Dear Alabama: You Have Two Years To Elect Charles Barkley To Congress

Who knows how credible it could possibly be, but who cares? Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) was interviewed in a Birmingham newspaper about who might succeed him if he were to follow through on his notion to run for governor, and he floated the name of Charles Barkley, commenting, “I know he’s someone who has a real interest in the state, in wanting to see it move forward.” And even if Barkley didn’t have a real interest in the state, he would make a fantastic candidate; any one of these Barkley audio clips could be used against him in a most entertaining fashion.

The Colbert Bump: It’s Real!

Lord knows Stephen Colbert’s legions of fans ascribe to him a tremendous amount of political influence — but those are just crazy-ass fans, right? Well, yes: but it turns out they’re actually right. Wonkette reports today that, per the American Political Science Association, when Democratic politicians appear on The Colbert Report, they experience a 40% increase in donations in the month that follows. And why not? The man is delightful.

Chance Of A Two-Peat: Slim

Speaking of men whose poor choices ended up dooming their political careers forever: back to John Edwards. Gawker reminds us that the now-disgraced philanderer was named “Father Of The Year” in 2007 by some group or other. Related audio from his acceptance speech went up last week, but CNN went through the full clip and excised the most ironic and damning moments. See, this is why it never pays to be a hypocrite.

Thanks A Lot, John Edwards

Your reckless affair is the reason I had to get a smart-assed email from my dad this weekend asking if I didn’t support you back during the primary. And that comes from a guy who’s living someplace that might go back to martial law any day now!

John’s Hard Lemonade

Hindsight is 20/20, and no doubt John Kerry has had many sleepless nights wondering where it all went wrong for his presidential campaign in 2004. But do you think maybe he would be running for re-election now if we associated him less with soundbites like this and more with photos like the one at right? Because TMZ has some.