Mike Pence is challenging John Boehner for minority leader in the House. The election is Friday, which is too soon. Previously I've talked about this but haven't come down on one side or the other. I've decided now.

Pence has to be viewed as the underdog, but there is a lot of unrest in the GOP party ranks over the leadership's handling of this election. In 1998, after a very disappointing result, Newt Gingrich resigned. A lot of people are saying that the current leadership should do the same.

Hastert has resigned which is good, but it's not going to be enough for the rank and file. Remember that back in January there were House leadership elections and at that point Shadegg was challenging Roy Blunt for for the Majority leader spot. Blunt went down, but Boehner stepped in as a compromise candidate between the two wings of the party.

Recent calls for reinstating the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" has prompted members of Congress, talk radio and blogosphere to take action. This morning, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., spoke to bloggers about recent efforts by congressional Democrats to reinstate the policy.

"I think it's a very serious threat," he told the group of roughly a dozen bloggers. Pence came direct from the floor of the House, after introducing a bill, called The Broadcaster Freedom Act, which "will prevent the FCC or any future President from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine."

"This legislation ensures true freedom and fairness will remain on our radio airwaves, and I would encourage my colleagues to cosponsor and support this bill."

Calls for reinstating the Fairness Doctrine have been repeated by several prominent Democrats. Sen. John Kerry recently appeared on WNYC with Brian Lehrer, stating, "I think the Fairness Doctrine ought to be there and I also think equal time doctrine ought to come back." Watch the video of Kerry's interview.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois has recently said "It's time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine [...] I have this old-fashioned attitude that when Americans hear both sides of the story, they're in a better position to make a decision."

Pence believes Democrats are thinking about how to move their liberal agenda more effectively, and that the Fairness Doctrine to cut their critics in half, or taking their main critics off the air. Even if the Fairness Doctrine was defeated, there's nothing to stop a Democratic president in the future with Democrat appointments to the FCC and a Democratic Congress from reinstating it in the future. "If people in power think they can manage criticism they will do it," Pence told the group of bloggers.

While it's assured that the Democrats will be sticking with Nancy Pelosi, the GOP has already lost their leader in Dennis Hastert. Of course earlier they lost DeLay as well.

Choices for Minority Leader:

John Boehner has been in the House since 1990, was a member of an early band of reformists along with Newt Gingrich. These guys literally brought down the House with the check-kiting scandal. Fun was had for all. John Boehner is a great guy and a good leader. But he's lost a lot of his early fire and I don't sense that coming back. It certainly didn't this year. Plus, I think we're going to need him back in Ohio to help rebuild the Ohio GOP.

Mike Pence is a conservative's conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan. This article mentions him as something of a bomb thrower. I like that. I would be ecstatic if he starts to champion conservative causes. Heck, I'd be ecstatic if anyone did.

One thing I am sure of: It's too soon. Like Hugh Hewitt, I believe that the GOP needs to stop and think for a period of soul searching and getting in touch with their base. Newt was on Sean Hannity yesterday and he also spoke of this. Newt's belief was that who leads is not as important as to what the goal is.

Scheduling the leadership elections so early guarantee that the house GOP will get a new leader before it even settles on what needs to be done. That's bad.

It's official, no new faces on the GOP side of the House:

Boehner defeated Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana in a closed-door election among colleagues. The Ohio winner was expected to speak after elections for other leadership positions concluded. The vote tally was 168-27 with one vote for Texas Rep. Joe Barton.

...

Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., won minority whip for the No. 2 GOP post when Republicans become the minority party in January. Blunt is currently the No. 3 House Republican, and he was favored to defeat Arizona conservative Rep. John Shadegg despite sentiment for fresh leadership faces. The vote tally was 137-57.

I'm depressed. The GOP needed to signal new faces, a fresh start and a return to the conservative ideals that won them the majority in the first place. This isn't that signal. More after the jump:

The Fairness Doctrine is history. The House voted to kill the most brazen attempt to curb free speech:

The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from using taxpayer dollars to impose the Fairness Doctrine on broadcasters who feature conservative radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

By a vote of 309-115, lawmakers amended the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill to bar the FCC from requiring broadcasters to balance conservative content with liberal programming such as Air America.

And rightly so. The Fairness Doctrine was created to make things unfair. If liberal radio can't survive in a fair market, it shouldn't be on the airwaves.

