I'm less concerned about why JPMorgan lost $2 billion on ScuttleButton futures than I am about you solving this week's puzzle.

ScuttleButton, as you know, is the once a week waste of time exercise in which each Monday or Tuesday (whatever) I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)

For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck!

By the way, I announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN. But with a new puzzle up every Monday or Tuesday, depending on my mood, you should get your answer in as soon as possible.

Here are the buttons used and the answer to last week's puzzle:

Change the Scene with Gene — Minnesota Sen. Eugene McCarthy, a strong opponent of the Vietnam War, challenged President Lyndon Johnson for renomination in 1968.

Coe for Governor — Earl Coe lost the 1956 Democratic gubernatorial primary in Washington.

Senator D Huddleston — Where would ScuttleButton be without the perennial use of this button? Huddleston, a Kentucky Democrat, served two terms before losing to Mitch McConnell in 1984.

Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise — An essential condiment.

So, when you combine Scene + Coe + D + Mayo, you may just very well end up with ...

Cinco de Mayo. The Mexican holiday, celebrated on, well, May 5th, that dates back to 1862.

This week's winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Kevin Cross of Baltimore, Md. Kevin gets a TOTN Junkie t-shirt.

Don't forget to check out this week's Political Junkie column, which focuses on President Obama's decision to embrace same-sex marriage. You can read the column here.

The issue of same-sex marriage will long continue to fascinate and infuriate politics watchers everywhere, but this past week was especially impossible to ignore, starting last Sunday, with Vice President Biden's candid statement on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he is "absolutely comfortable" with it, through the Administration's torturous couple of days of attempting to "clarify" Biden's remarks, and culminating on Wednesday's interview for ABC's "Good Morning America, where President Obama "evolved" into embracing gay marriage once and for all.

A dizzying week, to be sure.

But the most head-spinning part of it all was the conclusion by his defenders that Obama made a courageous, breathtaking and historic decision, coming to his position through conscience and not politics. And certainly not because his vice president boxed him into a corner.

To be sure, there is the element of history here; he is the first president to support gay marriage, and that is important in the scheme of things. It comes as a majority of the American people, according to some polls, have already reached that view. But with the president saying that this reflected only his own personal views, and that he supports individual states making their own decisions, what changes? Little, if anything.

Further, to profess surprise about Obama's announcement is silly, given the fact that the administration has made its position long known, repealing the "don't ask/don't tell" policy about gays in the military and ending its support of the Defense of Marriage Act (or, as Obama called it during the GMA interview, "Defense Against Marriage Act"). The surprise is less that he came out for gay marriage than the fact he continued to stick to his position when so many others in his party had long ago abandoned that viewpoint.

And so, after years of watching his position "evolve" but not move, what shall we call his new announcement? Courageous? Or was he put into a no-win position? How about a flip-flop? We always love to point out the discrepancies between Mitt Romney's positions of today, compared to when he was running in Massachusetts for the Senate in 1994 or even governor in 2002. With Obama, we only have to go back to 2008, when he told us he was opposed to same-sex marriage (something he also told us when he was running for the Senate in 2004). Is this not a flip-flop? Is Obama getting away with something that no one seems to let Romney get away with?

In the long run, the three days it took Obama to get from Biden's "absolutely comfortable" to his own "it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married" is not likely to be of consequence, let alone be remembered.

But let's not call Obama's path to his announcement an example of profiles in courage, considering it only came when Biden forced his hand. Media reports indicate Obama was furious with his vice president in getting ahead of the White House on the issue. It's easy to conclude that the president would have been very happy to not have to deal with his "evolving" position until after the November election.

But such a "hiding the ball" strategy would have been dishonest, wrote Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post. The day before the president announced the change in his position, Marcus said the "continued presidential equivocation makes Obama look weak and evasive":

"The longer Obama waits, the worse he looks.

The president's first stall tactic, that he is "evolving" on the issue, doesn't cut it anymore. Even Darwin would have lost patience by now.

His second approach, the not-gonna-make-news-for-you-today cop-out, has also worn thin. ...

At this point, Obama's reticence is looking cowardly."

Similarly, Frank Bruni of the New York Times wrote:

"On this issue, the president isn't leading. He's following. And the gap by which he trails others in his party grows broader and sadder."

But already that's old news. Obama, after expressing his displeasure with Biden's candidness, has come on board. And the political community has gone on to other topics, such as whether Obama's declaration will invigorate the gay community for November or hurt him in swing states or with independents and moderates and African-Americans and Hispanics. Or whether it will force social conservatives to ignore Romney's imperfect record and embrace the Republican's candidacy. Will Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decide to bring a vote to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act to the floor? And what about those Democrats in tough Senate races this year, such as Tim Kaine in Virginia? Will Obama's announcement affect their chances?

For all the evolving the nation seems to be doing on same-sex marriage, let's not forget that every time the issue has been on the ballot, it has gone down to defeat. (As recently as last week, voters in North Carolina — home to the 2012 Democratic convention — overwhelmingly supported a ban on both gay marriage and civil unions). Thirty-eight states now are on record opposing same-sex marriage, either by constitutional amendment or statute. The six states (and the District of Columbia) that do have gay marriage on the books — Iowa, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut — arrived at that conclusion via state legislatures or the courts. Not by the voters.

