace each other in Unity, New Hampshire today. Message: All is well. All has been well. Last time someone tried to rewrite history this egregiously, and was forced to say certain words to make everyone so happy, this happened:

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It’s been a while since Arlo Guthrie has made an appearance in these parts — actually, it’s been NEVER — so why not mention him today?

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The subprime mortgage mess that caused massive losses for homeowners and banks was a little kinder to hedge fund manager John Paulson. Betting subprime mortgage securities would sour, Paulson personally earned $3.7 billion last year.

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Here’s one way Barack Obama can recover from describing folks who are different from him as “bitter” — he could bring in Passover.During the Seder we eat maror — bitter herbs — symbolizing the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.

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We’ve railed against it before. And since we saw it on the front page of today’s USA Today, we’ll do it again. Here’s the story:

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Barack Obama is the latest presidential contender to feel the wrath of a crooner — Sam Moore of the legendary R&B duo Sam & Dave, who recently demanded the campaign stop playing their “Hold On, I’m Comin’ ” at rallies, where some fans sang it as “Hold On, Obama’s Coming.”

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Imagine our excitement to see this story getting advanced in the Washington Post:

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Why yes, yes they are.

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Former Rep. Charlie Wilson’s in the news a lot these days, with release of the great movie “Charlie Wilson’s War.”But if you want to see Wilson at his best — and wax nostalgic for the good old days when there was room to be a boisterous, free-wheeling colorful character in political Washington — let’s revisit a yellowed Washington Post article from Nov. 7, 1978: “Charlie Wilson: Every Day’s A Party For Him.”

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What were the funniest things politicians said in 2007?

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News that the solution to Middle East will be found in Annapolis has us contemplating another prominent power center on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

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The most dangerous thing for any politician is to play into a pre-existing storyline. When Dan Quayle misspelled potato, I mean, if Bill Clinton had misspelled potato, no—everybody would’ve said he was tired. Dan Quayle, it was like, “He doesn’t know how to spell potato.” For Hillary Clinton, clearly the answer that you just played, played into what is her biggest vulnerability in this race, the sense that she may be too political, too evasive, not always telling, you know, the, the—fudging answers and so forth. So, in that sense, her response was very much a clear attempt to shore up that…in the second debate, and was going to shore up that vulnerability.”

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The Washington Post endorsed Marion Barry for D.C. mayor three times, in 1978, 1982, and 1986. Because of the Post’s supersized influence over local politics at the time, those endorsements essentially put and kept Barry in Office.In 1978, according to Washingtonian magazine, the Washington Post ran seven editorial endorsements of Barry.In 1982, according to a great history in the Washington Monthly (1990), Post readers were told on the editorial page that “on the whole, things are much better in the city and in city government than they were before Marion Barry took over,” and that “Mayor Barry’s achievements begin with his appointments to office. They are good.”

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“More people in this country have seen UFOs than, I think, approve of George Bush’s presidency.’’

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Yes, I really enjoyed playing golf in late October, as though it were July. But you know what? It also felt a little freaky. Should I be enjoying this? Is there some connection between this and the fires I saw burning in California the very next day? I know the answer is complicated.

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Clinton birthday parties sure are maturing — or getting more boring, depending on your perspective.

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Here’s an odd victim of the California wildfires: lawsuits.

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We check in now with with the website of “Workers World, workers & oppressed peoples of the world unite!”

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Google earned $1.07 billion in profit last quarter. What should the company do with all that cash?Here’s a proposal: Offer a dividend to stockholders.

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The Washington Post captures a classic exchange.

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Here is my list of Top Ten Zaniest Questions Asked At A Presidential Or Vice Presidential Debate.  As the Founding Fathers never said, we laugh because it’s funny, we laugh because it’s true.

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Today’s Washington Post excerpt on Howard Kurtz’s new book detailing network TV anchors and the Iraq war has this telling section about NBC News’ decision to go with “civil war” in describing Iraq:

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Further evidence that Larry King may be slowing down a step.

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Forget Hillary Clinton’s health care plan. Want to hear the silliest health care idea from the presidential campaign trail so far?

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Here’s a fun little paradox.Front-page story in Sunday’s Washington Post:

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You don’t have to be a Michael Brown fan or foe to recognize an easy political applause line.In this case, by John Edwards:

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