Boehner spokesguy Kevin Madden remains unconvinced: "The prospective list of Democrat leadership and committee chairmen reads like a 'Who's Who' of Democrat hysteria. As much as Nancy Pelosi thinks she can sweep that mess under the rug right now, there is no way she can hide the fact that these folks and their ideas are just way out there. The idea of Charlie Rangel directing tax policy in this country will keep our base awake at night, and it's sure to keep a lot of moderate Democrats from pulling that lever in November as well."

One day after Carlos Gutierrez issued a pledge on behalf of the Bush Administration to "discourage third parties from obstructing the will of the Cuban people," the Secretary of Commerce is slated to discuss economic issues in the Western Hemisphere with the Miami Herald

"Dems in full retreat," New York Daily News' Michael Goodwin opines that the Democrats' new position on Iraq is wrong: "While there's never a good time for weak knees, now is about the worst." LINK

"Clinton headlines Angelides fundraiser," the AP on Bill Clinton never mentioning Gov. Schwarzenegger in his speech while saying that Republican policies have left middle-class Americans "struggling to pay for health care and education while wages have grown stagnant."

"Clinton headlines Angelides fundraiser," the AP on Bill Clinton never mentioning Gov. Schwarzenegger in his speech while saying that Republican policies have left middle-class Americans "struggling to pay for health care and education while wages have grown stagnant."

A COMPLETE RENAISSANCE"....Tony Blair spoke in Los Angeles today. The Guardian reports:

Tony Blair called for a fundamental reappraisal of British and US foreign policy yesterday, admitting that excessive emphasis on military power and failure to address the Palestinian issue had left the west losing the battle for hearts and minds in the Middle East.

In a speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles, the prime minister admitted "we are far from persuading those we need to persuade" that western values were even-handed, fair and just in their application. He said there was no point disguising the damage being done to the cause of peace in the Middle East by the war on the Lebanese border, but suggested that when the war finally ended "we must commit ourselves to a complete renaissance of our strategy to defeat those that threaten us".

I don't know if he really means it, and if he does mean it I don't know if he has any chance of getting anyone in the Bush administration to pay any attention to him. But at least he seems to be saying the right things. It's not much, but I'll take it.