For someone who spent several years living 5 miles from the White House, I am usually shamefully uninvolved in and unaware of national politics, except on the broadest level. This might prove useful for folks like me: The Washington Post has created an animated grid allowing you to compare the Democratic candidates for president.

On the literary blog front, Michael BÈrubÈ has endorsed offers an ironic endorsement of Lieberman , but and Geoffrey Schramm, who calls Lieberman a “Republicrat”, writes (scroll down)

I’m just hoping that once a clear contender emerges from the hog pile everyone will come together. Let’s face it–this election is about getting Bush out of the White House. And those feckless Naderites who whined that there was little difference between Bush and Gore should be forced to go door-to-door and apologize to the American people and then plead on their hands and knees that everyone vote for the democratic candidate.

Frankly, I agree with Geoffrey. Assuming Shrub is voted out of office, the next four-year presidential cycle will have to be devoted to repairing all the damage he’s done domestically and internationally. Just for starters, we’ve gone from a budget surplus to an enormous debt that promises to keep growing with the next several years of expenditures in Iraq and in space, and our standing internationally has plummeted at an alarming rate.

And I would personally contribute to a campaign that sent postcards to Nader supporters with the slogan, “Can you tell the difference now, sh*thead?” I’m all for a third (and fourth and fifth) political party in this country, but it seems to me that until you’ve built a strong local political base and put some congressmen and -women and senators in office, it’s irresponsible to throw your vote behind a third-party presidential candidate who, if elected, would have no natural allies in the legislative branch.

Finally, if you’re not reading Andy Cline’s blog, Rhetorica: Press-Politics Journal, you should be.