They say that any publicity is good publicity, but I'm not so sure that's always the case in politics. The potentially mentally-imablanced and extremely vulnerable Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) had a two-fer today: one, a potential primary challenge, and two, a Pat Robertson-esque quote about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's health.

From the Louisville Courier-Journal:

U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning predicted over the weekend that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would likely be dead from pancreatic cancer within nine months.

During a wide-ranging 30-minute speech on Saturday at the Hardin County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner, Bunning said he supports conservative judges "and that's going to be in place very shortly because Ruth Bader Ginsburg ... has cancer."

"Bad cancer. The kind that you don't get better from," he told a crowd of about 100 at the old State Theater.

Revolting, no? But hardly surprising - this is the guy who, in 2004, "compared his dark-complexioned opponent to one of Saddam Hussein's sons."

The retired baseball Hall-of-Famer insists he's running for re-election in 2010. That's the last thing his party wants. Also in the news today, from TheHill.com:

Kentucky state Senator David Williams (R) has met with officials at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, sources confirm to The Hill, as he begins to actively consider a bid for Sen. Jim Bunning's (R-Ken.) seat.

Williams, who was in Washington as the nation's governors met over the weekend, sat down with NRSC officials on Friday, sources in Washington and Kentucky tell The Hill. The meeting was first reported by the website KYPolitics.org...

Bunning has defiantly proclaimed his intention to run for a third term, though several top Republicans have expressed skepticism. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) and NRSC chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas) have both said publicly they do not know Bunning's plans, eliciting sharp responses in which Bunning has questioned their hearing.

Bunning's lackluster fundraising has also raised eyebrows -- his bank account actually shrank between the end of the third quarter and the end of the fourth quarter.

If Bunning does not run, sources say Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R) would enter the race in short order. On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo (D) is already in the race, while Attorney General Jack Conway (D) and state Auditor Crit Luallen (D) continue to mull their own bids. Rep. Ben Chandler (D), seen as national Democrats' top choice, has not ruled out a race.

More on Williams at KYpolitics.com, which says the meeting may have happened with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)'s knowledge.

This is gonna be fun.

The Senate passed its version of the stimulus plan earlier today, 61-37. As expected, three Republicans - Collins, Snowe, and Specter - joined all 58 Democrats in supporting the bill. What I'd like to know is, why didn't Judd Gregg vote?

New Hampshire's senior senator and the President's choice for Commerce Secretary was the only sitting senator to miss the vote. According to last Friday's Boston Globe,

Senator Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican nominated to be commerce secretary, once was seen as a key ally in President Obama's effort to win bipartisan support for his economic stimulus bill. But Gregg's spokeswoman said yesterday that the senator would recuse himself from voting on the bill, and would not even participate in debate on it...

Gregg's spokeswoman, Laena Fallon, would not speak about the senator's decision other than to say, "He thinks this is the most appropriate thing to do right now." A White House spokesman declined comment, deferring to Gregg's office.

I wish Fallon had explained WHY the senator feels this is "the most appropriate thing to do," because I sure can't see it. One assumes, given his remarks at the Commerce announcement, that he supports the plan, and if he doesn't, you have to wonder why the President would invite him onto the national economic team. Dissensions in the inner chamber are great, but on the most basic outline of something this big and this central? That's like putting a foe of universal health care in at HHS. Furthermore, Governor Lynch's pick to replace Gregg, J. Bonnie Newman, is said to be just as moderate as Snowe and Collins, so it's not hard to envision her voting for the bill.

Four Republicans would have been a much better headline for Obama than three. I wish the President had told Gregg that if he wanted the Commerce job, he would either have to vote for the economic recovery plan or immediately resign from the Senate to clear the way for Newman. As a New Hampshire resident and voter, I feel deprived of a voice on the most important bill of the year. How's that for democracy? Thanks, Judd Gregg. You also have to question the decision not to push harder for that fourth Republican vote, especially when it would come at no cost to the President or the substance of the stimulus.

NH State Rep. Marjorie Smith (D) has a letter to the editor in the Concord Monitor saying the same thing: vote or resign.

From the Manchester Union Leader:

Democratic U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes will announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate "within the week," a source close to Hodes told UnionLeader.com this morning shortly before Judd Gregg's nomination as commerce secretary became official.

The developments surrounding that surprising appointment by President Obama "has speed up his timeline and he will make an formal announcement within the week," the source said.

"We are working on the necessary paperwork," the source said. "We were not expecting this."

Aside from Governor Lynch, Hodes of Concord - my Congressman, no less - is probably the biggest name in the NH Democratic Party today. The state's other representative, Carol Shea-Porter of Manchester, isn't quite as well funded, and her House seat is much more vulnerable. Though she has mulled a Senate run, I doubt we'll see it happen. Other names, like former Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand, might jump into the primary, but my guess is that Hodes will ultimately be our nominee. This is good news - I'm a fan of Marchand, but I know Hodes, and he's a good guy and a hard-working progressive.

