In a Junkie post back on March 16, the question, from a reader, was, had Madelyn Dunham lived to see his inauguration, would Barack Obama have been the first president with a living grandparent? I said yes.

I was wrong.

As Philip Leib of Westfield, N.J., writes:

I give you Mary Josephine Hannan Fitzgerald, wife of John Fitzgerald, mother of Rose Kennedy, grandmother of John F. Kennedy, born October 31, 1865, died August 8, 1964.

Also, in my "This Day in Campaign History" feature on March 20, I said that Lindy Boggs (D-LA) was the first woman ever elected to Congress from Louisiana. Well, kinda, writes Mart Martin of San Francisco, who has a fascinating tale to tell:

Boggs wasn't the first woman elected from Louisiana, but she was the first one seated. In 1933, Rep. Bolivar Kemp (D) died in office. The struggle to fill his seat turned into a free-for-all. Huey Long wanted Kemp's widow, Lallie Connor Kemp, to succeed her husband, but the district's leaders (anti-Long) had other plans. They boycotted the special election called to fill the seat, which Mrs. Kemp won with 99.8% of the vote. They also managed to have the results thrown out and the election voided, which necessitated another special election a few months later. Mrs. Kemp, disgusted by all the anti-Long and pro-Long shenanigans, chose not to run in that election.

And here's one, from Sarah Parsons of Virginia, I've been saving for a while -- since January of 2008, in fact:

You stated today on Talk of the Nation that on Super Tuesday, "8 million states will be holding primaries and caucuses at the same time." This is impossible, seeing as there are not 8 million states in the country.

I don't recall saying that at all. But if I did, Sarah is quite right. There are far fewer states. I was off by only 7,999,950.

categories: Department Of Corrections

9:39 - April 13, 2009

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