Fred Thompson, Alan Keyes and Duncan Hunter’s names will not be removed from the Republican primary ballot in New York City, despite an effort by some Board of Elections commissioners in Albany on Friday, and despite the fact that the county boards may take them off.

As I reported then, the state Republican Board of Elections commissioners voted to remove those three candidates, but Democratic commissioners did not vote. When the city Board of Elections voted, they were split evenly along party lines. At the time, there was some question as to what would happen to the city ballots, or if the vote was even valid.

“Ballots are going out as is,” said city Board of Elections spokeswoman Valerie Vasquez. “According to Commissioner Kellner [co-chair of the state Board of Elections], they never met, so that in and of itself would make the action invalid."  read more »

With 2008 not looking so good for the party nominee, it’s worth asking which of the many Republican candidates might live to run again in 2012.  read more »

Thank God for the Ames Republican Presidential Straw Poll.

It’s probably not the healthiest expression of democracy – the right to vote costs 25 bucks, with campaigns typically gobbling up chunks of tickets and handing them out to participants who might not be anywhere near Iowa come next January’s caucuses – but it sure gets the job done. After the last competitive straw poll, in the summer of 1999, three candidates were forced from the race, reducing an unruly G.O.P. field to a more manageable size.  read more »

One Jersey mayor has an interesting strategy for closing his revenue gap.

Welcome to the day after Christmas, the only day of the year you're likely to read a feature about Dennis Kucinich and Duncan Hunter's presidential campaigns.

James Brown is dead.

C'mon folks--there must be more than this going on today! Please keep me posted.