Current GOP Candidates and other comments

Science:
Gov. Huckabee was dismissive of the idea that it should matter whether a president believes in evolution. Me, I think that a president ought to be able to pass a junior high science class. I'm happy for him that he believes in God, but I'd just like to know if he believes in, you know, facts. Rudy appears to be laughing at him. I'm sure he and his gay dogwalkers believe in evolution, no problem.

Brownback says that if "faith and science are at odds with each other, check your faith or check your science." You can't really "check" faith, which is kind of the point of faith, but whatever: the world is clearly coming to an end anyway

Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Sam Brownback of Kansas both admitted Tuesday night they voted to authorize the U.S. military invasion of Iraq without reading the formal National Intelligence Estimate in advance. Nice. So I guess they admitted to reading everything else, right, even the minor legislation.

Signs of the times
Yesterday, Bush headlined a fundraiser for the New Jersey state GOP, where donors could pay $5,000 to pose for a photo with the Commander in Chief. Just a year ago for a grip and grin with Bush.GOP officials around the country charged at least $10,000 a pop for presidential photo op, a bargain compared to the $25,000-a-flash Bush commanded during some Republican National Committee fund-raisers back in 2000 and 2004. Maybe it's just a Jersey thing. Although Bush's poll numbers are low nationally, the president is particularly unpopular in New Jersey, where his approval rating is just 25 percent according to one recent poll. In fact, Bush hadn't campaigned in the state since 2005. Last summer, the GOP relied instead on other administration emissaries like Karl Rove, Vice President Dick Cheney and former President George H.W. Bush. They all campaigned for Tom Kean Jr., who ran for (and ultimately lost) New Jersey's U.S. Senate seat. For the record, a photo with Rove cost donors $1,000, while pictures with Cheney and Bush's dad were priced at $5,000. But that's peanuts. In June 2006, donors at a Kean fundraiser paid $10,000 a piece for a photo op with First Lady Laura Bush. At least President Bush can feel good about one thing: Wednesday's event took in about $675,000 for New Jersey Republicans, not a bad haul in a state where most people would rather get a souvenir pic of the president walking out the door.