Briefing - Tuesday February 14, 2006

Posted at 8:32 AM on February 14, 2006 by Bob Collins

First, if you use Google alerts to keep you up to date on specific candidates, you might be getting some old alerts today. We've moved most of our content over to a new server(or at least a new URL) and I guess Google thinks it's new content. But that's the reason. I expect to get a Google alert announcing Lindbergh's arrival in Paris at any moment.

I have, by the way, a Google alert set up for Mark Kennedy. But apparently in the UK, there is a Mark Kennedy soccer player -- or something. So I'm always getting the latest news on the wrong Mark Kennedy. Today, I also got an item on the wrong Mark Kennedy, but at least the headline was interesting. "Kennedy slams woeful Wolves." At first I thought, "it's about time Congress look into this stinkin' team." But no.

In the Boston Globe today, Jerome Kassirer takes a look at the "fallout" from the Jack Abramoff scandal that isn't really fallout. Attention, perhaps would be a better word. It takes the world of political lobbying, and all the dirt surrounding it, and plops it into the pharmaceutical "lobbying" business with doctors. See "How drug lobbyists influence doctors".

Want to make a political contribution in Minnesota? You'll want to know about the political campaign refund in the state. Mninvolved has a step-by-step guide today, noting that in many ways, contributing money to a candidate is more important than voting itself. Ummmmm. Hmmmmm. ??

For your entertainment -- and I've pretty much stayed away from Dick Cheney jokes -- Nihilist in Golf Pants has the Top 11 Reasons for the 24 Hour Delay in Reporting Dick Cheney’s Hunting Accident. The story is a burr under Red State's saddle, however.

This one is a bit of a head scratcher, Paul Hackett apparently has dropped out of the Ohio Senate race. Apparently he was pressured to do so by national Democratic Party leaders. This notion of "king-making," which is not at all limited to a single party, by the way, is going to have a backlash on Main Street... someday.

What's Rasmussen got today? In Michigan, Jennifer Granholm's lead has disappeared. In Florida , speaking of king-making, the results of the GOP giving up trying to force Katherine Harris out of the Senate race appear obvious. Republican George Allen is in control in Virginia, and the story in the Texas gubernatorial race is just how bad can the Democrats do?

Twenty-five years ago, I had my first date with my wife.

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