You Can Dress Them Up...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/041121/481/edb11411211850 

...but this look might best be left back at the ranch.

Pro-Choice Senator Must Back Bush -Senate Leader

Pro-Choice Senator Must Back Bush -Senate Leader: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican senator who has questioned whether an abortion opponent could win approval to the U.S. Supreme Court must agree to back President Bush's nominees if he is to head the committee acting on those nominations, the Senate's Republican leader said."

Partisan politics aside, how is a chair who will automatically back a president's nominee in any way superior to one who will automatically oppose an anti-choice nominee?

Bush Paints Rosy Picture of Iraq Situation

Bush Paints Rosy Picture of Iraq Situation : "WASHINGTON - President Bush painted a rosy picture of the situation in Iraq, claiming significant progress Saturday in the U.S. military's battle in an insurgent stronghold."

That what's news is not how well things are going in Iraq, but rather, how well the President is trying to make them appear, does not paint such a rosy picture.

Mandate?

Bush Claims Mandate for War, Tax Agenda : "WASHINGTON - President Bush claimed a re-election mandate Wednesday after a record 59 million Americans chose him over Democrat John Kerry"

As it stands at this moment, Bush has 59,096,083 votes (51.4%) to Kerry's 55,532,210 (48.3%). Nader has 391,018 (0.3%).

So Bush's margin is 3.1%, which is hardly remarkable, let alone anything approaching a "mandate". In the 34 Presidential elections from 1872 to the present (the period for which popular-vote data are available), there have been only eight closer contests. The average margin of victory has been 9.9%.

The 59 million votes for Bush is indeed a record, but this is, as much as anything, a reflection on the size of the overall turnout. Bush is probably not talking about the fact that Kerry's 55 million votes sets a record for most votes for a non-winner. Further underscoring the size of overall turnout, Kerry's 55 million 2nd-place votes are more than any past winner has received.

source of all past election data: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781450.html