In any event, the national debate over the issue is certain to continue. It's important to understand where our country is going and how it gets there. But it's also important to know how the president of the United States got there as well.

Sixty years ago. The defeat of Sen. Dick Lugar in last week's Indiana Republican primary was not a surprise, but the margin sure was; state Treasurer Richard Mourdock clobbered him 60-39 percent. (See May 7 Political Junkie column.) The last time a six-term senator was denied renomination in the primaries was in 1952, when Tennessee Democrat Kenneth McKellar was ousted by Congressman Albert Gore Sr.

And speaking of history, flabbergasted may be the best word to explain the 41 percent of the vote a Texas prison inmate, Keith Judd, received last week against President Obama in the West Virginia Democratic primary. No one disputes the fact that Obama has never been popular in the Mountain State. Hillary Clinton defeated him by 41 points in the 2008 primary, and he lost the state in November that year to John McCain by 13. And it's true, incumbent presidents have done worse in the past — Jimmy Carter lost ten primaries to Ted Kennedy in 1980. But never before has an incumbent running essentially "unopposed," as Obama is this year, performed so poorly in a presidential primary.

Anticipating this week's 300th podcast. Back in 2006, Ron Elving, NPR's Senior Washington editor, and I started recording a weekly podcast, called "It's All Politics." We do this every Thursday, and thousands and thousands of people — whom we call "The Listener" — download it each week. This Thursday, we are recording our 300th episode. In terms of numbers, it doesn't approach Herman Cain's 999, but it certainly beats out Rick Perry's three, I mean two, departments he would eliminate.

Last week we asked you to tell us about some of your favorite moments. Here's a brief sampling of what arrived in my in-box.

Andrew Azab:

My favorite opening to the podcast was your intro on one of the weeks where Blago [Rod Blagojevich] was in the news and you and Ron had an expletive- ridden exchange. Bleeping on NPR ... priceless.

Kevin White:

My favorite moment by far of the last year was the comment about Newt Gingrich not being able to win the election one woman at a time. I found that moment to be particularly hilarious. The most entertaining political moment of the last year was Rick Perry's debate gaffe. The most interesting was the congressional deadlock over the Social Security tax cuts.

Alex Zwagerman:

I am a devoted listener to the podcast. I live in the People's Republic of China, where politics is much more opaque. It may surprise you that the It's All Politics Podcast is almost never blocked in China. I say almost... Apart from the times that NPR is blocked as a whole domain, it happened only ONCE on the past five years that the specific podcast was blocked. This was in 2009. I don't remember the exact week, but I was first irritated and then fascinated by the specific and short-lived block. I used a proxy to 'jump over the Great Chinese Firewall' and had to listen to the podcast twice to find the reason of the block. It turned out that Ken (I think) used the verb 'to shanghai' to express how a certain Senator was forced to tow some party line. I know it's not really a moment that you guys brought me, and the fact that I enjoyed that podcast has more to do with the ridiculous behavior of the Chinese Censors, but it was MY moment. Keep up the good work! I spend so much time explaining your puns to my Chinese girlfriend, our life would be so boring if you guys ever quit. Kind regards from Changchun, China.

Joseph Bowler:

My favorite moments of your podcast is the overall theme of neutrality, because it really is all politics. I'm a center right American (how cliche, I know) and the most legitimate news that I find in American politics, outside BBC, comes from your podcast! Keep it up, if one of you passes away, we better have a weekly seance or at least haunt the studio.

Mary Miller:

Ron and Ken (if I may be so informal, since I am The Listener and you may call me "The"): Congratulations on this milestone; gosh, I thought it was at least 600 or so. Time flies. I can't name a particular moment that stood out above all others, but I do find each week's podcast reassuring. No matter how many problems we have as a country and how deep the political dross, as long as we can laugh at ourselves while sorting out what's important, we'll be OK. And every week, you two reaffirm that principle. Keep it up, and thanks from Greenwood, Miss.

Andrea Sahlin:

I liked the "leave of abscess" pun in the 5/10/2012 podcast. I have had a toothache for about a week now, and that made me laugh!

Aaron Page:

Congratulations on 300 podcasts! I'm a 26 year old Democrat living in Chicago and I'm from the great swing state of Virginia. I truly look forward to your podcast each week and greatly enjoy your insightful analyses. I listen to a lot of political commentary and I think you guys are the best out there. I also feel the podcast is as funny as it is informative. Your ending song choices always crack me up, and my favorite moment was when you played "Love Potion #9" and added Herman Cain's voice saying "9-9-9."

Sarah Soebbing:

It is I, the listener, writing to congratulate you on your upcoming 300th episode! Just wanted you to know how much I love your podcast, and to thank you for always helping me see how laughable our political system truly is.

Tristan Acker:

I think Ken and Ron make the best jokes about John Boehner crying. And Ken's puns are oddly endearing and I've been listening long enough that I often find them hilarious. Congrats on 300 episodes.

Chris Ryan:

My favorite It's All Politics moment was a joke Ken made on the show one time. He had borrowed it from someone else, and I believe the year was 1973.

