I wonder...

if Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama do both lose, how will they respond?

Will they return to the Senate and put their energies into fighting like hell for what they can accomplish in their senatorial roles, working to re-establish the legitimate power and reputation of that body?

It's like a hockey game with no real checking out there, right now, politics is. What fun is that? And unlike the women's game, we're not seeing any compensating with excellent passing, precision, and teamwork either.

Reason the polls are almost down to single digits approval ratings (are we there yet?) is the public perception, quite right in many instances, that all Congressmen are necessarily bought and paid for because of the difficulties of running floating an independent ship these days.

Hmm... maybe we need more independent-minded, rich folks in politics. (And no. Never thought I'd be saying that either. Desperate times, desperate measures and all that.) And it wouldn't hurt if those newcomers could immediately lace up and start throwing some efficient body blocks either. Just no hard checking from behind, please. Those penalties really can kill you, and every now and then can cripple your opponent too. Play fair, but play hard. Every minute you're on the ice.

If I were more a quitter, maybe I'd just consider investing in a cable plan with a good hockey package here. Tune in, turn off to the unpleasant "saddening" and all that. Won't happen here though -- we'll be watching to the bitter end, eyes wide open, you can count on that.