A few thoughts, lame-brained yet spoken with delusionally convincing authority, from the political world.

• Two questions floating around with reckless abandon: Is the country ready for a woman president? Is the country ready for a black president? My answer to both: yes. However…is Hillary that woman? Probably not. Is Obama that black? I think the country could elect him. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Alan Keyes were most definitely not the black that the country was ready for, but Obama could be.
• Morning Joe has become my favorite, uh, news show. Unfortunately, I can only catch about 45 minutes of it, and then only if I’m willing to sacrifice the extra sleep. Love Mika and Willy. Reporter David Shuster, a regular, is hilarious.
• In fact, MSNBC now dominates my news-watching. I like Hardball, when there’s not too much yelling. I like Keith Olberman, the anti-O’Reilly. Tucker is interesting. Abrams not so much. MSNBC’s big strength is the ability to draw star-power from the NBC stable–Brokaw, Russert, David Gregory, Brian Williams.
• Keith Olberman is an acquired taste. He is unabashed in his disdain for the Bush administration, which is okay with me. He’s also an incredible wordsmith, the most literate of the TV commentators. And he is wickedly funny, delivering much of the show with a sly twinkle. But I totally understand if you can’t stomach Olberman.
• Who will be the nominees? I suspect Obama for the Democrats. Once Edwards drops out, the majority of his votes will probably swing to Obama, rather than Hillary. Maybe not. The question is: will Edwards drop out soon enough for it to matter? On the Republican side, I’m hoping for McCain, but Romney or Guiliani could be that person. Maybe even Huckabee.
• I thought Hillary did fine on Meet the Press this Sunday. I was impressed with her answers, for the most part. She’s definitely a policy wonk–knows her stuff.