Kim England:

I am a 22 year old restaurant assistant manager in Alameda, Calif. My favorite moments from It's All Politics happens every week when I'm listening to the podcast episode on Friday and laughing out loud while riding my bike to work. This happens more often than once a week, more like once every 4-5 minutes an episode, but it's a great feeling and I love that Ken & Ron can release such endorphins with such finesse. Thanks IAP team! You guys are great!

Robert Hirschman:

I love your program, your so-so-well articulated descriptions of events and points of view, and insights.

Tim O'Connor:

I humbly submit that I must be "The Listener" because I never miss an episode of the It's All Politics Podcast. My favorite podcast moment was Ken nicknaming Buddy Roemer "Nature Boy." We professional wrestling / politics fans (both of us) really got a kick out of this. Much legitimate LOLing.

Kim Wright:

I find it very annoying when people say, "It's impossible to choose my favorite because it's like asking to choose my favorite child." That excuse is used to the point it's lost all its meaning. So, when Ken and Ron asked their listener to choose a favorite podcast as they celebrate their upcoming 300th "It's All Politics" podcast, I can say, in all honesty, it's almost impossible to choose because it's like choosing my favorite child. With that said, my choice is the Sept. 18, 2008 podcast, because it's the first after Wall Street took a tremendous free fall, marking the beginning of what turned out to be the global economic recession, and attention was taken from Sarah Palin as John McCain's presidential running mate. It's also where we heard John McCain change from "The economy is fundamentally sound.", to "...greed on Wall Street has put our economy at risk.", almost exactly two hours later.

Eric Vanhove:

The time that Ken told the joke about Abe Lincoln being Jewish... because he got shot in the temple! Ba dum dum. And Ken, Ron, and I laughed hysterically! I'm sure it was just the 3 of us. I still laugh about that... and can't count the number of times I've retold that joke! Love your podcast!

Kelly Pierce:

Happy 300th podcast! I'm a 27 year old History teacher currently living and working at an international school in Tanzania. I've been reliant on various podcasts to keep up on my current events, including It's All Politics, and while I don't have a specific moment that springs to mind to commemorate your 300th episode, I will share an incident that I think is indicative of the enjoyment, entertainment, and inherent risk that I find in each one of your podcasts. One day, I went out running while listening to your podcast and my route takes me over a very bumpy, uneven road. There was something that both of you were talking about that elicited a guffaw of laughter from me, and unfortunately it was so distracting that I forgot to look down at my feet and bam, fell flat on my ass. I thought you should know that your podcast has at least one laughter casualty. I thank both of you for your witty banter, keen political observations, and entertaining delivery. Congratulations on 300.

Valerie Wayne:

Congrats on 300 podcasts! I'm obsessed with politics, a habit I can't truly indulge because I'm home with three young children. I eagerly await and then listen to your podcast a few times each week. As for a favorite moment, even just last week you showed your humble humor in discussing the Judd 41% in West Virginia, my home state. Rather than being righteously indignant about the racism we so painfully clearly suffer, you were insightful and funny. Thanks from one of your MANY grateful listeners!!

Jonathan Blau:

I love every Firesign Theatre reference!

David Meiklejohn:

I am the Australian listener. Have been listening for the past 5 years from here in Melbourne. Great weekly wrap of US politics apart from Ken's jokes, obviously. My favorite moment was way back in early 2008, you guys were discussing potential veep picks for McCain and you brought up the name of "Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin", who I'd never heard of until that moment. I like to think this was a butterfly fluttering its wings moment which led to the tumult of November for McCain and his campaign.

Taskin Sehitoglu:

I wish to congratulate you on your 300th episode. As probably the only high school senior who enjoys Thad McCotter jokes, I think your show is both hilarious and informative. I especially enjoyed your most recent coverage of the Republican primary. I hope you continue the show, even as you lose relevancy like an aging Newt Gingrich. Jokes aside, please keep up the great reporting and commentary.

Neil Gussman:

I discovered your podcast while I was deployed to Iraq with the 28th Combat Aviation Brigade, PA National Guard in 2009/10. We had a dial-up-speed connection so it took 45 minutes to download. We deployed shortly after President Obama was elected. Sometimes I was sure I was the only white male Obama voter on our Air base, named Camp Adder. You helped me stay informed in a place where most of the news was from FOX.

Thanks to all who wrote. And thanks for being The Listener.

Political Junkie segment on Talk of the Nation. Each Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, the Political Junkie segment appears on Talk of the Nation (NPR's call-in program), hosted by Neal Conan with me adding color commentary, where you can, sometimes, hear interesting conversation, useless trivia questions, and sparkling jokes. Last week focused on same-sex marriage, starting with the unexpected Joe Biden conversation on the topic and ending with President Obama's dilemma. Plus, a review of Tuesday's primaries, focusing on Dick Lugar's defeat in Indiana and the Democratic primary in Wisconsin to find a challenger to a recall-imperiled Scott Walker.

Shortly after the program ended, Obama evolved into an interview with Good Morning America's Robin Roberts. And so we interrupted TOTN in the second hour with this update.

Podcast. There's also a new episode of our weekly podcast, "It's All Politics," up every Thursday. It's hosted by my partner-in-crime, Ron Elving, and me.

