Broder's Right

David Broder's column on Sunday, in which he dismissed the idea that John McCain would ever seek the Democratic presidential nomination or that Democrats would want McCain as their presidential nominee, was right on the money.

The McCain for President-as-a-Democrat movement got started in the pages of The Washington Monthly and The New Republic. You can find the links by clicking here. But it never made any kind of real world sense. In his column, Broder brought the whole crazed notion back down to earth and then buried it. He's still the best political reporter in America.

Bush Photo Flap

Please.

Bush Bested

Marvin Bush, that is. The reigning Blogosphere MiniPutt Champion has seen his back-to-back 26s bested by my brother-in-law, Tom Smith, who fired back-to-back 25s yesterday after, he says, a long day at work.

Known now as "the 5th Major," the Blogosphere MiniPutt Championship has attracted players from over 26 (and counting) countries. All hail the new champion. To try your luck and test your skill, click here.

Drought Update

Another 2.5 inches of rain fell last night, by my somewhat crude projections. I would guess we had a total of about 4.5 inches of rain in the last 24 hours. I took the dogs out for a walk this morning and picked up the papers. The Journal News, which is the local Gannett paper, and The New York Times both have stories on the drought. The Journal News story was about the recent rainfall. The headline read: When Too Much Is Not Enough. We expect more rain this week. The drought continues.

Smart Buy

The turnaround at Sears gathered momentum today with the acquisition of Land's End, which sells more clothes through the mail and over the Internet than any other company in America. The new management team at Sears is betting on quality to lure consumers back into its outlets and the acquisition of Land's End is evidence that they mean what they say. It's a smart move; well-timed and nicely priced (especially for Land's End stockholders). Given all the bad corporate news of late, it's good to see a great company making itself stronger.

Bookmark the TAP Blog

Mickey Kaus reports that The American Prospect, a lefty magazine that I've never read, is in serious, game-ending financial condition. This would be of no interest except that The American Prospect's blog is truly superb. If the magazine goes down, the blog probably goes down with it.

How to save the blog while letting the magazine sink? A good case for some Harvard Business School section to mull over. In the meantime, bookmark the TAP blog. It may be gone too soon, which would be a shame.

Drought Watch

How's the drought working out for you? We've got water in our basement, grass that's growing about an inch a day and collection areas filled with water. The forecast is for yet more rain; we expect another inch tonight. The more this drought continues, the more the need for an Ark increases.

Ethically Challenged

Read the following text and imagine for a moment what The New York Times editorial and op-ed pages would say if the company in question was, say, Enron.

While working as (the company's) corporate physician, Dr. Horn said, company executives asked her to let them see patients' medical records even though she didn't have patient permission to share the confidential information.

She also claims, in court documents, that the vice president for human resources told her to "misinform employees regarding whether injuries or illnesses they were suffering were work-related so as to curtail the number of workers' compensation claims filed against (the company)."

When she didn't comply, Dr. Horn said, she was fired.

The company in question is The New York Times, which fired Dr. Horn last year. Dr. Horn has since sued, which you can read all about by clicking here. Thanks to Man Without Qualities for the heads up on this.

Down To Earth

Mitt Romney's poll numbers in Massachusetts have fallen sharply. Yes, the University of Massachusetts Poll is usually more favorable to Democrats. So yes, it's probably not true that state Treasurer Shannon O'Brien (D-Female) "leads" Romney in a truly representative sampling of statewide opinion.

But at the end of April, Opinion Dynamics Corporation -- hands-down the best polling outfit in the Northeast and one of the very best in the country -- found Romney wallowing in the mid-40s against both O'Brien and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Given the weakness of these opponents, the mid-40s hardly constitute a position of strength.

All those GOP operatives who started counting Romney as a "win" when he wrestled the Republican gubernatorial nomination away from acting Governor Jane Swift had better start speed-dialing for dollars. Romney's no better than a 50-50 bet in Massachusetts. Which says a lot more about Massachusetts than it does about Mitt Romney. Most states would kill to have someone of Romney's caliber serve as their governor. But Massachusetts, I can tell you from long, dreadful political experience, is not most states.

Thanks to Goddard's Political Wire for the heads-up on the UMass Poll.

The Note

The ABC News Political weblog known as The Note needs an editor. It's too long and there's not nearly enough straighforward political information. For those of us who can't afford to subscribe to The Hotline (which is most of us), The Note seemed like a very good idea; a free survey of political news and information from around the nation. But that's not what's being delivered. The Note has become a kind of meanderer's guide to the Acela crowd's conventional wisdom. Someone there should write The Note for The Note and distill the basic information into a quick-read package.