Is Bush Over?

"There was nothing all that astounding about the fact that the politician who got himself kicked out of the 1988 Democratic contest for plagiarism would, with another two decades of practice, come up with an even more sensationally disqualifying gesture this time around.

"The remarkable thing about the Biden blow out is the notion that some pundits are actually discussing the extent to which the senator's 'clean' comment may have harmed his chances -- as if the guy's vanity candidacy ever had a chance.

"Biden is, according to several recent polls from the first caucus state of Iowa and the first primary state of New Hampshire, having a hard time competing with Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich among the party faithful. In another early caucus state, Nevada, the Foreign Relations Committee chair is tied with 76-year-old former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel."

So much for the idea that a candidate can move up in the polls once he starts campaigning. In July 2002, Howard Dean was at 1 percent.

I know Internet polls are unscientific, but it's interesting how different they can be from the old-fashioned kind. Take this Instapundit poll, which has Bill Richardson at 43 percent, compared to Hillary at 15 and Obama at 13. On the GOP side, Rudy at 37, Newt at 20, Romney at 14 and McCain at just 5 percent. So the putative front-runners trail badly, at least among Glenn Reynolds readers.

The Obama racial-identity debate is well under way. Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi notes that the O-man toughened his response to Joe Biden's "clean" and "articulate" line after the Sharpton and Jesses of the world took offense:

"In short, Obama's first instinct was to let the remarks go, rather than use them to beat up on Biden. He recalculated only after other African-American politicians reacted with less understanding . . . Eventually, Obama realized that anything less than condemnation would make him sound insensitive to perceived racism.

"In some ways, Obama's political calculation when it comes to race is no different than Hillary Clinton's when it comes to gender or Mitt Romney's when it comes to religion. Should the candidate bluntly label a comment sexist or, in Romney's case, anti-Mormon? Or, does the candidate decide there is more to be gained by taking the high ground and letting voters draw their own conclusion about the appropriateness of a remark?

"But Obama's political dilemma includes a curious twist.

"He doesn't want to be perceived strictly as a 'black' candidate anymore than Clinton wants to be defined strictly as a female candidate."

Time puts it bluntly: " Is Obama Black Enough?"

Everyone seems to have forgotten that the big Hill debate on the war is, for the moment, symbolic. But not Kos:

"Is there anything more pathetic than senators fighting tooth and nail over wording over a non-binding resolution that does absolutely nothing?

"Well, Feingold is done playing that silly game.

"Dodd will also oppose the useless Warner-Levin amendment.

"This complicates Reid's efforts to get to 60 votes, and it's a good thing. Kill this piece of crap dead.

"What's the point of a useless amendment? Is Reid really that desperate to give Jon Stewart more material for the Daily Show."

And speaking of the "Daily Show," Jeff Jarvis scolds its parent company:

"Viacom just demanded the YouTube take down clips from its networks, including Comedy Central and MTV. Wave bye-bye to John Stewart and Jon Stewart should wave bye-bye to audience.

"Just last night, my son showed me Bill Gates on The Daily Show via YouTube. My son, a teenager and the future audience for the network, had never watched Jon Stewart. It was through YouTube that he discovered and enjoyed the man. But Viacom just cut off that means of free -- free! -- promotion and distribution. Instead, the company is going to have to advertise heavily in hopes of reaching my hard-to-reach son -- he's busy watching YouTube, you see, instead of MTV and instead of television, for that matter -- to build audience in the future. Of course, this is a negotiating tactic. But it is also bad business. It pisses off your own audience, who is recommending your shows. It cuts off that free promotion. It increases marketing costs.

"Damned fools."