And Don't Forget ScuttleButton. ScuttleButton, America's favorite waste-of-time button puzzle, can be found in this spot every Monday. A randomly-selected winner will be announced every Wednesday during the Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation. You still have time to submit your answer to last week's contest, which you can see here. Not only is there incredible joy in deciphering the answer, but the winner gets a TOTN t-shirt!

Previous winner: Joe Berendt of St. Louis, Mo.

ON THE CALENDAR:

May 15 — Primaries in Idaho, Nebraska and Oregon.

May 18 — Filing deadline in Washington State. Just in case lame duck Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is thinking about it.

May 22 — Primaries in Arkansas and Kentucky.

May 29 — Texas primary.

June 5 —Wisconsin gov. recall election. Also: primaries in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.

June 12 — Special election in Arizona's 8th CD to succeed Gabrielle Giffords (D), who resigned. Also: congressional primaries in Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia.

June 26 — Congressional primaries in Colorado, New York, Oklahoma and Utah.

Mailing list. To receive a weekly email alert about the new column and ScuttleButton puzzle, contact me at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

******* Don't Forget: If you are sending in a question to be used in this column, please include your city and state. *********

This day in campaign history: Making his first bid for public office, investment banker Chuck Hagel easily wins the Republican nomination for the Senate from Nebraska, defeating state Attorney General Don Stenberg by a 62-38 percent margin. It is for the seat Democrat Jim Exon is giving up after three terms. On the Democratic side, Gov. Ben Nelson ran unopposed. Also, in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in West Virginia, former state Sen. Charlotte Pritt wins an 11-candidate contest, narrowly defeating her closest challenger, state Sen. Joe Manchin. The Republican nomination goes to Cecil Underwood, who was the state's youngest governor (34 years old) when he was elected in 1956 and would be the state's oldest (74) if he wins this year (May 14, 1996). Both Hagel (R-Neb.) and Underwood (R-W.Va.) will win in November.

Got a question? Ask Ken Rudin: politicaljunkie@npr.org

Unlike President Obama, who says his views about ScuttleButton are "evolving," I'm hoping you are fully committed to these weekly puzzles.

Don't forget how to play. ScuttleButton, as you know, is the once a week waste of time exercise in which each Monday or Tuesday (whatever) I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)

For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck!

By the way, I announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN. But with a new puzzle up every Monday or Tuesday, depending on my mood, you should get your answer in as soon as possible.

Here are the buttons used and the answer to last week's puzzle:

The Pope in Poland — ABC News button commemorating the 1979 visit by Pope John Paul II to the country of his birth.

Stand Up for America / Wallace for President — Former Alabama Gov. George Wallace ran four times for the White House; this one, his most influential bid, was as an independent in 1968.

Ringo Starr / STOP and Smell the Roses — A 1981 album release from the former Beatle.

So, when you combine John Paul + George + Ringo, you may just very well end up with ...

John, Paul, George and Ringo. Some obscure rock band from the '60s, according to Wikipedia.

This week's winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Joe Berendt of St. Louis, Mo. Joe gets a TOTN Junkie t-shirt.

Don't forget to check out this week's Political Junkie column, which focuses on Dick Lugar's fight for survival in the May 8 Indiana primary. You can read the column here.

When Richard Lugar, the mayor of Indianapolis, first ran for the Senate, against Democratic incumbent Birch Bayh in 1974, a big part of his problem was that he was a partisan Republican.

In fairness, there was nothing wrong with being a partisan Republican in good GOP years ... in, say, 1972, when President Richard Nixon was on his way to a landslide re-election and Lugar was the keynote speaker at the GOP national convention.

But it became a problem in 1974, a decidedly anti-Republican year, in the midst of the Watergate election cycle. And being known as "Richard Nixon's favorite mayor" didn't help either. He lost by 75,000 votes.

Fast forward 38 years to 2012. If Lugar's problem in his first race was that he was too Republican, one of the problems in what is shaping up as his last race is that he may not be Republican enough. Or, at least that's how his opponent in Tuesday's primary, two-term state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, and Tea Party conservatives see it. According to them, he's "Barack Obama's favorite Republican."

Lugar came to the Senate in 1977 and has been re-elected five times. He has served as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and is widely respected for his work on behalf of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. In the 1980s he fought behind the scenes against the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines and apartheid in South Africa. He's conservative, though lately not nearly as much; his "scorecard" by the American Conservative Union, regularly in the 80 or 90 percent range, has fallen into the 60's the past half dozen years or so. He has never shied away from working with Democrats, and counted Obama and Joe Biden as his friends when they all served together in the Senate.

But he remained highly popular at home; he hasn't fallen below 67 percent of the vote since 1982, and six years ago, Democrats didn't even put up a candidate against him. And until now, he's never faced a primary challenge for his seat.

Another way of looking at it is that he hasn't had to fight for his seat in years.

But the Republican Party is in a period of change, especially so since Obama's ascension to the presidency. Sure, the GOP made historic gains in the House in 2010, ousting dozens of Democratic incumbents. But some establishment Republicans, deemed too moderate, paid the price as well; think Robert Bennett in Utah and Mike Castle in Delaware. And the right's number one target for 2012 was Lugar. Outside groups have spent more than $2 million to defeat him.

But to blame Lugar's expected demise in Tuesday's primary solely on the Tea Party, or on Mourdock's appeal, misses the point. Much of Lugar's problems were self-inflicted.

