Spoilers from the inside: My fear with the Democratic primaries is this: Kerry, Dean, Sharpton, and perhaps even Edwards are all a tad left of center, while Kucinich is honorably far left; the continued candidacy of each of these guys may factionalize progressive voters, splitting the vote four or five ways and leaving more centrist voters with only one candidate to flock to--Lieberman. Pro-free trade, pro-Israel, unabashed hawk Joe Lieberman is a better choice to lead the country than Bush, for sure, but barely. (Eric Alterman writes that "Joe Lieberman is currently more likely to get the Republican nomination than the Democratic one.") So, while I think all these men would be an immense improvement over W, it's fast becoming time for them to respectfully bow out. As Paul Krugman writes this morning in "Who's Nader Now?", "Most Democrats feel, with justification, that we're facing a national crisis — that the right, ruthlessly exploiting 9/11, is making a grab for total political dominance. The party's rank and file want a candidate who is running, as the Dean slogan puts it, to take our country back. This is no time for a candidate who is running just because he thinks he deserves to be president."  

Also: Will Nader run as an independent?

Progressive pinups? Why make a politically incorrect Babes Against Bush Regime Change Countdown Calendar? "Because hot chicks hate him too."