The Democrats have had trouble generating enthusiasm for their (too) many candidate debates and forums. But there will be a huge crowd outside the one scheduled for tonight in Detroit. That's because the debate, hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus, is to be held at 8 p.m. at the Fox Theater, next door to the State Theater, where the Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies will be giving a concert starting at 7:30 p.m. as part of their "Peepshow Tour."
The Ladies, actually five men, have something in common with the pols next door; their latest album is called "Everything to Everyone," and their concerts include time for band members to take questions from the audience. For the Democrats, the question is which tune wafting from next door will come to represent the night. Will it be "What A Good Boy"? Or, less happily, "Too Little Too Late"? As they face Bush's $70 million war chest, all the Democrats will be humming "If I Had $1,000,000."
A Republican in Democratic Field?
Maybe there will be a Republican primary fight, after all. President Bush, officially, remains unopposed as he seeks the GOP presidential nomination. But what about Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman?
On Wednesday, the Democratic candidate sided with the Bush administration -- and against Democratic Senate leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) -- in a key Senate vote over Republican efforts to restrict class action lawsuits. Lieberman's vote was a thumb in the eye of the trial lawyers, among the Democrats' most loyal sources of funds.
That same day, Lieberman told an Associated Press editorial board that he supported Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's decision, hailed by religious conservatives, to reinstate the feeding tube of a 39-year-old woman who has been in a vegetative state for 13 years.
Finally, on Friday, Lieberman announced the first member of a would-be Lieberman administration -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). "I'd ask John McCain to be my secretary of defense," Lieberman said on Don Imus's show. "I have total trust in him. He's strong, he's independent and he's a hero." He's also flattered, but not interested, a McCain spokesman said.
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