Man, I do love me some political theater. I went looking for some at an at-large Boston City Council forum earlier this evening at Roxbury Community College, but the poorly-promoted event had more candidates on stage than voters in the audience (this may actually have been literally true, once you subtract the press and candidates' aides from the audience). Yeesh.
Then I had to decide between the Republican State Committee meeting (where I had been told Andrew Card would be there, perhaps to announce a Senate candidacy), or watching the President's health care speech. I picked the President, because I get to watch that on my sofa, but it turns out both were good theater.
As is being reported, the news out of that GOP meeting is that Card is 50% likelyhood of running for Senate, and Scott Brown, who previously said he's 90% likely, now says he won't run if Card runs. A source at the GOP meeting tells me the whole thing was "a cluster." Card got up and seemed to announce his candidacy (to much applause), but then said no, no, I'm only announcing that I'm seriously thinking about it and will make a decision after 9-11. Oh, and by the way, that shouldn't keep anyone else from running. Like Scott Brown.
And then Card turned the floor over to Brown. Brown, you might have heard, has essentially already launched his campaign but said that he couldn't make it official until after today's hearing on the senate-appointment bill because of the potential conflict of interest, whatever that means. But apparently he must not have known about Card's interest, because he said that he won't run if Card runs -- and so, instead of announcing his candidacy, Brown will have to wait for a while to see what Card decides.
In other words, the Massachusetts GOP only has roughly three people who could possibly run a legitimate statewide campaign, and they still can't get straight who's running for what. (Oh, and by the way, has nobody mentioned to Card that George W. Bush's former chief-of-staff will get SLAUGHTERED in a Mass. Senate race? At least Brown would be a good candidate and face of the state party; Card would be a freaking disaster.)
Anyway, that's damn good theater, and I wish I had been there. Instead, I was watching Barack Obama play the GOP like a fiddle. In case there was anybody left in America who believed that there was ever any possible way that Republicans would ever cooperate on a bipartisan bill, I think that ended tonight. This might be hyperbole, but I think replays might show that Republicans were chanting "let 'em die" when Obama told the woeful tales of patients denied treatment. Also, I'm pretty sure that when the President said that "insurance companies will be required to cover... colonoscopies," Mike Pence mooned him.
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