Why, Deval?

Deval I love you. I do. And really I do not care if you drive a fancy Caddy that Zigs or any of that. You can have an aide for your wife.

But what you did making a call relating to Ameriquest was stupid. I vouched for you on this issue before the election and I thought you done as you said and involved as you had explains.

This was really just stupid and not worthy of what you campaigned on.

Read the Globe story here: Governor made call on behalf of lender.

Mark Warner might be running for Senate -- at least according the Washington Post blog The Fix :

The fact that Warner is even considering the race is a major accomplishment for Senate Democrats. In the past, Mark Warner has been adamant that he would not run against Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) due to a personal friendship that blossomed between the two in 2004.

But now Warner (Mark, that is) is refusing to rule out a candidacy whether or not John Warner decides to run for another term. John Warner has said he plans to run again but, as we report in the story, has signaled Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) to be ready in the event those plans change.

Ever since Warner was elected governor in 2001, Virginia has grown increasingly competitive between the parties. President Bush carried it with 54 percent in 2004, but Gov. Tim Kaine (D) and Sen. Jim Webb (D) have won the last two statewide elections in the commonwealth.

Another interesting item if found on the Hotline Blog :

When asked to select which category best describes a candidate's age, a majority of voters chose correctly for HRC, John Edwards and Giuliani. However, 41% believe McCain is 55-64. The senator is currently 71 years of age. Obama, 45, was also mistaken by 43% for being in the 35-44 range.

Only about 20% of all voters are aware of the top tier '08ers' religion. 22% correctly labeled Giuliani as Catholic and 20% correctly labeled Romney as Mormon. However, 6% incorrectly think Obama is Muslim [KATHERINE LEHR].

I always find the fact about McCain's interesting as I did not realize that for a very long time. It is interesting to see what people percieve likely based on media coverage. People are always talking about how young Obama is probably leading people to think he is younger than he is.

Younger voters seem to support Democrats this year. Obama is especially popular among the younger cohort.

I found this at the Hotline On Call Blog (which you should read if you don't ):

But in general election match-ups, younger voters show their color. Giuliani beats HRC, Obama and Edwards among all respondents, but loses to all three Dems among those ages 18-29. Young respondents also prefer all three Dem frontrunners to McCain, who beats HRC and Edwards and ties with Obama among all ages.

Obama "draws stronger support from young adults than from any other age group" among Dems by 11 points, while young adults appear "slightly more supportive" of McCain than GOPers at large.

You can read the full report HERE

John Edwards had some interesting comments on what happens if and when American troops leave Iraq this weekend. While I am very skeptical of Edwards this time around (I was a supporter last time) I do think this is a totally honest statement that is hard for a lot of people to admit and digest.

Asked by Schieffer if a person can run for president while saying that he does not know what will happen in Iraq if U.S. troops leave, Edwards said, "It’s the truth. It's clearly the truth. I mean, I think the American people know that. I have, I guess, enough faith in our people to think they can accept the truth. I think it’s really important for our next president to be viewed as open and honest and decent to reestablish the trust relationship between Americans and their president. And, by the way, I think it’s also going to be crucial fore that relationship to be reestablished between the president of the United States and the rest of the world."

I found this by way of ABCnews's Political Radar Blog

I feel as though Brian McGrory goes a little unfairly after City Councilor John Tobin in his column today:

Read the column HERE: The Meter Is Running

But the guy I refer to is one John Tobin, an often excellent city councilor prone to occasional fits of folly. A recent Globe editorial named him "Boston's unofficial city councilor of cool ideas."

Cool ideas? Just last year, Tobin was proposing creation of a Walk of Fame in the Theater District honoring local celebrities like Mark Wahlberg and, well, maybe Mark Wahlberg. Tobin borrowed that idea from places like Anaheim and Branson. The poet laureate proposal he's stealing from St. Paul, Denver, and Santa Fe. What's wrong with us just being us?

Tobin's the same guy who, as the council was preparing to accept a pay raise, was quoted in the Globe saying: "The time involved in this job is absolutely incredible. It's mornings. It's nighttimes. It's weekends. It just never ends."

We had Tobin at our meeting last week and I would have to say that he really does care about the issues facing his district. He has clear command of the issues and really explained himself well. Based on what I know of others on the council, Tobin is as good as they come when it comes to constituent service. I think the real story when it comes to this poet item is that this is what the media wants to cover.

The Globe chose to put this on the cover of the paper because it sells more papers than talking about high property taxes. However, the idea is not a bad one alone -- it costs nothing to the city and can't hurt.

Vilsack is dropping out.

Tom Vilsack is Dropping out of the Presidential Race.

It seems as though this was inevitable. Maybe another time he would have had a better chance but there are just too many stars in this race.