First, he's 80 years old. There's not much he can do about that, but it's a fact of life. Also, he's been in the Senate for 36 years — longer than any Hoosier in history — and to some, it's long enough. Lugar didn't help his cause when it was revealed that he no longer has a residence in Indiana, that when he would come back to the state he would stay in an Indianapolis hotel (and for a long time would bill taxpayers for his stays; he's since reimbursed the government for that). There was even some question about whether he could even vote for himself; he finally registered at a farm his family owns.

And faced with serious opposition, Lugar just didn't seem to know how to deal with it. Unlike Arizona's John McCain in 2010 and Utah's Orrin Hatch this year — who preempted conservative opposition by moving further to the right — Lugar initially dismissed conservative complaints as little more than an irritant. Even by the time he realized he was in trouble, he never made the case for a seventh term. Instead, he decided to run negative ads against Mourdock — a tactic seemingly way out of character for the mild-mannered Lugar. Both approaches failed.

One indication the party establishment seems to realize the depth of Lugar's troubles is that there have been fewer and fewer outward public criticisms of Mourdock. After all, the GOP is going to need to unite behind the primary winner if they are to hold the seat in November against Rep. Joe Donnelly, one of the more conservative Democrats in the House. And that primary winner is looking more and more like Mourdock.

Dick Lugar will be remembered as one of the most respected and revered senators of the past half-century. But, unless something dramatic changes in the next 24-48 hours, that seems likely to come to an end on Tuesday.

Wisconsin Democrats to decide. As everyone knows, Gov. Scott Walker (R) faces a recall election on June 5, retribution from Democrats and labor unions angered by his efforts to limit collective bargaining for public workers.

But first, Democrats are going to have to come up with an opponent in the May 8 primary. While four candidates are running, there are just two to keep your eyes on: Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee (and a former House member) who lost to Walker in the 2010 election, and Kathleen Falk, the former Dane County (Madison) Executive, who is being backed by the very unions that shepherded the recall against Walker.

(The other Democrats: Secretary of State Doug La Follette and state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout.)

For the longest time, Democrats feared that a Barrett-Falk slugfest would siphon off money that should be going to the effort to defeat Walker. But the battle has been somewhat civil. And not particularly close. Barrett has been endorsed by a virtual who's who in state politics and has a sizable lead in every poll. But his policies as mayor, where he has cut city employees' health and pension benefits, has angered labor, and they see Falk as a far more reliable ally. But she has run statewide twice before, both unsuccessfully. In 2002 she lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary to Jim Doyle. And in 2006, a great Democratic year, she defeated the incumbent attorney general in the primary but narrowly lost the general election to a Republican.

Walker has raised an astounding $13 million to stave off the recall. But organized labor, stung by the governor's policies, will not suffer for money as June 5 approaches. They've already shown how much they want Walker gone in their efforts to help obtain more than 900,000 signatures for the recall.

Republicans love Walker. Democrats despise him. As intense as the feelings are now, it's only going to escalate in the next four weeks.

Political Updates. I post periodic political updates during the week on Twitter. You can follow me at @kenrudin.

Top 5 Running Mates. Last week I offered a subjective list of the top five running mates of the last half-century. Nobody seems to disagree with my top pick, Lyndon Johnson in 1960, but there were other opinions as well. Harry Kennedy of Ann Arbor, Mich., insists that Sarah Palin (R-2008) was an "excellent choice" because "she fired up Republicans who would otherwise have sat out John McCain" because of "his failure to offer a genuine alternative" to Barack Obama.

Whitney Court, a political scientist at the University of Kansas, agrees. In her dissertation, she argues, "McCain actually got more conservatives to come out and vote because of Palin. He lost by less than he would have without Palin." And what about that disastrous interview with Katie Couric? "Although she ran into trouble in news interviews about her knowledge of foreign policy," Court says, "social conservatives liked that she stayed true to her convictions and walked the walk."

Gary Dolan of London, England wishes Republicans in 1996 would have rejected both Jack Kemp, who was Bob Dole's running mate, and Dole as well. "Not only could neither stand the other, but both were ridiculously past their primes."

Mark Greenbaum of Washington, D.C., he of the victorious team that won the "political pursuit" contest (also in last week's column), had this:

"Cheney was definitely a nice pick, but to me it smacked of over-confidence and showed they thought they were going to win and Cheney was just there for governance. But LBJ is definitely first: he covered age, experience, geography, and even plain optics. In terms of the worst pick, Lieberman might be number one. He was just uninspiring, which was a problem when Al Snore is your candidate."

Michael Friedman of NYC also sent in his misgivings about Joe Lieberman as the Democrats' 2000 VP pick: "All Gore had to do was pick [Fla. Sen.] Bob Graham as his running mate and he would have won Florida and thus the election."

And a correction. In listing Walter Mondale (D-1976) at #3, I wrote that Jimmy Carter "got someone who came to the table with ten years' experience in the Senate." David Kuhn of Bethesda, Md., reminds us (well, me) that Mondale had been in the Senate 12 years, not ten, having been appointed in 1964 to replace Vice President-elect Hubert Humphrey, and then elected to the job in '66.

