A couple of weeks ago I came across an article on Time.com that asked the question, “Is Fred Thompson the G.O.P.’s Savior?” Now I know certain segments of the media have been falling all over themselves in an attempt to anoint Fred Thompson as the second coming of Ronald Reagan because of how dismally uninspiring the Republican Party’s presidential candidates are, but I’ve seen or heard nothing from Fred Thompson that would lead me to believe he can solve all that ails the Republican Party in the lead-up to the 2008 election.

Sure, he’s got solid conservative credentials - notwithstanding his work on behalf of an abortion rights group - and he does have a certain charisma, folksiness, and sense of humor when he speaks, but I don’t believe that puts him ahead of any other Republican in the race. Thompson’s “virtual” campaign has already hit some bumps, from the small hit he took for his aforementioned lobbying on behalf of an abortion rights group to disappointing fund raising numbers and staff defections. Thompson’s campaign is reported to have raised a little over $3 million in June, a figure that certainly doesn’t seem in line with that you’d expect to see from the GOP’s “savior.”

The problem with many of the the Republicans vying for the White House aren’t the skeletons in their closets or their shortcomings as candidates - their problems can be traced directly to the fact that they’re Republicans. The political climate here in America being what it is, I don’t think any one Republican candidate can cure all that ails the GOP, and 2008 promises to be another bad year for Republican candidates all across America, from the presidential field on down. Republicans will have a hard time winning much of anything in 2008, Fred Thompson or not.

Earlier tonight, Greg Borowski over at All Politics Watch posted an interesting entry about polls showing Tommy Thompson continuing to trail his opponents in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Saturday’s Iowa Republican Party straw poll looms over Thompson’s campaign like a black cloud, because Governor Thompson has made it abundantly clear the straw poll is a “make or break” event for his campaign. Thompson has said he needs to finish first or second in order to be able to continue his campaign, and the polling I’ve seen shows Thompson finishing well out of the top three.

Tommy Thompson’s based his whole campaign around Iowa, and while he’s got a low-key, down to earth speaking style that could really resonate with Iowans, he suffers from being the less charismatic than Mike Huckabee, who has a really similar style of speaking. Those the same conservatives who would probably support Thompson for his down to earth speaking style and personality are instead flocking to Mike Huckabee, who has that “aw shucks” thing down pat, with the main difference between him and Tommy Thompson being that Huckabee doesn’t seem like as much of a boob as Tommy Thompson. I think it’s safe to say Tommy Thompson won’t finish in the top four in the Iowa straw poll, and I expect to see him drop from the race shortly after the results are announced.

The boy has discovered a new favorite show…SpongeBob Squarepants. He giggles and giggles throughout the entire show, but especially so any time SpongeBob laughs.

Yesterday this blog had its highest number of visitors ever…until today. I know fifty visitors in one day isn’t much, but that’s fully one hundred eyes that have read this blog. Heady stuff, right there.

One of my favorite guilty pleasures? Watching Dr. Phil when I happen to come home from work a little early. I love trying to impersonate Dr. Phil for my mother in law, though I don’t know how much she appreciates my attempts.

Every time I hear Senator Sam Brownback’s name mentioned, I always think of Brokeback Mountain. I suppose it’s the similarity between the two…or could it be something else?

So I had an opportunity to watch a replay of the Democratic YouTube debate tonight, and after listening to each of the candidates, I have to say I was impressed with Barack Obama’s performance. I know a lot’s been made of his statement that he’d be willing to sit down and talk with “questionable world leaders” - folks like Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, and Kim Jong Il - and how naive a statement like that really is - but I give him credit for taking a chance and being honest about what he’d do. As for the naivety of Senator Obama’s statement, I’ll just say that the diplomacy of George Dubbya hasn’t produced many positive results when it comes to our relations with the rest of the world, so maybe it’s time for a radically different approach.

Now I’m not saying Barack Obama has the answer, but at least he’s willing to try something different, and at least he’s not afraid to take a chance and not give the “safe answer.” I give Obama a lot of credit for taking a chance, and I think he and his campaign have done a good job of spinning his answer in the aftermath of the YouTube debate.

Edit: I also have to say while it was mildly amusing at first when Mike Gravel kept referring to not getting a chance to speak, it started to annoy me towards the end of the debate. Perhaps if he had something relevant and not completely crazy to say, he’d have more of an opportunity to speak.

