VISUALIZE: CONGRESSMAN JOHN MANLOVE (R-TX)

Last year not a single Democratic incumbent lost his seat in either the House or Senate, although the only two close calls, Georgia reactionaries John Barrow and Jim Marshall, did so badly because they both vote like Republicans which turns off the Democratic base and still doesn't convince many Republicans to vote for them against actual Republicans. Interestingly Barrow, Marshall and Mississippi Republicrat Gene Taylor were the only three Democrats who voted more frequently for the Bush agenda than freshman Nick Lampson (TX)-- who has only marginally worse than right-wing freshmen Heath Shuler (NC), Jason Altmire (PA), Joe Donnelly (IN) and Brad Ellsworth (IN). ProgressivePunch ranks Lampson #230 out of 232 among Democrats.

On the one hand, any of the Republican kooks running against him would be infinitely worse. On the other hand one of those kooks is named John Manlove. Yes, it's a shame it isn't John ManBoyLove but still... imagine Representative John Manlove (R-TX). It has a ring. He was the mayor of Pasadena (Texas) until yesterday, when he resigned so he could take on Lampson. Among the other nuts seeking to run against Lampson are Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, who held the congressional post after winning last fall's special election to fill the remaining two months of DeLay's term, but then lost the general election and was pretty much considered insane, even by Republican standards; neo-fascist state Rep Bob Talton; Dean Hrbacek, the ex-mayor of Sugarland; Pete Olson, a former staffer for the unpopular John Cornyn; and a Harris County Family Court Judge named James Squier. I like the sound of Representative Manlove best of all. And Lampson... que sera sera; he's earned nothing more.