Ranking the Presidents #39

ANDREW JOHNSON (D) - 1865-1869

Johnson was a Southerner, but a fierce pro-Union Democrat, and Lincoln invited him to be his Vice-President under the National Union Party of 1864. Later, after Lincoln's assassination, the Republican Party took back its original name, and Johnson went back to being a Democrat. The times after Lincoln were sensitive and turbulent, and Johnson's quick moves under Reconstruction were shaped by his white-supremicist views. He, after all, owned slaves until reluctantly supporting the Emancipation Proclamation, viewing it as a necessary step in the war.

The 17th president vetoed civil rights legislation which wound up setting back the rights of blacks several decades. He fought constantly with Congress, and his stubbornness more than anything led to his impeachment. As a last slap, he granted amnesty to all Confederates before handing over the presidency to his successor. It's amazing that the US survived not only the Civil War, but the Johnson presidency that followed.

Ranking the Presidents #40

JAMES BUCHANAN (D) - 1857-1861

There's no question in my mind that Buchanan, 15th president, is the worst in American history. Undoubtedly he inherited difficult circumstances, but in his one term he saw the union disintegrate and honestly believed the United States had come to an end.

Buchanan came into office with impressive credentials. Ambassador to Russia under Pres. Andrew Jackson, Secretary of State under Pres. James Polk, the former Pennsylvanian congressman was the Democratc party's hope, the resumed man that could clean up Franklin Pierce's mess. The issue of slavery was tearing the country apart, and Buchanan stocked his Cabinet with Southerners and decided the antislavery crowd were the extremists. He stuck his nose into the Dred Scott case, the worst decision in Supreme Court history. He blamed everyone but himself for his feckless leadership.

Picture this. Imagine if Buchanan had won re-election, or had a candidate as bad follow him. The United States of America would have ceased to exist in 1861. He left his country in civil war and was ready to wash his hands of it when it happened.

Ranking the Presidents #41-43

WILLIAM H. HARRISON (W) - 1841
JAMES A. GARFIELD (R) - 1881
BARACK OBAMA (D) - 2009-Present

Barack Obama has been President for two years, and while Ben Quayle may say he's the worst President in history, I say it's far too soon to judge. Whether he serves four years or eight, let the man finish his job before we try to evaluate where he'll rank in history.

He is the 44th president, but since Grover Cleveland had his two terms broken up, there have really been 43 presidents. Over the next few days or weeks, I plan to give my opinion of where our US presidents rank. I'm going by how they did in the times they served under the circumstances they had.

But I'm only ranking 40 of them. Obama's incomplete, and #9 William H. Harrison and #20 James A. Garfield each served less than a year. Harrison died from pneumonia a few weeks into his term, and Garfield died by an assassin's bullet. Were I to judge them at all, it'd be by their Vice-Presidential picks, and that would certainly put one ahead of the other.

InTrade Watch on GOP 2012 Post-CPAC

Based on Bid%

1. (1) Mitt Romney - 24%
2. (6) Mitch Daniels - 11.4%
3. (3) Sarah Palin - 11.1%
4. (5) Tim Pawlenty - 8.8%
5. (4) Mike Huckabee - 8.5%
6. (7) Jon Huntsman - 5.2%
7. (8) Newt Gingrich - 4.5%
8. (2) John Thune - 4%
9. (10) Haley Barbour - 3.1%
10. (9) - Michelle Bachmann - 2.9%

Rising: Mitt Romney, Mitch Daniels
Falling: John Thune

I don't remember hearing anything about John Thune's appearance at CPAC, but maybe that's exactly why his stock plummeted. Now Mitch Daniels is the hot ticket, and if I had some extra cash, I'd short-sell him. Seems like Romney's hanging on to front-runner status, and while I get the feeling most Republicans want someone different, they'll rally around if there's no better alternative. It's early enough in the process that they're looking around for that alternative.

Donald Trump (1.7%), Rom Paul (1.6%) and Rudy Guiliani (1.5%) aren't getting any traction yet. GOP stars that have insisted they aren't running are staying out of the top ten as well, like Chris Christie (1.7%), Jeb Bush (1.1%), Rick Perry (1%) and Marco Rubio (.3%).

Ron Paul wins CPAC straw poll

Pretty meaningless, since he won it last year and McCain finished fifth in 2007, but it gives the Libertarian/Republican congressman bragging rights should he decide to run again. Mitt Romney finished second.

43% of those polled said they wished they had a better GOP field.

Shep Smith weighs in on Egypt

Shepard Smith tells you exactly what he thinks about Egypt.

InTrade Watch on 2012 GOP Presidential Hopefuls - 2/2/11

Based on Bid%.

1. (1) Mitt Romney - 22.1%
2. (3) John Thune - 12.8%
3. (2) Sarah Palin - 11%
4. (5) Mike Huckabee - 8.5%
5. (4) Tim Pawlenty - 8%
6. (6) Mitch Daniels - 7.1%
7. (-) Jon Huntsman - 5.4%
8. (7) Newt Gingrich - 4.1%
9. (-) Michelle Bachmann - 3.3%
10.(9) Haley Barbour - 3%

Rising: Mitt Romney, John Thune, Jon Huntsman, Michelle Bachmann
Falling: Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Pence (8)

Chris Christie (10) remained unchanged at 1.8% but that was enough to knock him out of the top ten.

Palin's continued slide is Thune's gain, as he finds himself in the #2 spot. Romney had been slipping but gained back 1.1% over the past couple weeks.

Michelle Bachmann must've helped herself with her Tea Party response to the State of the Union and a recent Iowa visit. Jon Huntsman resigns as China ambassador and instantly finds himself in the hunt.

My hunch right now is that Huckabee easily takes Iowa and Romney puts his eggs in the New Hampshire basket. But a year is a lifetime in politics.

There Was Never a New Tone

Chris Matthews compares the Tea Party "nutbags" to the Muslim Brotherhood on the same day Glenn Beck compares extreme leftists to radical Islamists.

Civility must be sought elsewhere.