Rachael, describing my ideal GOP-ster isn't hard. She supports civil liberties, she wants the government out of its citizens' personal lives and favors smaller, effective, government-run programs where needed. She supports free trade, recognizes global warming and opposes the death penalty. No invasions, no torturing—and no bailouts. Finding her—on either side of the aisle—proved harder.

I ruled out Maine's Olympia Snowe—too protectionist. And that state's Susan Collins—she's a bailout girl, and I don't think my government should be in the banking business, or the auto business, for that matter. Connecticut's M. Jodi Rell is fiscally pretty sound, but too caught up in the gay marriage issue. New Jersey's Christine Todd Whitman comes close. In particular, I appreciate that she didn't compromise her views on the environment in order to further her political career. Of course, she hasn't had to weigh in on health care reform. And to me, that falls into the area of government we actually need. I'm looking for a Republican who wants to create a health care plan, not just destroy one, and that's where Kay Bailey Hutchison, civil though she may be, falls short.

I'd support a Republican candidate who was sound on the economics, creative on policy, and sane on the social issues—but I've been researching the votes of minor political figures for the past two hours, and the closest I came to my ideal was ... Mark Sanford. Socially moderate, innovative on education reform, willing to go out on a limb to reduce government spending, felled, like so many others, by a libido that matched his ambition.

I'd fail just as badly digging around Democratic records, too. But I'm not the best person to ask about crossing party lines—in five Presidential elections, I've voted for the Republican candidate thrice and the Democrat twice. So, for any real party members—and that includes you, Rachael—who's out there that you'd cross party lines for?

Photograph of Christine Todd Whitman by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

Tags: cheating politicians, Christine Todd Whitman, Democrats, GOP, mark sanford, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins

While watching Sunday’s Mad Men premiere, a very dirty Japanese print hanging on an executive's office wall caught my eye; I knew I’d seen it before, but couldn’t quite place it. But now, thanks to the “The Footnotes of Mad Men”—and to kottke.org for pointing me thataways—I know that it’s The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, by Hokusai.

I have yet to hop on the Mad Men bandwagon, but if this blog keeps up—it only launched a few weeks ago—the annotation-loving nerd in me could very well get hooked. Check out the most recent post, pegged to Sunday's episode: a vintage American Airlines ad with a stewardess curled up in a Saarinen chair, the text exhorting passengers to “Think of her as your mother. She only wants what’s best for you.” Kind of puts a queasy spin on Don’s hotel romp, doesn’t it?

Image of The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife by Hokusai, in the public doman.

Tags: annotations, hokusai, mad men

This week, New York magazine has a feature on how famed photographer Annie Leibovitz managed to rack up a dizzying $24 million in debt. Everything about the piece is exhausting: the obsessive photo shoots, the colossal personal spending, the step-by-step description of how everything went pear-shaped. But, like any meticulous look into how the other half lives—or, okay, the other one-and-a-half percent—the piece has a weirdly hypnotic power.

Here’s one particularly bewitching detail:

When Sarah [Leibovitz’s daughter] started eating solid food, a rigorous journaling policy was instituted, in which every bite and bowel movement was to be committed to an unlined black notebook purchased from the Swedish stationer Ordning & Reda. Kellum [Leibovitz’s then-assistant] regularly ordered replacement books from Stockholm so that the journaling could easily continue from one book to another. Once, when an order got lost in customs, Leibovitz insisted on having two notebooks sent from Stockholm via a special type of courier service called “quicking.” It was essentially like buying a seat for a parcel on the next plane. The shipping cost alone came to $800.

(My other favorite bit is the one where another photographer says of Leibovitz hooking up with Susan Sontag: “It’s as if Tom Cruise started going out with Akira Kurosowa.”)

What do you make of Leibovitz's ancient Greek-style downfall? Does it read to you like a sad cautionary tale? Or, as one New York commenter put it, as a "classic case of Long-Term Grandiose Personality Disorder with a frosting of Extreme Narcissism"?

Photograph of Annie Leibovitz by Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images.

