So long, Rudy

Is there any Republican politician out there who just has normal, run of the mill sexual relationships? Any one at all?

No gay airport bathroom propositions, no asking underaged congressional pages to email you their penis size, no secret visits to prostitutes in multiple states? No divorcing your cancer-stricken, hospitalized wife in order to better carry on an affair with someone else? No weird sex trysts overlooking the smoldering ruins of New York's ground zero, or billing your secret mayoral booty calls to the budgets of city agencies tasked with helping poor people? No meth-addicted gay sex while preaching about the horrors of gay sex? No calling your coworkers at night while masturbating, telling them how much you'd like to falafel them up in the shower? No shoving pictures of fetuses in people's faces, or taking their own daughters into "chastity vows", or pontificating about the dangers of man-on-dog relationships?

Seriously, is this why Republicans are always so obsessed with governing everybody else's sex life -- because it's simply inconceivable to them that any two people would have a healthy, non-messed-up relationship?

Last night's YouTube debate questions were prepared well in advance of the breaking scandal yet it slipped in anyway; Giuliani denied all. That's not going to go over well with a GOP base having nearly nothing in common with a thrice-divorced cross-dressing librul.

And so, with the mayor's blood in the water, they each went at each other hammer and tong in St.Petersburg last night. First Mitt and Rudy over immigration, then later McCain and Ron Paul over Iraq, and later on McCain and Romney over waterboarding, and several skirmishes in between that appeared to this observer to give Mike Huckabee a star turn. He did the best job of avoiding questions with laugh lines that I've seen. And I thought Fred Thompson and McCain did well enough in comparison to the other loons to warrant a second look by the indecisive GOP voter.

Romney and Huckabee stand to benefit the most from the fast-approaching conclusion of the Giuliani campaign. Maybe McCain, although he still has a deep hole to climb out of. Perhaps it opens the door a bit wider for Dr. No.

But those madcap libertarians are pretty unpredictable, so who really knows?

Julie Mason had the live-blog. As one commenter there noted: "Mars and the Stars and Bars. And not one question on health care."

Update: Who's Playin' (Norman Fell! Precisely!) and Texas Moratorium Network (Preach it, Huck!) have quick opinions and video snippets.

Remember that Democrat in CD-07?

A few years ago he was a Republican, last week he told us he was a Democrat, but today he's an independent. Here, you can read his press release for yourself:

"RADIO REBEL" TELLS DEMOCRATS "THANKS, BUT NO THANKS"

Truitt says he'll run as Independent Candidate for Congress


The ink was barely dry on his first press release when John Truitt issued a statement reversing its message, saying he will run for US Representative from the 7 th Congressional District in Houston as an Independent, not a Democrat.

"The Democrats I talked to were very helpful and supportive," says Truitt; "but I'm really more of an Independent who's pretty disgusted with the leaders of both the major parties. My supporters are just plain fed up with politicians who put their party's interest ahead of what's good for the country. We believe i t's time to put our country first and stop all the partisan bickering in Congress, particularly while we're at war. If I'm lucky enough to get elected as an Independent, I'll work with all parties to find smart, sensible solutions to the real problems our country faces today."

The official web site of the Truitt for Congress Committee is www.truittfortruth.com. It outlines his "7 Ways We Can Do Better If We Pull Together " and includes links to his plan for "swift, successful completion of our mission in Iraq", his resume and articles on various issues.

Truitt acknowledges he has no real organization and very little political experience, or money to fund a campaign. The business consultant and award-winning author says he does get a lot of support from a listening audience that grew during his four years on the air as CNN's "Radio Rebel" talk show host. He says his basic campaign strategy relies upon a lot of footwork on his own, plus the help of loyal listeners, friends, like-minded contributors, campaign workers and volunteers he hopes to recruit along the way.

Good luck with that, buddy.