Liberals hate the free market -- except when they win. So what if Michael Moore or Al Gore stretch the truth when they speak, that's all good. But if Rush Limbaugh speaks a truth libs hate, well, that just isn't too cool. In the realm of talk radio, they get destroyed on a daily basis. Every attempt is stopped because, frankly, their ideas don't appeal to a wide audience. Name one talker who is liberal who gets even a fraction of the ratings of Rush or Hannity. You can't do it as they articulate not only what America could be but what America should be.

This is a serious victory for free speech and coupled with the defeat of the immigration bill... well, it just doesn't get any better.

Bob Novak has an interesting article about what might happen with the Supreme Court over the next two years. There are persistent rumors that Stevens may be retiring. A consistent liberal, Stevens' retirement would be a clear case of shifting the Supreme Court one notch to the right. Novak points out that Harry Reid pointed out in 2005 that there were three sitting senators that Bush could nominate that would be easy to pass the senate:

"We have had approximately 10 members of the Supreme Court that come from the United States Senate over the years," Reid said in June 2005. "There are people who serve in the Senate now, who are Republicans, who I think would be outstanding Supreme Court members." Reid named three Republican senators: Mike DeWine (Ohio), Mel Martinez (Fla.) and Mike Crapo (Idaho). A South Carolina newspaper reported that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also received his imprimatur.

Of course that was in the situation of replacing Rehnquist. Replacing a sitting liberal, I don't think Reid would be nearly so generous, especially with a one seat majority. Still electing a sitting senator is a good strategy.

No, not that one, the other one.

You know the governor...

From Arkansas...

Mike Huckabee!

He has more in common than just Hope though, from Wikipedia:

*both are from Hope, Arkansas.

*both have chaired the National Governors Association (considered a stepping-stone for governors with Presidential aspirations; Clinton and Huckabee are the only two Arkansas governors to serve as chairmen of the NGA).

*both are Southern Baptists (though the two differ widely in their personal views on major issues).

*both are musically inclined (Clinton plays the saxophone, Huckabee plays the bass guitar).

*both are past boys' state members.

Yesterday, recently re-elected Durham, NC District Attorney Mike Nifong dropped the rape charges against three Duke University Lacrosse players. The players were accused of the rape of a stripper who was paid to perform at a party. Several other charges remain, although for what reason is not known.

In the initial days after the charges were brought, the media in America tried and convicted the players and the bulk of Americans agreed. Then things started to fall apart. DNA samples showed that although the accuser had sex that night with several men (five is the general number given), none was the players. A complete run-down of the case is here.

Why bring this up on a political blog, you may ask, simply because the District Attorney used this case to win re-election and thus it was not only a racial case since the accuser is black and the players are white, it became highly political.

My fellow Ohio Blogger Brain Shavings alerted me to this last evening. I was not aware that Mike Huckabee along with Senator Sam Brownback joined up with Lance Armstrong and his "War on Cancer".

Huckabee committed to sign a nationwide smoking ban in public places, should such a measure win approval in Congress. Brownback said he would let anti-smoking efforts continue under the authority of states and local communities.

I don't and have never smoked, but I think that Brownback has a much better stand on principle here. While Mike Huckabee seems to be an earnest believer in the power of government to fix things. The federal government does not have the freedom to pass any law that is in the public good without violating the tenth amendment.

If individual states want to ban smoking anytime and anywhere, that's probably OK, but the federal government should not do so. Mike Huckabee may call himself a conservative, but making decisions on behalf of people for their own good is not a conservative principle, and doing so at the fed level just doubles the problem.

I still think Huckabee has a good chance of breaking out of the second tier, and especially of overtaking John McCain, but he will need the energy of conservatives to push him there, and this is not the way to get it.

So the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Ted Haggard -- an outspoken opponent of gay marriage -- has given up his post while a church panel investigates allegations he paid a man for sex.

Haggard denied Mike Jones' charges and said he had "never had a gay relationship with anybody, and I'm steady with my wife, I'm faithful to my wife."

But wait, oh, oh, oh, pleease wait. This shite just gets better: Then Haggard says "I did buy meth ONCE but I threw it away." And that he had a "massage." But, no, I never had sex with THAT MAN. I mean Mike Jones...uh...

Out of fifty, only seven governors have so far made endorsements. This is not surprising considering how early in the process this all is. I was surprised to learn that Richardson is the only sitting governor so far. Huckabee and Romney are former governors.

