Only 474 days to go...

FindLaw points out one more reason (#1,187?) why a Dem winning in 2008 is three steps beyond critical: the next three Supreme Court Justices in order of retirement likelihood are the three most liberal on the bench. If a Giuliani or Thompson wins in ’08, the 5-4 decisions about which we rant could turn into 7-2 or 8-1 decisions. Awesome. Meanwhile, if a Dem wins, well...things don’t get better, but they don’t get worse. Good to know.

Since I haven’t written anything about ’08 in a while, let’s check in on candidates:

Republicans

Giuliani – the more you learn about him, the less you like him.

McCain – his staff are jumping like rats abandoning a sinking ship, but that’s okay because he’s just like Reagan.

Romney – the real Breck Girl.

Thompson – like Dubya, only more southern.

Ron Paul – he’s crazy, but he’s the only truly pro-military Republican candidate...and it’s showing.

Democrats

Hillary – not fading just yet...and re-establishing her ‘inevitability’ vibe.

Obama – not rising just yet. And with the 24-7 coverage, the fact that he’s still losing six months before the first primary is being treated like major stagnation. And he’s still got the money to make some noise.

Edwards – best asset = wife. Oh, and he’s not colluding with Hillary.

Richardson – spending most of his efforts in (predictably) Iowa and New Hampshire, and is being rewarded with 3rd place in NH.

Biden – not worth mentioning.

Dodd – hasn’t dropped out yet!

And now my current odds...

Republicans
Thompson – 40%
Giuliani – 32%
Romney – 15%
McCain – 7%
James Dobson (saying, “Screw it, I’ll do this myself”) – 5.9%
Ron Paul – 0.1%

Democrats
Obama – 37% (my naïve optimism at work)
Hillary – 36%
Edwards – 19%
Richardson - 8%