Tags: annie leibovitz, new york magazine

KJ,

Like you, I am interested in Texas’ gubernatorial race but not actually invested in it. I’m not from Texas, but I am a Republican woman, and I like to see female politicians helping to shape the party. (I would have loved to see Kay Bailey Hutchison as McCain’s VP candidate.)

Your post, though, raised a question for me. Is there any kind of Republican you would vote for? I ask sincerely and without snark, since there are, I admit, very few Democrats that I could see myself voting for. Hutchison is pro-choice and what I would consider moderate on immigration. Her voting record, as you point out, is pretty conservative. But she has a reputation for civility, for hearing out the other side. Frankly, I think both parties could benefit from more politicians who talk rather than shout.

If you’re looking for a Republican who’s pro-choice, moderate on immigration, for health-care reform, and against the Second Amendment, it sounds like what you really want is a ... Democrat. So I’ll make you a deal: Tell me about your ideal GOPster and I’ll try to find a few Dems I could put up with.

Tags: Democrats, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republicans, Texas

Jenny Sanford has been fairly quiet in the months since her husband, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, held that bizarro, totally captivating press conference admitting to an affair with his Argentinean sweetheart. She's broken her silence by giving an interview to Vogue, of all places. Sanford gets the standard Vogue treatment: an off-hand reference to her association with the Kennedys, the implication that she's so down-to-earth, despite the million-dollar view from her island abode. But what's really notable about the article are the retrograde notions Sanford has about her husband's dalliance:

Midlife aging is different for men than for women ... Mark is worried about what his next job is. He worries about making money, running for office again, his legacy. I know my legacy is my children. I don’t worry about that.

Certainly, there is nothing wrong with making your children your first priority. But the implication that all women are satisfied with having their children as their legacy, while men are not, is total nonsense. It's such nonsense coming from a woman like Jenny Sanford—a woman who was a successful investment banker and who ran her husband's campaign—it makes me wonder if she has an ulterior motive with presenting herself as a 50s throwback. Perhaps she's trying to save her husband's ailing career and her family's legacy.

Sanford makes many references to her faith and how she's forgiven her husband already. ("I am not in charge of revenge. That’s not up to me. That’s for the Lord to decide, and it’s important for me to teach that to my boys. All I can do is forgive.") Is Jenny Sanford trying to save her husband's rep with the Christian right, and ultimately reverse his political fortunes? Or am I overanalyzing?

Tags: Jenny Sanford, mark sanford, Vogue

We Texans love our matriarchs, from Ann Richards to Miss Ellie. So Kay Bailey Hutchison's gubernatorial run strikes a chord for many who like to see big hair in the governor's chair. But if this primary is truly a battle for the soul of the Republican Party, should even Texas Dems support the anti-Palin?

It's true that Hutchinson's opponent, incumbent Rick Perry, belongs to the loopier wing of the Republican Party—witness his support for anti-sodomy laws and Texas secession. And it's true that Sen. Hutchison is pro-choice and has an intelligent, well-thought-out voting record on tax issues—appealing to the state's many "socially liberal, fiscally conservative" types.

But she remains unmistakably conservative in ways that make a "social liberal" think twice—like her proposed legislation to overturn Washington, D.C.'s restrictive gun laws, her commendations from the NRA, and her support for a border fence. She's played down that pro-choice stance since her decision to run for governor (leaving the board of the WISH List). Worse, her views on health care seem limited to a list of what not to do, accompanied by a bland support for unspecified "reform." She's rightly pointed out that Texas has the most uninsured children in the United States—but beyond making sure that no aid reaches any children who are here illegally, she's offered no solutions.

I left Texas years ago, so the only dog I've got in this race is an enduring hope that the GOP will move back toward the center, returning some degree of choice to our two-party system. Hutchison doesn't cut it. Would she have made a less generally offensive choice for VP nominee than Sarah Palin? Sure. She's smart and experienced. But if she' s the lesser of two gubernatorial evils in the state that gave us W., I'm pulling for Kinky Friedman.

Photograph of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images for Meet the Press.

Tags: Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Texas