has been touted as an image enhancer. I really, really don’t understand Republicans.

First up, Huck. Let’s see – polls are all over the place; Mitt is lying; Mitt was a bad governor; Republicanism is indefensible in real life; Huck will bomb Pakistan as soon as a target is fixed (!); Huck was “prophetic” for talking about Pakistan in September (eek! all the way back then?!?!?); Huck is a bridge builder; Mitt is running a desperate and dishonest campaign, McCain is not; Huck stands by everything he ever said, although he would like to “clarify” some things; Huck is ok with atheists (ok, that was unexpected); Huck links homosexuality, pedophilia, necrophilia and sadomasochism (ok, that one was not unexpected); abortion is murder, but you wouldn’t punish the mother because she is a victim (?).

Ok, one surprise, but on a claim, not a deed.

Now, the big O. O gets big crowds; O expects a tight race; (side note – Timmeh points out that without a big turnout, O could be in trouble. That’s right up there with football analysts who recommend outscoring the other team in order to win. Just.Fucking.Brilliant.); people are looking for change; O declines to name Bhutto’s killer (for all the right reasons); he also clears Hillary in the case, despite Timmeh pressing; voting against O is a bigger gamble than voting for him; O has been sniffed, prodded and poked; O is ready to lead and change how government works; O won’t mandate insurance enrollment, Edwards and Clinton will (none of them get rid of the insurance companies – the only good solution IMHO), O focuses on affordability; O is “not that far away from normal” (very recently lived an ordinary life).

No surprises, just a reminder of how likable and inspiring the Big O can be. He isn’t perfect, but if he gets the nomination I will enthusiastically support him.

Fawkes News

Nothing says “We’re Rudy!’s network and we don’t care about Iowa” quite like putting Fred! on for the first quarter of the show. Then the next quarter of the show predicting the caucuses.

Now it’s time to bash Huck with the panel, and I’m pretty sure that Huck didn’t say that Pakistanis were “scurrying over the border”. ew.

Time to get back to Rudy!, who Wallace says is in the lead nationally. Ummmmm…. a three-way tie with nobody above 20% isn’t a lead. But let’s continue…

Kristol seems worried that Daddy Warbucks won’t do well if he isn’t competitive in the first several states (as seems likely), says Huck can win if he makes it about likability, McCain wins a commander-in-chief election, and Romney has the resources to win if it becomes a race to the gutter. Ouch. Kristol appears to be in pain, and joins in the Romney-bashing with gusto.

Time to chat about the Dems. Juan Williams makes the most sense, as always, and Kristol can’t hide his sneer, especially when talking about Hillary. Yap.Yap.Yap. Mail. Hummer commercial, Rudy! commercial (Rudy invokes the Greatest Generation and 9/11, follows with threats to enemies – a new strategy!), and we’re out!

This Weak

First up? Hillary. Oh NO! Peggy Noonan says to not vote for Hillary because the right has spent almost 20 years demonizing her. That’s great logic! If you’re a right-wing drooler. I’m not saying that there aren’t reasons to vote against her, but the fact that she’s “polarizing” ain’t one of them. George S goes after her for reports that she didn’t have a security clearance and didn’t get PDBs, and therefor isn’t experienced at all.

Clinton handles questions on Rwanda, Bhutto and Musharraf very well, comes off as presidential. She talks about experience and Obama, focusing on herself and her husband. She’s still not my first choice, but is someone I can enthusiastically support, given who her opposition will be. I get all emotional with the realization that nobody on the D side is running to be torturer-in-chief.

Hillary calls for public financing of elections. I love her a little more for that! She downplays expectations, says she’s working as hard as she can and ducks out. Nicely done.

Now, The Straight-Out-The-Ass Talk Express, beginning with the latest Romney attack ad, and McCain’s response commercial. Jeebuz I have a low tolerance for Johnny Mac, and he’s not going to win anything, so as much fun as it is watching him call someone else mean-spirited, it’s on to the panel.

Ugh. It’s a Bhutto-off montage between the candidates. I have to admit that George Will says what I was thinking about the propriety of John Edwards calling Musharraf in the wake of the murders. (Basically, What the FUCK?) George Will, of course, is a “serious” commentator who thinks the assassination will make a difference in how we choose the next president. Yeah. Right. He really has no more feel for the electorate than David Brooks, who is also on this panel. If Donna Brazile wasn’t on it, I’d be outie. Shockingly, Brooks is only impressed by candidates who expressed support for the Bush policy for Pakistan. Didn’t see that one coming.

Lots of inside baseball on Iowa, and the fracturing of the Republican party. Will and Brooks are worried about Huck’s “economic populism”. Some talk about the Dems in Iowa and the excitement on that side, worry about Edward’s populism by Brooks and Will (I’m spotting a theme here).

A very moving In Memoriam closes the show for the year. We lose big names every year, but this year we lost real pioneers and leaders – Benazir Bhutto, Kurt Vonnegut, Luciano Pavarotti, Lady Bird Johnson, Boris Yeltsin, Eddie Robinson and 1014 service members in illegal wars as of air time. Of course we also lost Jerry Falwell, so it wasn’t all bad.