Red it and weep. Two weeks ago (see April 23 Junkie) we entertained Rep. Allen West's (R-Fla.) suggestion, literal or otherwise, that there were some 78 to 81 Communists in the current Congress, which led to the discussion about whether there had ever been a member of Congress who was a (former or otherwise) card-carrying Communist. That prompted this note from Michael Kelly of Flint, Mich., who advised, "don't forget Vito Marcantonio of N.Y.":

"Marcantonio was first elected to Congress as a Republican in 1934, back when the GOP had lots of very liberal members (especially in NYC, such as Fiorello LaGuardia). Marcantonio was part of LaGuardia's leftwing Republican movement in the 30's and 40's.

Marcantonio lost his GOP congressional seat after 1 term then switched to the American Labor Party and won a House seat in 1938 as an ALP candidate and held it for 6 terms. He was defeated by a anti-Communist Democrat after voting against the Korean War.

There are plenty who believed Marcantonio to be a Communist and he certainly participated in Communist-front groups. Of course, as an old George Romney Republican myself, I would be considered a near-Commie by today's GOP."

I actually thought of Marcantonio when writing the column. But while he was long accused of Communist sympathies, I have never seen anything to suggest he was anything more than, well, a leftwinger.

Actually, during his four successful campaigns from 1938 thru 1944, in addition to the ALP nomination, he was also the nominee of the Republican Party — which says something about the GOP back then. (He had also obtained the Democratic nomination in 1942 and 1944.) In 1946, en route to another re-election victory, he lost the GOP primary but narrowly won the Democratic nomination. Two years later, he won again but only with the ALP ballot position, defeating a Democrat and a Republican.

I don't know which specific Korean War vote you are referring to, but after years of controversy, it was clear that both of New York's major parties wanted Marcantonio gone. James Donovan, a Democratic former state senator also running on the GOP line, won a landslide victory over Marcantonio in 1950.

And speaking of Marcantonio and the American Labor Party — which backed Henry Wallace's third-party presidential bid in 1948 — Bob Zecker of Fair Lawn, N.J. (and currently residing in Meadow Green, Nova Scotia) notes that the ALP "allowed ex-Socialists and ex-Communists (Jews, Italians, others) in NYC to pull the lever for something other than a capitalist party, and Marcantonio courted and received votes from many card-carrying 'you-know-whos.'"

OK, so where else but in Political Junkie can you read about Vito Marcantonio to your heart's content?

Here she comes. Last week's column (see April 30 Junkie) also discussed former Miss Americas. A question from a reader asked whether any of them ran for office or were married to politicians. I said I could only think of Bess Myerson (Miss America 1945), who sought the Democratic nomination for the Senate from New York in 1980, and Phyllis George (M.A. 1971), who later married John Y. Brown Jr., elected governor of Kentucky in 1979.

Two Texans, Tom Phillips of Austin and Ed Palmer of Garland, remembered Donna Axum, Miss America 1964, whose second marriage was to Gus Mutscher, later the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 1963 until his conviction in the Sharpstown bank stock fraud scandal. Mutscher's conviction was later overturned but so was his marriage; he and Donna were divorced after his acquittal.

And I confess, apropos of absolutely nothing, I can't get over this incredible video involving a random question to Miss Teen South Carolina. It probably has no business appearing in this column, but I have no choice. It's one of the more amazing things you'll ever see on YouTube.

Political Junkie segment on Talk of the Nation. Each Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, the Political Junkie segment appears on Talk of the Nation (NPR's call-in program), hosted by Neal Conan with me adding color commentary, where you can, sometimes, hear interesting conversation, useless trivia questions, and sparkling jokes. Last week focused on the Gingrich withdrawal, the perils of Dick Lugar, and the upcoming Wisconsin recall primary. With guest host Jennifer Ludden, we also looked at two more VP hopefuls, Paul Ryan and Chris Christie, with Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Craig Gilbert and Newark Star Ledger's Paul Mulshine.

Podcast. There's also a new episode of our weekly podcast, "It's All Politics," up every Thursday. It's hosted by my partner-in-crime, Ron Elving, and me.

And Don't Forget ScuttleButton. ScuttleButton, America's favorite waste-of-time button puzzle, can be found in this spot every Monday. A randomly-selected winner will be announced every Wednesday during the Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation. You still have time to submit your answer to last week's contest, which you can see here. Not only is there incredible joy in deciphering the answer, but the winner gets a TOTN t-shirt!

Previous winner: David Lam of Las Vegas, Nev.

About that cocktail from Idaho. Last week's column revealed the special ingredients of that drink Michael the bartender from the Modern Hotel & Bar in Boise concocted, dubbed "The Political Junkie." Lots of notes of appreciation for the recipe, but Sandy Moran of Santa Rosa, Calif., wants to know if the column's name should be changed to the "Political Drunkie."

ON THE CALENDAR:

May 8 — Primaries in Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia. GOP Senate primary to watch: incumbent Dick Lugar vs. challenger Richard Mourdock in Indiana. Also: Wisconsin Democratic gov. recall primary.

May 15 — Primaries in Idaho, Nebraska and Oregon.

May 18 — Filing deadline in Washington State. Just in case lame duck Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is thinking about it.

May 22 — Primaries in Arkansas and Kentucky.

