Election 08: Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

Some thought the 109th Congress - one that spent the least time in session of any in a half century - might surprise critics with a final post-election surge of legislative activity. But instead of throwing a Hail Mary, the lame-ducks prefer to take a knee and watch the clock run out.

As Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) explained: “We’re tired.”

So how do bored politicians and bored media fill the time until a new, rejuvenated Congress convenes in January? Saying stupid things. Democrats had barely begun celebrating their return to power when Jim Carville called for Howard Dean’s resignation. Figure that out.

Then came a Quinnipiac “thermometer” poll testing how much heat candidates were generating for the 2008 Presidential race. Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama and John McCain led the list – no surprise there. The Conventional Wisdom (CW) is that the pro-choice Giuliani is too liberal to win the Republican nomination but if he did would be unbeatable in the general election. He won instant fame and became “America’s Mayor” in the aftermath of 9-11. With Air Force One in a holding pattern and Vice President Cheney in a distant bunker, Rudy was the only grown-up in the smoking ruins of the Twin Towers. What many forget is that prior to 9-11, as his second term was winding down and his second marriage breaking up, Rudy’s approval ratings were in the tank and he was on his way to political oblivion. All the bizarre factors responsible are sure to be dredged up by the national media in a general election.

While Hillary Clinton was a distant ninth in the Quinnipiac poll, she still has what it takes to cause fear and trembling in Marlboro Country. Dallas businessman Richard Collins has put $80,000 into a new group called Stop Her Now. “We expect to raise millions of dollars from conservative donors that want to keep her from being elected president,” said Collins, who owns a group of newspapers in Texas. He plans to solicit the Texans who bankrolled the Swift Boat Veterans for his anti-Hillary effort. Good thinking. Here is where Collins’ strategy may backfire: “Hillary is trying to define herself as a centrist Democrat when in fact she’s an ultraliberal Democrat.” If he can convince Democratic primary voters of that, Hillary is a shoo-in.

Registering absolutely no heat on the Quinnipiac thermometer were two Republicans who have expressed their interest in `08. Rep. Duncan Hunter, fresh from being grilled by a grand jury for taking money from the guys who bribed Duke Cunningham, has announced his candidacy for President. And Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback recently said “after much prayerful consideration” he is considering a bid.

Social conservative Brownback is for Republicans what ultra lefty Dennis Kucinich is for Democrats, his problem being his reach doesn’t go much beyond his base. Still, his candidacy makes him a leading alternative to John McCain. As one astute conservative pundit told The Hill: “The way I see the race shaping up is that it’s going to be McCain against someone who’s not McCain. McCain has a lot of people in the party who don’t like him.”

With his strong religious beliefs, Presidential candidate Brownback may bring some restraint to the raucous anti-Hillary crowd. In the Senate dining room earlier this year, Brownback told a reporter: “I’m a child of the living God. You are too. Ted Kennedy? A beautiful child of the living God. Hillary Clinton? Yes, even Hillary. Especially Hillary.”