Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

This is the first full week in DC without Congress. Members of the House and many Senators are all back home campaigning. We’re into the final stretch of the 2010 campaign. Although, it does seem like the campaigning never stopped from '08.

The Vice President is on the trail today in Ohio, campaigning for Governor Ted Strickland. After being behind in the polls for the past few months, Stickland has momentum against former Lehman Brothers Exec./Ex-GOP congressman John Kasich. The last couple (non-Rasmussen) polls show Strickland has closed the gap. That Ohioans would even entertain the idea of electing a Wall Street guy as Governor is disconcerting.

The President is spending his day in DC. The big meeting on the agenda is with his Economic Recovery Advisory Board. (Last week, people were raving about his speech to Gen44. Um, haven’t we gotten past the point where a speech assuages us?)

I spent the weekend in Maine. Yesterday, I ran the Maine Marathon with my friend/running partner, Courtney. It was our seventh marathon together. And, we did our best time in years: 4:17:09. That’s 23 minutes faster than last year’s Marine Corps Marathon. I have to give a shout out to the organizers for doing such a terrific job organizing the race. Nice work. The route was well-staffed and the course was just spectacular.

I got caught up on Maine politics while I was home. Democrat Libby Mitchell has moved into a slight lead against Teabagger/GOPer Paul LePage in the Governor’s race. LePage is a real piece of work – and defines the term “loose cannon.” It seems like every week, he lobs some, new bizarre attack. Plus, he’s a tax cheat. The guy must send shivers down the spines of Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. He’s the face of their Republican Party in Maine.