May 29 — Texas primary.

June 5 —Wisconsin gov. recall election. Also: primaries in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.

June 12 — Special election in Arizona's 8th CD to succeed Gabrielle Giffords (D), who resigned. Also: congressional primaries in Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia.

June 26 — Congressional primaries in Colorado, New York, Oklahoma and Utah.

Mailing list. To receive a weekly email alert about the new column and ScuttleButton puzzle, contact me at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

******* Don't Forget: If you are sending in a question to be used in this column, please include your city and state. *********

This day in political history: Rep. Stewart McKinney, a moderate Connecticut Republican often at odds with the Reagan Administration over the budget and the plight of the homeless, dies at age 56. He had AIDS, the first member of Congress to succumb to that disease (May 7, 1987).

First elected in 1970 to succeed Senate candidate Lowell Weicker (R), McKinney spent much of his career working across the aisle, often to the consternation of conservatives. But it never hurt him at the ballot box. He also had a history of health problems, suffering two heart attacks while in his 40s and undergoing coronary bypass surgery in 1979. He will be succeeded in an August special election by state Rep. Chris Shays (R).

Got a question? Ask Ken Rudin: politicaljunkie@npr.org

Just a word to the wise, that if you are considering taking refuge in the American Embassy in Beijing, don't expect me to mail you a Political Junkie t-shirt if you happen to be the randomly chosen ScuttleButton winner.

And don't expect to be the randomly chosen ScuttleButton winner if you don't know how to play.

ScuttleButton, as you know, is the once a week waste of time exercise in which each Monday or Tuesday (whatever) I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)

For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck!

By the way, I announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN. But with a new puzzle up every Monday or Tuesday, depending on my mood, you should get your answer in as soon as possible.

Here are the buttons used and the answer to last week's puzzle:

I'm Proud to be an American — This button could be World War II vintage, but at the very least, the 48 stars indicates it's certainly before 1959.

Tom Robinson Band — The 1970s British punk rock band. True confessions: the only song I have by them on my iPod is "2-4-6-8 Motorway." I don't think I know anything else by them.

Wallace for President/Stand Up for America — The former Alabama governor ran in 1968 on the American Independent Party banner and carried five Southern states.

So, when you combine American + Band + Stand, you may just very well end up with ...

American Bandstand. The decades-long TV dance program hosted by Dick Clark, who died last month.

This week's winner, chosen completely at random, is ... David Lam of Las Vegas, Nev.

Don't forget to check out this week's Political Junkie column, where I list my subjective Top 5 running mates of the past half century. You can read the column here. It also includes the secret ingredients to the Political Junkie cocktail being served at the Modern Hotel in Boise, Idaho.

With Mitt Romney having all but sewn up the Republican presidential nomination, there is only one task left for restless political junkies and reporters for the next four months: predict Romney's running mate.

I constantly make the argument that the significance of the vice-presidential nomination is often overblown, assuming greater importance than it deserves. To paraphrase James Carville, it's the presidential candidate, stupid, not the number two, who really makes the difference. Go back no further than 1988, when George H.W. Bush picked the widely-panned Dan Quayle as his running mate, a choice so disastrous that ... the Bush-Quayle ticket won 40 out of 50 states that year.

And four years earlier, there was the Geraldine Ferraro selection, a choice that excited women everywhere, a choice that was going to go down in history. It was, of course historic — Ferraro was the first woman to appear on a major-party ticket. It was historic in another way too: it was an electoral disaster, in which the Mondale-Ferraro ticket lost 49 out of 50 states. It didn't even carry the female vote that year.

Do we blame Ferraro? Do we credit Quayle? It's not that simple. They play some role, but not a defining one. Still, the choices do matter: it says something about the judgment about the presidential candidate.

To be sure, selecting a running mate has come a long way since 1964, when Barry Goldwater chose Rep. William Miller of New York simply, as Goldwater said, because he "drove LBJ nuts." But that's not to say the process has become less flawed. You didn't have to see the HBO movie "Game Change" to know that John McCain threw a Hail Mary pass in coming up with Sarah Palin. But no Republican would have helped McCain in a year the financial system as we knew it was approaching total collapse and the outgoing GOP president's popularity was at rock bottom.

Walter Mondale's choice of Ferraro was similarly considered a sign of desperation, as nobody was going to defeat President Reagan that year. But the process for the Democrats, in which Mondale seemingly held daily "auditions" for potential running mates, grew unseemly and embarrassing and was criticized by many as little more than a thank you to various special interest groups.

So yes, the election really is about the candidate at the top of the ticket. McCain never excited the GOP "base," and perhaps that was the purpose of his VP choice. But for all of the fanfare of Palin and her convention speech — which was electric — that excitement lasted only a couple of weeks. John Kerry was never a beloved figure in the South, and so picking John Edwards as his running mate to perhaps improve the ticket's chances in the South made some sense. But it was really a doomed strategy from the start. The closest the Democrats came to winning a Southern state that year was Maryland.

Still, most analysts argue that in naming Lyndon Johnson, his chief rival, as his VP in 1960, John Kennedy went on to carry a region of the country that he may not have gotten with a non-Southern running mate — a decision that gave Kennedy a huge electoral college victory that year, even if the popular vote was incredibly close.

