More Indications

North Carolina: Poll numbers! Right now, Liddy Dole, the incumbent Senator, the two-time Cabinet Secretary, the former Presidential candidate, the wife of a former Presidential nominee, only leads Congressman Brad Miller by a 44-33 margin, with 22% unsure. Blue South and MyDD offer specific breakdowns. Despite "a massive gap in name recognition" and before he even enters the race, Miller would only start with an 11-point deficit. And, yet again, Dole clocks in at significantly under 50% support. In fact, the poll puts Dole's approve-disapprove at 43-40. That is undeniably terrible. The race would hardly be a lock, but it would certainly be winnable and would likely become a first-tier race once Rep. Miller started increasing his name ID statewide. Lots to look forward to.

Virginia: MyDD picks up on another signal that John Warner might be calling it quits: his fundraising numbers seem to indicate that he only raised $500 in Q1. That's it. If this is accurate, surely the Virginia press will pick up on it in the coming days and ask the obvious questions. Stay tuned.

Idaho: GOP Lt. Gov. Jim Risch might be trying to strong-arm Larry Craig into retirement. mcjoan at DKos and Serephin at 43rd State Blues looks at Risch's recent comments. mcjoan concludes that "we could be seeing the beginnings of a war within the Idaho GOP establishment" while Serephin notes that Risch wouldn't be campaigning this time around while enjoying the trappings of the Governor's office.

In case anyone else is bothered by this, it appears that the staff of the Executive Office of the President may have violated White House policy a grand total of roughly five million times between March '03 and October '05. Yes, five million. White House spokesman Scott Stanzel writes off this historically egregious breach as inbox clutter. I suppose I can understand, then, why taxpayer-funded White House employees would need RNC-provided laptops. Seriously, lots and lots and lots of people who work in the White House must get fired over this. In the words of Lee Iacocca, "Where the hell is our outrage?"