The end of polarization?

Is it the end of polarization in our national political system? Take a look at this article:

This is most clearly the case on the Republican side. The consistent leaders in 2008 polls are John McCain and Rudolph Giuliani. Of the two, Giuliani is most sharply out of line with the cultural conservatives who have been the dominant force in Republican primaries and provided a large share of the Republican majorities racked up in 2002 and 2004.

Giuliani is pro-choice on abortion, opposes the partial-birth abortion ban and opposes a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. McCain's differences with the Republican right are more subtle. He has consistently opposed abortion rights, but doesn't seem comfortable talking about the issue. He has taken the lead on campaign finance regulation and on Kyoto-like responses to climate change, in opposition to most of his Republican colleagues. At a critical point in the 2000 campaign, he made a point of denouncing evangelists Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

As for the Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton is in significant ways out of sync with the Bush-hating left. She voted for the Iraq war resolution and for all the appropriations to fight the war, and she has shown no sign of apologizing for these stands. She spoke approvingly of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council at its most recent meeting -- and got attacked in the left-wing blog Daily Kos for it. From time to time, she has issued sharp partisan attacks on the Bush administration, but she has been careful to distance herself from Michael Moore- or Cindy Sheehan-type rhetoric. You will not catch her calling George W. Bush a maniac or a war criminal.

Of course, none of these three candidates has his or her party's nomination sewed up. But Clinton has to be regarded as the clear favorite in the Democratic race, and not only because over the last 40 years Democrats have won only when they've nominated candidates whose last names begin with C.

And while cultural conservatives clearly had veto power over Republican nominations from 1980 to 2000, it's not clear to me that that's the case any more. McCain and Giuliani enjoy great respect among Republican primary voters as strong leaders. Both supported George W. Bush wholeheartedly in 2004 and are in great favor with the Bush White House today. Potential opponents more in line with Bush's stands on issues, such as Sens. Bill Frist and George Allen, start off much less well known and have not been as visibly tested as McCain was in Vietnam and Giuliani was on Sept. 11.

Take a look at this slide show of Iowa politics. Looks like another attack on Sen. Bayh for the charisma issue.

The recent show at the Improv Olympic had many snafus, enough to be criticized by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Is the Fletcher administration anti-American or something? A soldier was found on that hit list! A soldier for Heaven's sake!

Jim Covany, former director of the Cabinet's division that manages state vehicles, landed on the April 18 memo under the category "completed actions" with a notation that he had accepted a "voluntary demotion." Just four days before the memo was written, Covany, a major in the Kentucky National Guard, received new orders: He was to head out with his unit to Afghanistan.

And that's where he was earlier this summer, leading an eight-member team assigned to train Afghan battalions, when he got word that the "hit list" considered him to be demoted.

"At no time was a demotion discussed and I would not agree to a demotion," he said in an e-mail to the Herald-Leader from Afghanistan. "I heard rumors about the hit list, but did not know I was on it until after my deployment."

Interesting. That's just wrong in my opinion. Before I forget, uh, Ernie Fletcher is in the spotlight.

Oasis's new single debuts at #1 in the British singles chart.

Oasis have jumped straight in at the top of the UK singles chart with "The Importance Of Being Idle," knocking teen group McFLY off the number one spot.

"The Importance Of Being Idle" is the second single from the latest Oasis album, Don't Believe the Truth, to reach number one in Britain. McFly's "I'll be OK" has fallen seven places from pole position to number eight.

State Auditor Crit Luallen will be up in the Northern Kentucky area soon for a forum.

Crit Luallen, Kentucky's auditor of public accounts, will be the featured speaker at the next government forum sponsored by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.

Luallen will speak during a luncheon Sept. 9 at the Metropolitan Club in Covington. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $30 for members and $40 for non-members.

Luallen, who was elected in November 2003, has served as state budget director, secretary of the finance and administration cabinet, secretary of the Kentucky tourism cabinet, commissioner of the Kentucky department of the arts, and special assistant to the governor.

She also spent four years in Louisville where she served as the president of the Greater Louisville Economic Development Partnership.

The VMA's were so packed that some performers performed at hotels.

The Killers played live at Miami Beach, Florida's Hotel Victor, before dashing to the awards to pick up the night's Best New Artist Video prize, while Mariah Carey performed at South Beach's National Hotel.

How did they not have enough room?

It is that time of year again. College football starts this weekend. On Sunday, September 4, you can watch the University of Louisville play my Kentucky Wildcats in Commonwealth Stadium at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Chris Carpenter goes for his 19th win tonight. Carpenter has won 10 straight and should pick up #11 tonight. Tony LaRussa now has 2,197 wins. The starters have combined for 70 wins, the most in the MLB. The White Sox are in 2nd with 58. Statisically speaking, Albert Pujols is five short of 200 career home runs. Mark Grudzielanek needs nine more for 500 career RBI. Jim Edmonds needs to drive in 19 more players to join the 1,000 RBI club. Matt Morris needs 12 strikeouts to tie Jesse Haines for 4th place with 979 while playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Red Sox have been sitting on top of the AL East for 41 days.

State Attorney General Greg Stumbo resigned today. He resigned as a member of the merit system taskforce.

Please keep the city of New Orleans and others affected by Hurricane Katrina in your thoughts and prayers. I'm thinking of putting on a benefit concert up here for the relief fund. It's just an idea right now.