Right reviewing nominations...So is the left...and some local news.

Good Morning!

Well, you can tell it's heading for election season. Bush's "base" is starting to trot out the wingnuts for review. Of course, they get endless mileage from bashing Massachusetts. Here's the odious Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR). Quite a difference from the last president from Arkansas.

WASHINGTON -- Most Americans know one thing about Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, if they know anything: He lost more than 100 pounds in a year, a triumph touted in a weight-loss book he has hawked around the country.

But evangelical conservative activists know one or two other things that make the governor a standout among Republicans who may run for president in 2008: Huckabee is a Baptist minister and a fierce defender of traditional family values.

''Let's face it," he recently told a crowd of Christian conservatives in Iowa, the state that holds the earliest presidential caucuses.

''In our lifetimes," Huckabee said, ''we've seen our country go from 'Leave It to Beaver' to 'Beavis and Butt-head,' from Barney Fife to Barney Frank, from 'Father Knows Best' to television shows where father knows nothing."

Huckabee's outreach to evangelicals, in Iowa and elsewhere, demonstrates the clout of the Christian conservative wing of the GOP. That faction was crucial to President Bush's reelection in 2004, and it is maneuvering to have a big say in who wins the party's nomination in 2008.

The Iowa Christian Alliance has invited potential Republican candidates to address voters around the state. Antiabortion activists have scoured the records of potential contenders. A coalition of national conservative groups has summoned potential candidates to a conference in September where 2,000 or more activists it calls ''values voters" are expected to attend.

Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts has disavowed past statements supporting abortion rights. Senator George Allen, Republican of Virginia, dropped his support for allowing gays to be covered by federal hate-crimes legislation. Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor who is considered to be a liberal on social issues, spoke recently at a meeting of evangelical leaders in the South.

The influence of social and religious conservatives may be limited by the fact that they have not rallied around a single consensus candidate. They view the potential candidates with the strongest showings in early polls, Giuliani and Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, with suspicion.

Those more closely aligned with the religious conservatives, such as Huckabee and Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, are relatively unknown to the electorate.

Some activists are urging social conservatives to close ranks behind a like-minded candidate, to maximize their effect.

''If we get together and get behind a single candidate, we can be formidable," said Paul M. Weyrich, a conservative leader. It is not clear when or whether that agreement will happen.

Of course, we've got our issues, too. On our side, Senator Russ Feingold's (D-WI) attempt to censure the 'president' has garnered little support in the Senate Chamber. But it's done wonders for his national stature and presidential aspirations. If their issue in 06 and 08 is going to be the usual "Gods, Guns, and Gays,"...then ours has to be "Iraq, Incompetence, and Impeachment."

WASHINGTON -- Only two Democrats in the Senate have embraced Senator Russ Feingold's call for censuring President Bush, but the idea is increasing his standing among many Democratic voters as he ponders a bid for the party's presidential nomination in 2008.

Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, insists his proposal has nothing to do with his political ambitions. But he does challenge Democrats who argue it will help energize Republicans.

''Those Democrats said that within two minutes of my announcing my idea," Feingold said last week. ''I don't see any serious evidence of that."

A Newsweek poll taken March 16 and 17 found that 50 percent of those surveyed opposed censuring Bush while 42 percent supported it, but among Democrats, 60 percent favored the effort.

Feingold's resolution would censure the president for authorizing a warrantless surveillance program, which the senator contends is illegal. Cosponsors are Democratic senators Tom Harkin of Iowa and Barbara Boxer of California.

The Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing Friday on the resolution.

Other Democrats have said that bringing up such a punishment is not helpful before an investigation of the eavesdropping program is complete.

''I think to say that you should censure the president before you have had the inquiries is premature, so I don't think it's helpful to reach that conclusion at this point," Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, told ''Fox News Sunday."

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, also said that it is too early to consider censure. He would not, however, rule out voting for such a measure if the Bush administration stonewalls a congressional probe.

''It's a close case," Kennedy said on CBS's ''Face the Nation."

The White House says Bush was authorized to order eavesdropping on American citizens under his wartime powers as commander in chief.

Feingold said his sole purpose was to hold Bush accountable, but he contended that it's also good politics.

''These Democratic pundits are all scared of the Republican base getting energized, but they're willing to pay the price of not energizing the Democratic base," he said. ''It's an overly defensive and meek approach to politics."

Some Republicans have been thanking Feingold for what they consider a political fumble. ''This is such a gift," Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show.

Turning lastly to local election news, Representative Michael Capuano (D-Somerville), who once had designs on the office himself, has just endorsed Deval Patrick for governor. I say don't waste your time with the establishment candidate....take a look at the only independent running, Christy Mihos.

BOSTON --U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, who weighed his own bid for governor this year before deciding to run for re-election to Congress, told The Associated Press on Sunday that he has decided to endorse Deval Patrick for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

The endorsement, scheduled to be formally announced Monday afternoon at Patrick's campaign headquarters, will mark the second congressional backing for the first-time political candidate.

Patrick previously picked up the support for U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass.

Capuano, formerly the mayor of Somerville, holds a political seat representing Boston and Cambridge that was previously held by House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. and more recently by U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II.

Patrick has emphasized his commitment to working with city and urban leaders, and his campaign hopes that Capuano's endorsement will echo in those ranks.

It's never too early to start paying attention....even if the elections are 9 months (and almost 3 years!) away.