Dept. of Faint Praise: Bush Has "Characteristics"

Last night George W. Bush was no Ronald Reagan at the Republican presidential candidate's debate on CNN — on the contrary, his name was pretty radioactive. The ultimate diss, though, came from former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (the other white meat to non-candidate candidate Fred Thompson), when asked how he would use the former president if he were elected (a far, far more interesting question than how Dems would use the eminently-usable Clinton). Thompson's response? "George W. Bush has tremendous characteristics" (i.e. "He breathes, he eats, he authorizes signing statements..."). Then he basically suggested that the president be put out to pasture: "I would put him out on a lecture series, talking to the youth of America about honesty, integrity, perseverance, passion, and serving the public." A new generation of chickenhawks await!

In other debate observations, John McCain gets the Joe Biden award for genuine display of emotion (he really does seem to be the only guy up there who really actually feels this stuff) and Mitt Romney got the honorary liberal-college-elite Dem award for his use of the phrase "null set." Well, he is from Massachusetts.