Solidarity for striking writers

Thanks, HuffPo:

... 30 Rock's Tina Fey and Jack McBrayer, SNL's Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers, plus Sex and the City's Kristin Davis, The Office's Rashida Jones, The Player's Tim Robbins, The Color Purple's Danny Glover and Michael Emerson, aka the Creepy Guy from Lost. rallied in support of the writers, Oh, and special guest star John Edwards! "This is all about fairness, it's about opportunity, it's about making sure those who create the work that generates revenue actually gets to share in that revenue," said Edwards.

Some Texas electoral postpourri

-- Tonight's Texas Progressive Alliance conference call guest was Dan Barrett, the lone Democrat in a field of seven challengers in Fort Worth's HD-97. He was also the leader in votes tallied, and his challenger, Mark Shelton, is coming under harsh (and legal) scrutiny from other Republicans in the district for his negative robo-calling at the end of the campaign.

-- Last week Charles Kuffner, Muse, and I had lunch with CD-07 Democratic challenger John F. Truitt, who is taking on entrenched incumbent John Cumbersome. Truitt had a radio program in Houston and was a Republican before coming to the light. He's got an idea about getting our soldiers out of Iraq:

Americans have the right to know if the people of Iraq want our troops in their country before investing more blood and treasure. Today our troops are held hostage by partisan bickering in Washington and the Iraqi government’s inability to act. Bush and the Republicans are stuck with “stay the course” and the Democrats can’t come up with a plan that doesn’t require the President to retreat and admit his failures. If the Iraqi leaders won’t get their act together, then we should go over their heads directly to the Iraqi people. Instead of demanding timetables for withdrawal which are automatically subject to a Presidential veto along with “surrender” and “cut and run” derisions, Congress should insert language that requires the Iraq government to hold the following referendum within the next three to six months as part of any Iraq spending bill.

This would be a very astute diplomatic move by the American government. By asking the people of Iraq to decide when foreign troops leave their country instead of American politicians, we don’t seem so arrogant. We can prove to the world our good intentions as well as our faith in Iraq’s democracy by asking for a referendum on the presence of coalition forces as soon as possible. The ballot should read precisely as follows:

“US & Coalition Forces would like to redeploy our troops outside of Iraq (nearby for aid in emergencies) over the next six months unless you want us to remain. Respecting the democratic rights of the Iraqi people, we ask: Do you invite US and Coalition Military Forces to stay in Iraq as guests of the Iraqi people for another year to maintain security and help rebuild your country? Yes ____ No ____”

If as expected the people of Iraq vote “no”, we can leave as promised, showing confidence in the democracy we created and leave behind, as well as respect for the wishes of the Iraqis. Realistically, if the people don’t want us in their country we cannot be effective. Remaining thereafter would only increase the resistance, tensions and violence, while sending more of our troops home in flag-draped coffins. By letting the Iraqi people decide if they’re ready to handle their own security or not, coalition forces can either leave or stay with honor.

-- Via eight feet deep and KFDM, attorney Larry Hunter will take on HD-19 Michelin Man look-alike Mike "Tuffy" Hamilton for the right to represent three counties in Southeast Texas in the statehouse.

I have more than a passing personal interest in this one, as Hunter is from my hometown and his firm handles a few estate matters for my family. He's got a solid resume' of getting elected in the district and has some ability to self-fund as well as raise money from a thick list of contacts. The district is considerably more purple than many in suburban and rural Texas, and Hamilton under-performed the other Republicans on the ballot in 2006. Those circumstances make HD-19 ripe to flip in '08. Update: Kuff has more about Hunter and Hamilton in a post which leads with the news that toll road lover and on again/off again Craddick ally Mike Krusee won't run for re-election in Williamson County's HD-52 . Diana Maldonado has already declared for the Democratics.

-- Finally, if you're interested in attending the 2008 Democratic national convention as a delegate, then you need to attend the workshop this Saturday in Houston to understand what's required of you to qualify.