The Meatheads in the Other Big, White Building: I got my first solicitation today from John Thune, who is running to oust minority leader Tom Daschle from Daschle's South Dakota Senate seat. It made me chuckle, for a couple of reasons: First, I couldn't live much farther from this race, so the appeal came hard-wired to lots of conservative code, like mentions of Hillary, Ted Kennedy, big labor, the trial lawyers, etc.

Second, it arrived in the mail right next to my second appeal from John Kerry, also written primarily in code. The main part of the pitch seemed to be that Kerry needed money to "get his messsage out." Looking more closely at the letter, though, his message seemed to be that he was "getting his message out." Jesus, it's like a Seinfeld candidacy.

Third, it made me sort of nostalgic for the time when Daschle was relevant to the political discussion. The fact that some pipsqueak representative can threaten the Democrats' top legislative dog says it all.

Finally, it set me to thinking: Where would I send my money to help kick out an incumbent who does not represent me? Would I send money to Thune? No. A few years ago, maybe; it is perhaps Dubya's greatest policy accomplishment to have so effectively stymied Daschle's very effective low-key partisanship. These days, politicians I'd pay money to see thrown out of office (or led away in irons) include, in no particular order: Chris Dodd, Tom DeLay, Fritz Hollings, Frank Lautenberg, Henry Waxman, Arlen Specter, Richie Neal, and the now-officially-toast John Rowland.