PUBLIC MARKS from itsatrap with tags republicans & "2008 election"

That's the question on everyone's lips since the porcine political player announced he would be stepping down at the end of August. Of course, the excuse that he wants to spend more time with his family is horse puckey and we all know it--so what's really going on? Is he trying to give Bush political cover if he gets ensnared in one of the many investigations that keep leading back to...

Deliciously cynical ad from "Embrace Diversity '08."

So Bob Novak snidely suggests in his latest political report. Talking about upcoming US Senate races, Novak has this to say about Louisiana, which he feels is the GOP's "best pickup opportunity" in 2008...

Sometimes it's hard to tell, when our old buddy Bob Novak scuttlebutts, whether he's been interacting with actual people or talking to his fist like Señor Wences. And then, if there's good reason to believe he's not winging it on his own, you have to figure out if he's sharing legitimate insider analyses or just passing on Karl Rove's latest crateful of fat red herring to hapless readers. That's what makes him fun to peruse. If we got no-bullshit Bob in his latest political newsletter, then Republicans are in for an even more miserable 2008...

Bob Novak writes in his take on the recent Dem/GOP debates that Sen. Hillary Clinton, whom Novak accidentally identifies as a Republican, "is slow-walking her way toward the nomination, which is often a path leading to defeat." Why defeat? Because Novak reveals that...

A few days ago I mentioned how Bob Novak was hyping Fred Thompson as the hottest candidate in the race for the GOP nomination, and with just cause: Karl Rove has been sticking his electoral feelers out via one of his monkeyboys, and as everyone knows, Karl's sweaty touch is golden. He's also got his fingers in the Giuliani campaign, but methinks with all of Rudy's dirt and skeletons, he'll be relegated to the VP slot on a ticket headed by Reagan-Bot Thompson...

Nattering nabob Robert Novak says in his latest Evans-Novak Political Report that ex-Sen. Fred Thompson is "a strong Republican presidential prospect because of the weaknesses of the GOP's 'big three.'" Bob can rattle off all the distracting nonsense he wants, but he knows the real reasons that Fred Thompson will surely be the Republican nominee are two...

None of 2008's crop of Republican presidential candidates bothered to show up for the late Rev. Jerry Falwell's funeral. Were the notable absences due to busy schedules or is it a further indication of the faltering political significance of the religious right? Or were the GOP fatcats anticipating spectacular violence? This just in from ABC News...