He’s the cranky, aloof granddad with the youngest crew of enthusiasts out there (apart from Obama). Eve Fairbanks cannot help swooning:
In the hands of the volunteers, I’m becoming a Ron Paul convert, and I have to get out. On the way to my car, I take a peek into one of the cabins. There are 17 bunks crammed on the lower floor, boys’ stuff scattered everywhere …
An Iraq amnesty policy that might give Romney a few ideas:
The Iraq government is considering the release of some 5,000 prisoners but a spokesperson said it would not include terrorists or homosexuals.
Hat tip: Dan.
Incumbents aside, exactly one victorious Iowa candidate – George W. Bush in 2000 – has ever gone on to win the presidency in the same year. Even though Carter got an historic boost in Iowa, on the way to his November election, he actually finished second in Iowa – behind "Uncommitted."
A reader writes:
I have sported a beard for most of my adult life and favor the trimmed "philosopher’s beard", championed by Julian the Apostate in an age of the misopogon. At one time I kept it, and my hair, much longer. However, experience has taught me that this style best suits the shape of my face and the growth pattern of the beard. And therein lie the criteria for assessing a beard’s merit.
Plant’s is (though technically not a beard, I think) perfectly suited to his face and overall style – the trim is a nice foil to the wild hair. The "jaunty cricketer", on the other hand, just has a lot of beard. While magnificent in its luxuriant density and rich color, its length, bushiness and full growth up the cheeks make his already round head look like a hairy canteloupe. Having observed your taste in beards for some time now, I can only conclude that, as far as beards are concerned at least, you are a size queen, faulting shape, proportion and fit in favor of gross dimension. I suppose that’s a valid aesthetic, but, as in other areas, it just seems a fairly crude one for a man of your discernment. Perhaps it’s a bear thing.
You bet it is. Actually, I just like ’em real, on nineteenth-century lines. Not too manicured, but not hippie. And if you can’t grow one, don’t. I’m looking at you, Conan. Letterman’s was awesome.
(Photo: Dave from Beards.org.)
Are they disadvantaged as an increasingly desperate Clinton argued yesterday? Nahhh.
It would be a good national ticket, but it may also be a good Iowa strategy:
A source close to the Biden campaign described a possible arrangement, now under discussion between the two camps, that could apply to certain precincts where Biden can’t meet the 15 percent viability threshold, but where he is backed by local officials with the clout to move Biden supporters to Obama. In return, Biden could capture some of Obama’s overflow in precincts where the Illinois senator has more than enough support to win.
A classic Kids In The Hall sketch.
"Plese stop wanking," – Duncan Black, addressing Obama.
Pretty damn high:
Yesterday, some Clinton allies tried to claw back the conventional wisdom that Clinton has to win Iowa to survive; I do not believe the clawback is going to work, based on the campaign’s own trajectory here, based on the fact that they’re imported almost a thousand friend of Hill to the state, have spent millions, and have not disputed the notion, internally, that a third place finish in Iowa would be devastating. Perhaps not fatal, but devastating.
The media blow-out – globally – will be epic, Ben Smith predicts. The public agrees.
The Dish 