According to this article:

• McCain: Mitch Daniels of Indiana, John Huntsman of Utah, and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota.
• Romney: Matt Blunt of Missouri
• Huckabee: Mike Rounds of South Dakota
• Obama: Rod Blagojevich of Illinois and Tim Kaine of Virginia

Mike DeWine, fresh from a humiliating defeat after twelve years in the senate is back on the trail, this time for John McCain:

"I have known John McCain for almost 25 years. We both were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982. I worked closely with him during our years together in the House and during my 12 years in the U.S. Senate. No one is more qualified to be our next President. While our Party is truly fortunate to have such a strong field of qualified candidates, I believe that John McCain has what it takes - the experience, knowledge, and foresight - to lead our Nation. He is decisive. He has guts. And, he leaves no room for ambiguity or uncertainty in his reasoned policy decisions.

"I don't agree with John McCain on every issue. But, I do know that when we elect a President, we elect the Commander-in-Chief. We elect someone who is going to be making life and death decisions every single day. There is only one person I want making those decisions - and that person is John McCain.

"The fact is that the future and security of this country hinges on next year's election. The Presidency requires a person of sound judgment, with an extraordinary grasp of foreign and military affairs - someone who can navigate our country through very dangerous and unchartered waters. Again, that person is John McCain.

Reaction from the Ohio Republican blogosphere was swift, fierce, and for those familiar with the situation, completely unsurprising.

In today's "Fix", Chris Cillizza lays out some early thoughts on the upcoming 2008 Senate races, all seriously subject to change and dependent upon a lot of things happening or not happening. In no particular order:

Colorado - Senator Wayne Allard's (R) announcement that he is not running for re-election in '08, in accordance with his earlier pledge, opens the door for a Democratic gain. Beating an incumbent is always more difficult. Potential democratic candidates include Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Rep. Mark Udall. Former Rep. Scott McInnis (fiscal conservative) and former Rep. Bob Schaffer (social conservative) are possibilities on the Republican side.

Louisiana - Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) is already running hard -- she hasn't gotten more than 52% of the vote in either of her races. No Republicans on the scene yet. However, given President Bush's 57% showing in 2004 and the massive demographic shifts following Hurricane Katrina, is a good bet that they will come up with someone.

Maine - Sen Susan Collins (R) will surely be attacked for her Bush ties, even though she is trying to position herself as firmly opposing more troops in Iraq. Rep. Tom Allen is the assumed Democratic nominee, but may decide to stay in the House majority.

Minnesota - This should be a fun one, with Al Franken (D) possible going up against incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R). Democrats might put up Mike Ciresi against Franken in the primary -- a wealthy trial lawyer with deep pockets to buy name recognition. I've seen Al Franken a couple of times and he is extremely knowledgeable underneath the humor. Minnesota has been unpredictable in the past.

No. Really. It's a contact sport.

Pat DeWine was having dinner at the restaurant. Seated at the table next to DeWine and his dinner companion were two men DeWine vaguely recognized but didn't know.

One of those men started running his mouth -- loudly -- about Sherrod Brown unseating Mike DeWine.

"He was purposefully saying some insulting and personal comments about my father," DeWine said today.

"I certainly lost my temper, but I didn't punch anybody."

Pat DeWine is ex-senator Mike DeWine's son and one of the commissioners of Hamilton County Ohio (Cincinnati). And if you follow the link, several witnesses indicate that the altercation was physical. But really, all around lack of class on everyone's part here. A guy should be able to have a meal without being heckled, and what the heck did Pat think was going to happen in a confrontation? That he was going to defend his dad's honor and not have it get in the papers?

Patrick Casey covered this very well earlier here, but I want to interject some further thoughts. Patrick notes that North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper actually said that the students were "innocent." He also noted that this was career death for Mike Nifong. It also clearly sets up the the Durham DA's office for a huge lawsuit.

Let's review a bit about this case. District Attorney Mike Nifong was in an election year and he saw in this case a great opportunity to bolster his bona fide's. A racial case that would help him secure the minority vote that would make him appealing in the eyes of the community. He pursued it with a vigor most Conservatives wish the president would pursue illegal immigration. He convinced the media -- who in turn told the public-- that these white, rich lacrosse players were guilty of raping a black woman. He played on what he thought was the inherent racism in America as a whole and the South in particular. He made it clear that this was an open and shut case and that he had evidence the players were guilty. He then withheld information that would have exonerated the players and failed to meet with the accuser.