Last June, I presented you with the poll numbers for the Democratic Presidential primaries in the first five states. Hillary was in a comfortable position in four of the states. She was behind in South Carolina. In order to refresh your recollection, here they are again.

Three months have passed and Hillary is just getting stronger. She appears to be unstoppable. She is way ahead in every state. How can anybody stay in after losing five in a row?

For many years, unacceptable sexual activity has been the norm in Washington, D.C. That all changed with the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Closets were opened and improper activity was quickly punished. The accused was immediately shunned. The concept of fair trial was gone. The opposing party attacked to gain an advantage. The member party, secured the rope and hung the accused without a trial.

As a Catholic, I saw this happen in my church. For years, priests who abused children were allowed to continue to serve in the community. They were promoted and allowed to harm more children. Then, the crap hit the fan. Things changed. Some might say for the better. However, under the new plan, innocent priests who were accused were immediately punished and removed from their job. They lost a career and financial support. Some of these priests have been proven to be innocent. However, nobody seems to care as long as the problem is resolved. However, shouldn't we care about the innocent priest who served the community and was unjustly accused?

Senator Larry Craig was not guilty of a crime. He should keep his seat. The press, the Democrats and the Republicans must start thinking about the individual. Our country was built of the concept of a fair trial. It is nice to see that the Washington Post has come out to say that Craig did not commit a crime. Instead, he pleaded guilty with the promise his actions would be kept secret. They were not.

For almost one year, I have been contributing to "The Stump" as a blogger. Throughout that time, I worked hard to try to see things impartially. I clearly failed. After one year of analyzing and dissecting the news, I cannot understand how people could have bought into President Bush's policies and especially, his decision to attack Iraq.

Sure, Saddam Hussein was a horrible guy but there are plenty more like him in the world. Some are allies. The surprise is that good honest people who care about America, really believe that we should have preemptively attacked Iraq. To me, the evidence was clear, Saddam had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack. However, the Bush spin machine convinced the majority of Americans that it did.

A number of Republicans within the administration spoke out against the war. They were ridiculed and described as unpatriotic. Now, Alan Greenspan has spoken. He is a lifetime Republican. He believes that the war was for oil. He believes that the party that was suppose to balance the budget and bring fiscal sanity to Washington, spent money excessively to win elections. And who does he think did a great job as president? None other than Bill Clinton.

In a recent interview with Linda Douglas of the National Journal, Newt Gingrich has become the odds maker. He believes that the Democrats have an 80% chance of winning. Of course, he hasn't factored into the formula who will be counting the votes.

It seems that the best Republican candidate, is the one not running. Fred Thompson was going to run away with it once he declared. Well, he declared and he is not running away with it.

Gingrich is sitting back, hoping the others will fail. He is waiting on the sidelines waiting to be invited into a race in which the Republicans are going to lose. Newt saved them before and he should not be underestimated. When you consider all the skeletons that have come out of Giuliani's closet, Gingrich must be pretty confident that his skeletons are not half as bad as Rudy's.

If Rudy Giuliani can be a front runner, so can Newt.

When he was held captive in Vietnam, it probably looked like his time on earth was limited. After he got beat by Bush, it looked like he would be too old to run again. When he showed compassion for the problems of illegal immigrants, it looked like he had killed his political hopes. Yes, most of us believed that the hopes of John McCain being president of the United States had turned to dust.

Dust you say. Was it the phoenix that rose from the ashes. The bird is the symbol of immortality. Isn't Phoenix the capital of Arizona. Isn't McCain the senator from Arizona? Yes he is and like the phoenix, he has risen from the ashes.

In the latest Rasmussen report, McCain has begun to rise. He has pulled ahead of Mitt Romney (no big deal) and his "favorability rating" among Republicans has risen to 63%. This is just behind Fred Thompson (64%) and Rudy Giuliani (68%).

Even if McCain loses, it would be nice to see him in the race until the end. The man has fought for his country and not been afraid to say what he believes.

The Republicans once had it all. They controlled all three branches of the government. The result has been a mess that will take years to fix. The dollar has plunged versus the Euro. We are mired in a war in Iraq in which there is no easy solution. The real estate industry is collapsing. But this story is not about the Republican failures.

Virginia Republican, Senator John Warner is retiring. A class act who served his country well. He spoke his mind and suggested what was best for his country. The Rasmussen poll is showing that his namesake, former Democratic Governor, Mark Warner is 20% ahead of his closest competitor if he should run for the Senate seat being vacated by John Warner.

This will be just another seat being lost by the Republicans. A popular candidate, such as Mark Warner, will only help the Democratic candidate for President capture the electoral votes of Virginia.

2008 is shaping up to be a very bad year for the Republicans but President Bush will retire as the undefeated champion who wrecked his party.

Throughout his career, Senator Chuck Hagel was loyal to his party and voted the party line. However, he was not a lemming. His courageous stances against the Iraq War resulted in his party creating opposition to him in the upcoming election. Wouldn't it be sweet justice if the seat fell into Democratic hands?

Nice job, Chuck. You served your country well.

Sirius and XM radio have announced that they would like to merge and make better music together. I own stock in Sirius and it is believed that such a merger will help the stock rise. I am not so sure about that, but that is not what this story is about.

It was just announced that Sirius and XM have spent over $800,000 lobbying to make sure this merger works. On the other side, The National Association of Broadcasters have spent over $4 million to prevent the merger. Meanwhile, the fat cats on capital hill are getting richer. Do you really think they care about cheaper music for the public?

