Morning Update

I went to bed at 1:40 and was not up in time to watch This Weeek with George Stephanopoulos. I'm sure I spelled that wrong. Many Democrats want to save social security and Senator Evan Bayh is one of them. This comes in from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:

If Bush’s plan involves diverting money from the Social Security trust fund, it likely won’t get Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh’s support.

Bayh said he favors ways to encourage people to save more and is open to the idea of “having accounts in addition to Social Security funded by some other source.”

But taking money out of the system is too risky, he said, especially for people who rely solely on Social Security for their retirement income.

“Social Security is the bedrock. We want to maintain that guarantee,” Bayh said.

Jon Stewart puts his show on the road. He performed recently in Hartford.

Stewart's transition from straight-up comedian to comic social commentator and "anchor" of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" put him on a collision course with news-channel celebrity pundits. It was only a matter of time until he clashed with the likes of Tucker Carlson, on CNN's shout party, "Crossfire."

It happened in October. The conservative Carlson took a shot at the liberal Stewart for not asking tough questions when John Kerry visited on "The Daily Show." Stewart suggested that if "Crossfire" wanted to compare itself to a comedy show, maybe it should aspire to something higher, like "Seinfeld." Stewart also called Carlson a certain nickname for a male body part.[...]

While clearly leaning left (with most of his audience), Stewart lamented the lame state of Democratic leadership, including less-than-dynamic Kerry. U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman was another target.

"Even when he's enthusiastic," Stewart said of Lieberman, "it's like Droopy Dog running for president."

Still, he'd just as soon not see a Jewish president, Stewart said — "We're blamed enough as it is."

He's clearly not for Senator Russ Feingold.

Senator Barbara Boxer of California does watch NBC's Saturday Night Live. From the Indy Star:

Maybe character actor Paul Giamitti got bypassed for an Oscar nomination because the academy saw his portrayal of Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., on "Saturday Night Live."

Giamitti, who stars in the hit movie "Sideways," wore a gray wig but didn't shave off his beard when he played Lugar in a skit of the Senate confirmation hearings for Rice to become secretary of state.

The skit's main joke was Sen. Boxer's use of various props -- including a "lie volcano" -- to accuse Rice of having made false statements about Iraq.

Giamitti, as Lugar, tried to get Boxer to speed things along so he can attend inauguration parties and make the curtain for a showing of "The Lion King."

The real Boxer told Lugar he had to see a video of the skit, and by midweek he had.

So what did he think?

"He was laughing very hard," said spokesman Andy Fisher.

Senator Bayh makes the news with his vote against Condoleezza Rice in the Indy Star:

U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., says his vote against making Condoleezza Rice secretary of state should not be viewed as an indication that he plans to run for his party's nomination for president in 2008. But that's how it's being viewed.

The online political journal "The Hotline" wrote about Bayh's vote under the headline: "Bayh the way, I'm still a Democrat."

Congressional Quarterly noted that Bayh isn't usually found in the company of such liberal Democratic stalwarts as Sen. Barbara Boxer of California and Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, some of the 12 other senators who opposed Rice's confirmation.

The Washington Post noted that Bayh is "a possible presidential candidate in 2008 who voted to authorize the war."

Even the Christian Coalition of America singled out Bayh in a news release criticizing the 13 "no" voters. The group said it "condemns left-wing senators -- and a moderate running for president -- for their prejudice against successful American conservative minorities."