Senator Russ Feingold, a particular favorite of mine, wants to censure President Bush for both his management of the Iraq war and his “assault” against the Constitution. Senator Feingold said he soon plans to offer two censure resolutions - measures that would amount to a formal condemnation of the Republican president. The first resolution would seek to reprimand President Bush for getting the nation into war without adequate military preparation and for issuing misleading public statements. What’s interesting to note is the resolution also would cite Vice President Dick Cheney and possibly other administration officials as well. The second censure resolution would seek to censure President Bush for what Feingold says is a continuous assault against the rule of law, most notably the warrantless surveillance of American citizens.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already said Feingold’s censure resolutions won’t see the light of day in the Senate, which really isn’t surprising, considering I’ve always believed Senator Reid lacks the balls to actually do anything to actually hold President Bush accountable for his actions. Senator Feingold’s censure resolutions are a perfect example of why I’m proud to have voted for him - because he’s not afraid to stand up for what he believes is right, even if it’s not popular. I’m proud to have a Senator who wasn’t afraid to stand up and say that the Patriot Act was a bad piece of legislation that curtailed our civil rights, and I’m proud to have a Senator who’s always been a critic of the Iraq War, even when that wasn’t a politically expedient position to take. Now if only we had 99 more Russ Feingolds in the Senate - maybe then we could get something done in Washington.

In what might be a surprise to some, former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore has ended his presidential campaign. In his statement, Gilmore expressed his frustration with the current political process.

“I have come to believe that it takes more than a positive vision for our nation’s future to successfully compete for the Presidency,” he said. “I believe that it takes years of preparation to put in place both the political and financial infrastructure to contest what now amounts to a one-day national primary in February.”

Gilmore’s a good solid conservative, but ultimately he suffered from the “Who?” factor - in that if you asked someone what they thought of him, their response would be, “who?” He hadn’t raised much money, and he had also suffered a setback when he had to take some time off the campaign trail to have surgery to repair a torn retina.

I expect we’ll see more folks starting to drop out in the coming weeks, especially as Fred Thompson’s campaign gets into full swing. Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson has already said he’s planning on dropping out if he doesn’t win the Iowa Straw Poll in August, and I expect we’ll see Duncan Hunter and/or Mike Huckabee drop out in the not too distant future. Both have had difficulty raising money, and their poll numbers haven’t really moved much, with both stuck at or near the bottom of most Republican polling. Interestingly enough, I see the Republican field thinning before the Democratic field, simply because the Democrats at the bottom of the field strike me as just crazy enough to stick in the race until the bitter (and I mean bitter) end.

After all, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich seem just crazy enough to stick in the race even after the little bit of money they have is all gone, because they seem pretty fanatical. Ultimately, I see Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Biden as the first two Democrats to call it quits, and after that it’s anyone’s guess.

Mark Green - Congressman turned Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate - was nominated by George Dubbya earlier this year to serve as our nation’s ambassador to Tanzania. Green, who spent some time in Africa doing volunteer work, seems like a pretty good choice for the position, at least by my standards, but apparently John Kerry has a problem with the nomination. Earlier today Kerry put a “hold” on the nomination, citing the fact that Green is a political appointee - not a career foreign service officer. Senator Kerry hasn’t officially commented on the hold, which effectively dooms the nomination barring some unforeseen miracle.

What’s interesting about the hold is that the previous ambassador to Tanzania was also a political appointee, so it’s not as if Green will be taking a spot that had previously been filled by a career foreign service officer. Obviously Green’s appointment was a reward by George Dubbya for all Green’s hard work as a member of the Republican Party, and to be honest, I don’t see any reason why his nomination should have been opposed (and I say that as a staunch Democrat). Though I may not agree with many (almost none, actually) of Mark Green’s political positions, his nomination is one that I can’t understand opposing - or killing, in the case of Senator Kerry’s hold.

I just can’t help but wonder if there’s another reason - one that’s not been made public - for Senator Kerry’s hold on Mark Green’s nomination.

Could it be a reality?

Obviously Republicans in both the Assembly and the Senate are fighting tooth and nail to make sure universal healthcare coverage never makes it past the planning stages, but just yesterday Joe Leean, a former Republican state senator and secretary of the state Department of Health and Family Services under former Governor Tommy Thompson, endorsed the universal health care plan of state Senate Democrats. What’s notable about Leean’s endorsement of the plan presented by Senate Democrats is that he’s the first Republican of any note to publicly voice support for the measure. In fact, even Democratic Governor Jim Doyle has expressed some misgivings about the plan proposed by Senate Democrats, so the fact that a Republican who once served as Secretary of Health and Family Services has endorsed the plan is a big step in the right direction.