It will be interesting to see who runs for his House seat, which Republicans have held for 88 of the past 95 years but is now trending Democratic.

Breaking, from NBC News:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday in a report by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."

He said he plans to continue in his role as governor. "I appreciate the confidence President-elect Obama has shown in me, and value our friendship and working partnership. I told him that I am eager to serve in the future in any way he deems useful. And like all Americans, I pray for his success and the success of our beloved country."

So much for no drama.

Update [2009-1-4 14:57:45 by Todd Beeton]:President-elect Obama's statement (via e-mail):

It is with deep regret that I accept Governor Bill Richardson's decision to withdraw his name for nomination as the next Secretary of Commerce.Governor Richardson is an outstanding public servant and would have brought to the job of Commerce Secretary and our economic team great insights accumulated through an extraordinary career in federal and state office. It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time. Although we must move quickly to fill the void left by Governor Richardson's decision, I look forward to his future service to our country and in my administration.

Personally, I was in favor of counting the Lizard People ballot, but the Minnesota canvass board disagreed and threw out the ballot. It sounds like they decided the previous day that writing in a name counted as voting for it wether the circle was filled in or not (seems to me putting a name on the ballot but not voting for it is no different than not voting for the names already on the ballot, but whatever). Franken did, however, pick up the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Franken-stin ballots.

H/T Wonkette by way of Andrew Sullivan.

Cross-posted from The Wayward Episcopalian.

Last Sunday, NBC News officially announced that chief White House correspondent and host of MSNBC's "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" David Gregory would take over "Meet the Press" from temporary host Tom Brokaw, who's been filling in for the late Tim Russert. Yesterday, it was announced that David Shuster will take over 1600. I'm unenthusiastically neutral about the former choice, but downright disappointed in the latter.

A quick note for those requesting presidential inauguration tickets from their Congressperson or Senators: If you live in a state with a new senator or a district with a new congressperson, contact the Member-elect's office, not the outgoing Member. Tickets will be distributed in January after the new Congress is sworn in, so retiring and defeated Members do not have tickets to distribute. I've spoken with several offices to find out how they're handling tickets, and the methods vary. Some selected examples: Idaho Senator-elect Jim Risch (R) is letting senior Senator Mike Crapo (R) handle requests for both offices, so for all intents and purposes Risch has no tickets and Crapo has double the allotment. The office of Representative-elect Walt Minnick (D), however, is creating their own list. In New Hampshire, a snippy and uninformed aide to the defeated Senator John Sununu (R) referred me to Judd Gregg's (R) office, but of course, Sununu's tickets would be Senator-elect Jeanne Shaheen's (D) tickets, and the aide said he didn't know what Shaheen was doing.

Additionally, if your Member or Member-elect doesn't list any information about tickets on their website, try giving the office a call. And as always, be polite; the interns and staff assistants answering the phones are 20-somethings just getting started on their own careers and aren't responsible for any procedural or policy decisions, whether about the tickets or anything else.

Upon further reflection, I probably should have kept this to myself to increase my own odds of getting tickets... you can thank me later. :P

I am currently working on a senior honors thesis about the religious right. I've seen several headlines today that say while Obama won the Catholic vote, Democrats didn't really make inroads among the evangelical community - but I disagree.  I've spent some time today looking at consortium and CBS exit polls from every presidential election since 1972, and a preliminary scan shows three very interesting findings:

• Barack Obama received a higher share of the Protestant vote, 45%, than any other Democratic nominee since at least 1972, the earliest year for which I have data. By comparison, in 2004 Kerry received 40% of the Protestant vote and in 2000 Gore received 42%. The previous high was 43.7% for Jimmy Carter in 1976. The low is George McGovern in 1972 with 28.4%.

• The general "Protestant" category includes the liberal mainline denominations. Unfortunately, voters have only been asked if they consider themselves white evangelical or born-again in 2008 and 2004. In '04, 23% of voters said yes, and in '08, 26%. Kerry received 21% of that vote, and Obama 24. (In 2000, voters were asked if they were part of the religious right, and only 14% said yes. The term "religious right" is likely seen as offensive, so fewer voters were willing to claim it as a label. Of those voters, 18% voted for Gore.)

• Barack Obama outperformed both Al Gore and John Kerry in terms of church attendance. More than weekly - Gore 36%, Kerry 35, Obama 43. Weekly - Gore 40, Kerry 41, Obama 43. Monthly - Gore 51, Kerry 49, Obama 53.

I'm not going to read anything into these numbers tonight; that's what my thesis is for. But the raw data is interesting, and suggests that the Emerging Church movement (Brian McLaren, Tony Campolo, etc.) may indeed be a strong ally for progressives, and that Leah Daughtry can keep on rockin'.