Happy Birthday Mr. President

Happy Birthday Mr. President

And there's only one way to sing that:



Barack Obama was only ten months old in May of `62. And despite the man from Hawaii turning Five-0, he's still a young one:

In the 2012 presidential campaign, Obama is likely to still be the youngest candidate in the field as all of the Republican challengers who have announced a bid for their party’s nomination are older than he is... Former governors Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, who turned 50 last November, and Jon Huntsman Jr. of Utah, who is 51, are closest in age to the president. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who leads in polls and fundraising among Republicans, is 64.

So an argument for youthful energy. Unless...

Among the potential Republican candidates who haven’t announced, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would, at 47, be the youngest if she enters the campaign.

That would cross two lines for me: the Older Than The President line (by a couple months) and the Canadian border.

UPDATE: The original article has posted a correction, which I should have caught anyway: Thaddeus McCotter is younger than Obama and Palin. Still, I don't think the Duncan Hunter of 2012 is an especially likely nominee.



Locally, the Democrats will be in one place for the actual Obirthday -- the monthly central committee meeting tonight -- but are putting off the celebration until Sunday:

Join the Johnson County Democrats for grilling & games as we celebrate President Obama's 50th birthday!

Sunday, August 7th, from 4-7 pm
Shelter 6, Lower City Park, Iowa City
Suggested donation: $5/person, $10/family

That's not the biggest political fundraiser on deck for the weekend, though. Some of those old Republicans will be gathered in Tiffin for what looks like a warm-up mini version of Straw Poll:

Eastern Iowa Picnic & Rally With The Next President (sic)

Clear Creek Amana High School, Tiffin, beginning at 5:00 PM
A Multi-County Event with Multiple Presidential Candidates Attending,
Individual Donations $15, Couples $25, Family with Children $35
A picnic dinner will be served. Come early to hear all the candidates.
Confirmed: Rick Santorum, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, Thaddeus McCotter
Possible: Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain

Not to be outdone, Democrats are also raising some bucks Friday night in Des Moines, at their annual Hall Of Fame Dinner. In a contested caucus year that becomes a presidential candidate command performance; 2007 saw five candidates in Cedar Rapids (all but Obama, who was early in his phase of not doing cattle call events). The cloud to that silver lining is that the honorees get lost in the shuffle and the sign war. This year, the focus is on the inductees: former congressman Dave Nagle and AFSCME Iowa Council 61 Political Director Marcia Nichols. Lots of other awards, too, with a special shout-out to our own Allie Panther for earning an "Ed Campbell Rising Star Award."

But alas, I'll be with the Republicans. Someone has to keep an eye on them.

And I guess I'm doing OK at it as I got a little attention this week in the Washington Post's second edition of "best state-based political blogs."

Sure, I get an award Tuesday and I respond with no post on Wednesday and this glorified clip show today. Have I hit rock bottom? Not yet, but only because I dumped the pet pictures over to Facebook. But stay tuned, there's always a chance of a good Democratic central committee fight tonight.

My secret? Sheer longevity, a touch of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Districts), and Google News alerts on the entire legislature. (That produces a lot of false hits on Mark Smith.)

Congrats to my fellow honorees: from the right, The Bean Walker and The Iowa Republican; from the left Bleeding Heartland, Iowa Independent, and Under the Golden Dome (who catch that Beanwalker was, um, an amendment).

Despite the relatively long Iowa list, we grow a lot of writers here in Iowa and some good sites were overlooked. Most notable omissions: Blog For Iowa and Caffeinated Thoughts. The best way to honor them would be with your traffic.