Also testifying in front of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services was Professor Alain Enthoven of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, a national expert on healthcare. Professor Enthoven said of the Senate Democrats’ Healthy Wisconsin plan:

“This plan is exactly what this state needs to get its health care system on the track of quality and economy…. Wisconsin has the building blocks in place for a successful system. Wisconsin has a great opportunity to lead this nation in the direction of more affordable, better quality care and service.”

Obviously there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, and Senate Democrats need to clearly articulate how they plan on paying for their plan - which is estimated to cost in the neighborhood of 15 billion dollars a year - but this is definitely a positive development. Unfortunately, as positive a development as this is, it has to be tempered by the fact that Republicans still control the State Assembly, and barring a miracle there’s no way the plan proposed by Senate Democrats makes it past the Assembly.

I happened to be surfing the interwebs and came across an interesting article on autism. While the article doesn’t really contain any groundbreaking news or insights, it did contain a couple of statistics and quotes that I thought folks might be interested in.

Speaking at the Fordham Graduate School of Education’s fifth annual Early Childhood Conference on April 27, Cecelia McCarton, M.D., said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now estimate the prevalence of autism among American children at 1 in 150.

Think about that for a second…1 in 150 children in America have some form of autism. If autism continues to be diagnosed at these rates, millions upon millions of Americans will be directly affected by autism, not to mention the millions of family members who will be impacted by a diagnosis of autism in a loved one. No one really knows for sure what causes autism - though there’s plenty of speculation. Genetics, environment, diet, immunizations - all have been speculated to be possible causes ot autism, but there hasn’t been much research into identifying which one (or combination) of those factors contribute to autism.

More from the article:

Autism is a particularly difficult disorder to treat, McCarton said, because of its pervasive nature. Unlike disorders that affect only motor skills or speech and language, she said, autism “cuts across every single developmental area.”

As the parent of an autistic child, I can say that this is what’s most maddening about autism - it’s not just confined to one specific developmental area, so progress is slow in most cases. Now we’re blessed that Nick’s autism is relatively mild, so his progress is steady and tangible, but there’s always the possibility that his progress could slow or even regress. While I’m encouraged by the progress that’s been made in increasing autism awareness among Americans, I recognize we still have a long way to go. Nick was diagnosed as autistic at two and a half years old, and we’re still waiting to start receiving the Medicaid he needs to pay for the intensive therapy he needs. Despite the long wait, I still consider our family to be lucky. We’re lucky to live in a state that’s more progressive than most when it comes to assisting children with autism, and we’re lucky to live in a state where our elected officials recognize this growing problem.

Edit: After writing this entry, I decided I’d write a letter to my State Senator about Senate Bill 178, which would mandate that all insurance companies that provide health insurance to state employees have to provide coverage for autism and related spectrum disorders. I’ve never been much of a letter writer, but I think this could be the start of something…

Remember how I said the wheels were close to falling off Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign? Well, on the heels of a disappointing quarter in terms of fundraising, Terry Nelson, the McCain campaign manager, has announced announced today he has resigned. Additionally, the campaign’s chief strategist, John Weaver, also announced his resignation. What’s interesting about this story is that a McCain campaign insider is denying Nelson resigned, asserting he was actually fired.

Over at Swampland, Ana Marie Cox had a few interesting insights about the current state of affairs in the McCain campaign:

I’m told that as of last week, the campaign was still basically holding together. Morale was good, and many of those fired asked to return as volunteers. There was a sense that they might be able become a guerrilla operation again; today, the operation is truly is tatters and no one knows exactly what will happen this afternoon, much less tomorrow.

What’s more, Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic is reporting that Mark Salter has also tendered his resignation, ostensibly as a direct result of Nelson and Weaver resigning/being forced out. The departure of Terry Nelson and John Weaver (and possibly Mark Salter) from the McCain campaign - if they in fact did resign instead of being fired - reeks of rats jumping off a sinking ship. The McCain campaign is doomed - it’s just too bad Senator McCain doesn’t see it. I give this campaign two months before it folds.