Candidates Map TV Strategy

The handicapping, of course, began days earlier, as Politico points out:

"Rudy Giuliani's camp is circulating a data-heavy memo seeking to heighten expectations for Romney at Ames on Saturday. 'Assuming Governor Romney's Iowa operation is as good as it is said to be and based on expected turnout, internal data, and polling trends, it is likely that Gov. Romney will have at least 24,000 supporters at the Ames Straw Poll,' they write, adding that Romney ought to win by an 8-1 margin over their nearest opponent. A Romney adviser scoffs at the gambit, calling it 'hysterical.' "

Had enough of this debate stuff? CBS's Brian Montopoli sure has:

"So, uh: Does anyone else have debate fatigue? We sure have had a lot of these things so far. And they're early. For a little context, consider this: Bill Clinton didn't even formally enter the race for President until October of 1991; Republican Fred Thompson, expected to be a serious contender for the nomination next year, still isn't in. And yet we seem to have a new debate just about every week, if not more frequently -- last week brought us two, with the Logo debate about gay and lesbian issues and the AFL-CIO debate on MSNBC, both featuring Democrats. Master of understatement Newt Gingrich, complaining that the campaign season is now much too long, recently said the debates have become 'almost unendurable' -- "a cross between 'The Bachelor,' 'American Idol' and 'Who's Smarter than a Fifth-Grader.'

"Is there a better way to do this? The ratings for the debates have been relatively high this time around, but the key word there is 'relatively' -- even the much-hyped YouTube debate, certainly the most publicized debate thus far, only attracted 2,622,000 viewers, and Tuesday's debate attracted less than a million . . .

"Count me among those getting worn out -- and I'm a political junkie, for heaven's sake."

After the Dems danced around the same-sex marriage issue at the gay and lesbian debate, the New York Sun's Ryan Sager offered his translation:

"My conclusion? There was not one candidate at the forum tonight who does not, in actuality, support gay marriage, or who wouldn't be willing to if it were the politically expedient position. Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel, of course, outright support gay marriage. Bill Richardson, in my view, is the next closest. He says he supports civil unions and expanded domestic partnerships because they're 'what's possible.' Well, if you support those things because they're possible, then it sure as heck sounds like you'd support going the next step if that were possible. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, likewise, sound like they're making the exact same calculation. John Edwards is the biggest question mark in my mind, but I'm just not sure I think he has any beliefs on the issue at all. He'd go along if the going were good, but he thinks it would upset his populist base."

For a lesson in the power of pork, let's turn to Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum:

"Loretta Sanchez is my mother's representative in Congress. Here's what she told some protest[e]rs who wanted her to vote against further funding for the Iraq war:

"Tuesday night Sanchez said she could not support the protesters because the $145 billion in Iraq war funding was in the same bill that would provide money to build the C-17 aircraft in California. 'I never voted for this war,' she said. But 'I'm not going to vote against $2.1 billion for C-17 production, which is in California. That is just not going to happen.'

"That's a real profile in courage. With anti-war Dems like this, I guess we're going to be in Iraq for a lo-o-o-o-ng time."

Canadians can be very sensitive. Check out David Frum:

"Barack Obama refers to the 'president of Canada,' the kind of misstep that would cost a Republican candidate for president dearly.

"Oh well, it's not as if a politician from Illinois would have reason to know anything about Canada. On second thought, here's this just in . . .

"* 304,500 Illinois jobs are supported by Canada--U.S. trade

"* Canadians made more than 383,000 visits to Illinois, spending $141 million. Illinois residents made 477,500 visits to Canada, spending $255 million."

There's more. Frum is right, of course. Not knowing that Canada has a prime minister is almost in the same league as Bush's failure to name Musharraf as Pakistan's leader.

And look what the Brits have done now:

"The Ministry of Defence has introduced new guidelines to prevent military personnel talking about their experiences as members of the Armed Forces.

"Soldiers, sailors and air force members will be prevented from blogging, taking part in surveys, speaking in public or posting on bulletin boards, according to The Guardian."