8 for ’08: A Quiet (and Sad) Week

After the major fundraising shake-ups in the presidential race, this week was a bit quieter—and certainly overshadowed by the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Journalists not in Blacksburg sifted through the lengthy FEC reports and with Congress back in session many of the candidates returned to their day jobs in Washington.

Thus, in keeping with our policy not to write when there’s nothing to say, we’re going to point out a few minor developments to note and let you get on your way to the White House correspondents dinner weekend festivities:

1) Joe Trippi, the internet genius and ill-fated manager behind the rise and fall of Howard Dean in 2004, joined up with John Edwards’ campaign.

2) John McCain had an odd moment this week when, in answer to a question about Iran, he hummed “Bomb bomb bomb Iran” to the tune of the Beach Boys' “Barbara Ann.” It was surely in jest—or was it?

3) The Supreme Court ruling on partial-birth abortion showed just how muddled the Republican field is on the issue of choice. Whether supposed front-runners Rudy Guiliani and Mitt Romney can overcome their pro-choice legacies on this issue is still an open question.

4) Every day seems to bring new signs that Fred Thompson is moving towards a presidential run. This would be great news for the many frustrated activists who don’t see a strong Republican leader in the field.

Stay tuned for next week, where we already know onetime-frontrunner John McCain will declare he's "officially" running for President….

Garrett M. Graff