This story appeared on the financial pages but nobody really cares. We would rather concentrate on a senator trying to get a little sex in a public bathroom. He is villified by fellow senators. Meanwhile, nobody cares about the crime of lobbying. No, cause this game is perfectly legal.

I have been slow about reacting to the misdemeanor crime to which Senator Larry Craig pled guilty.

Should he resign his Senate seat? I don't think so.

Have we all gone nuts? Maybe the senator is a hypocrite. Scratch that: He is a hypocrite. But he didn't commit a crime. Maybe he was going to, but I listened to the tape and I can't imagine there was sufficient evidence for a conviction. The guy was in a hurry to catch a plane. He didn't want to be embarrassed further. He signed a paper. Paid a fine and got the heck out of the airport.

He pled guilty but I just don't see what crime he committed. He is just one more hypocrite who gets elected to one of the most prized seats in the world. Keep your seat, senator, but stay out of public bathrooms.

Let's forget whether we support the war or we don't. Instead, let me return to an issue that I have raised in the past. Are the children of the Establishment fighting to protect our country? My question is rhetorical. Here is an extract from a recent AOL article.

"Over a breakfast in Bettendorf, Rachel Griffiths , 41, an anti-war activist from nearby Nilan, Ill., asked how many of [Mitt] Romney's five sons are serving in the military."

"The good news is, we have a volunteer Army and that's the way we're going to keep it," Romney replied. "My sons are adults. They've chosen not to serve in the military in active duty and I respect their decision in that regard -- and one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."

The comment speaks for itself. Now let me take you back to the "good old days." Let me provide some quotes from a great interview with Bob Feller. For those who are too young to remember and have no interest in baseball, Feller was not only a great pitcher but a man who fought to save his country.

In our patriotic nation of flag wavers, we have a lot of big talkers but few who would put their life on the line for Old Glory. There is one who stands out among all of us. That was Pat Tillman. The NFL football player who gave up a million dollar contract because his country needed him to fight.

The evidence is mounting and it seems to be pointing to the fact that Pat Tillman was intentionally killed by his comrades. Recent testimony before Congress provided the following:

"The doctors - whose names were blacked out - said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away."

Despite the suspicions of medical examiners and doctors, the military was slow to conduct a criminal investigation regarding Tillman's death. The family demanded the truth.

Republican, Dr. Paul Broun Jr. defeated the Republican State Senator Robert Whitehead for the seat formerly held for Rep. Charlie Norwood. Since no Democrat finished in the top two in the September primary, this seat was a given for the Republicans. So who cares? What is the big deal?

Dr. Broun was way behind in the polls. He had very little money. Somehow, he put together a coalition of liberal Democrats and unhappy Republicans and beat his opponent by 1% of the votes cast.

In his campaign, he promised that before voting he would apply this four way test:

"Is it constitutional and a proper function of government? Is it morally correct? Is it something we really need? Is it something we can afford? He has said that, like libertarian congressman and fellow physician Ron Paul of Texas, he will always carry a pocket copy of the Constitution with him and consult it before voting. In an effort to limit pork-barrel "earmark" projects, he says he will even apply that standard to requests for federal funds made by local officials in his district."

Early last week, I visited the Tip O'Neill building in Boston. I looked up to the second floor and there was an endless line of patient people. My question: What are they giving away to warrant such a long line? The person beside me chuckled and said, "That's the passport line. We see it all the time here."

Now comes the rest of the story. Assistant Secretary of State, Maura Harty is accepting blame.

The ever protective Bush administration decided to fight terrorism by requiring that we, non-terrorist Americans, get passports to travel anywhere outside of the U.S. Somehow, as I go through more checking and inspecting, I begin to think that Osama bin Laden has gotten his wish that more Americans have to endure pain-in-the-butt inspections in more and more places.

Regardless of that gripe, our government was not prepared for the more than two million citizens who were waiting for passports this summer. Many called their congressperson, and it seems that the Department of Homeland Security didn't hire enough people. Just another miscalculation. But at least the government was able to push somebody out to the firing line to say to those whose lives have been loused up ... "Sorry, we screwed up."

The most recent Rasmussen Poll gives Fred Thompson a solid lead over Rudy Giuliani. Fred is receiving support from 26% of the voters and Rudy's support has dropped to 21%. For Rudy, it was nice while it lasted. Even for the believers, it must have been hard to imagine that a conservative party could ever nominate somebody as liberal as Rudy.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the pack, John McCain still was able to achieve double digit success. He dropped to a new low of 10%. It's over John.

According to the latest Rasmussen Poll, it is a horse race between Fred Thompson (24%) and Rudy Giuliani (23%). However, unlike the Democratic race, it seems like the two candidates at the top in July, may not be the Republican nominee when the convention votes are finally casts.

Photos: Rudy Giuliani on the Trail

On June 19th, Thompson was receiving 28% of the support of likely voters. Each of the succeeding weeks saw some slippage: 27%, 27%, 25% and now 24%. It seems that Fred's support is not growing as people get to know him.

On May 1, Giuliani was at 30% and his support has slowing slipped away. For the last four weeks, he has polled either 24% or 23%.

Photos: Fred Thompson Moves Toward a Run

Romney and McCain are tied for third with 12%. However, it seems that John McCain is dropping and Mitt Romney is waiting for an event that will pull him to the top.

If I were Newt Gingrich and I saw these polls, I would be convinced that Republican voters haven't found the candidate that they want to represent them in the battle against Hillary Clinton. What do you think?