So, starting with Kennedy-Johnson as the yardstick, here is my subjective list of the top five instances in the past half century or so where a selection of a running mate was crucial to victory:

1. 1960 (D) — Kennedy-Johnson

Without a doubt, number one. They didn't particularly like each other, having run against each other for the nomination, and we know all about Johnson's relationship with Robert Kennedy. It was an enmity that perhaps lasted all the way until Dallas. It was the first time a presidential ticket was comprised of two senators. And in picking Johnson, JFK followed a familiar path of his party's standard bearer in looking South to a running mate (see: John Nance Garner, Alben Barkley, John Sparkman, Estes Kefauver, etc.). But LBJ was not just as Southerner; he was the most powerful member of the Senate, gave the ticket some conservative credentials, and his addition helped Kennedy in key Southern states. His unhappiness in the job for the next three years is another story.

2. 2000 (R) — Bush-Cheney

The selection of Dick Cheney brought along congressional, Cabinet and foreign policy experience — everything that George W. Bush lacked. He also brought along Washington know-how. It's debatable how much Cheney helped during the campaign (a campaign where Al Gore actually won the popular vote), but once in office Cheney proved to be in an invaluable and influential — if controversial — vice president.

3. 1976 (D) — Carter-Mondale

If George W. Bush had few D.C. credentials, it was even worse for Jimmy Carter. Hardly the choice of the Washington establishment, Carter, a one-term governor of Georgia, actually fed off the public's antagonism towards Washington in this Watergate-inspired election. But he still needed to be able to work with the folks on Capitol Hill, and in picking the widely respected Walter Mondale as his running mate, he got someone who came to the table with ten years' experience in the Senate.

4. 1980 (R) — Reagan-Bush

By selecting George H.W. Bush, his chief rival for the nomination, Ronald Reagan sent a message that the party needed to be united if they were going to defeat President Jimmy Carter. But it was more than that. Almost in response to the charge that he was too out of the mainstream to win, Reagan picked Bush, who as a former congressman, UN Ambassador, RNC chair and CIA director, had solid moderate and establishment credentials.

5. 1992 (D) — Clinton-Gore

All the so-called rules of "ticket balance" were thrown out when Bill Clinton picked Tennessee Sen. Al Gore to run with him. There was no regional, ideological or demographic balance. Both were young (Clinton 45, Gore 44) and both professed centrist positions on many issues. Coming from neighboring states, they were the Democrats' first all-Southern ticket since 1828. But there was an obvious comfort level between the two, and Clinton's intention to redefine his party succeeded.

Honorable mention: Barack Obama selecting Delaware Sen. Joe Biden in 2008. Obama had been in the Senate for only 15 minutes, and his pick of Biden, in office since 1973, helped balance the experience gap. And Biden fared well in comparison with the clearly over-her-head GOP choice of Sarah Palin for vice president.

All six examples described above were victorious. I'm hard pressed to pick a good running mate selection for a losing ticket in the past half century. Most of them made little or no difference at all. I'd have to go back to 1948, when the Republican presidential nominee, New York Gov. Thomas Dewey, chose California Gov. Earl Warren as his number two. Warren was exceptionally popular at home. And for all the old ticket-balancing reasons, Warren made sense. California was a state of rising importance back in '48, and while it had only 25 electoral votes (compared to 55 now), it trailed only New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois in that category. Still, Warren failed to help the GOP ticket carry the Golden State.

And the most disastrous VP pick? That has to be George McGovern's selection of Sen. Thomas Eagleton of Missouri in 1972. Back in those days, when vetting was hardly an art, nobody knew about Eagleton's electric shock treatment for depression, a fact that came out after the Democratic ticket was announced at the Miami Beach convention. Eagleton was gone in just over two weeks, replaced by Sargent Shriver.

(And speaking of non-existent vetting: go no further than Spiro Agnew, who was taking bribes while Baltimore County Executive, a practice he continued as governor of Maryland. And yet he was Richard Nixon's running mate in 1968.)

Reminder: Today (April 30) is the deadline to submit your "who will be Mitt Romney's running mate" prediction. Guaranteed huge prize for the lucky winner. Or something like that. Send it to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Pennsylvania results (see last week's column for primary preview). Two more House incumbents went down to defeat in the April 24 primary.

With the state losing one seat because of redistricting, Republican mapmakers put two Democratic congressmen, Jason Altmire and Mark Critz, into the same district, the newly-drawn 12th. Altmire was thought to be the favorite, having already represented nearly two-thirds of those living in the new district. But labor unions were solidly behind Critz, who upset Altmire by a 52-48 percent margin.

In the new 17th, veteran Rep. Tim Holden, like Altmire a Blue Dog Democrat who voted against the Obama health care bill, was trounced by liberal attorney Matt Cartwright. Both seats are likely to remain in Democratic hands in November. Altmire and Holden join three other House members who lost their primary contests for renomination: Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) and Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.).

In the open 4th CD, where GOP incumbent Todd Platts is retiring, the Republican nomination in this solidly Republican district went to state Rep. Scott Perry.

And in the Senate race, businessman Tom Smith won the five-way GOP primary and will face Democratic incumbent Bob Casey.

Gingrich departs. Not every presidential candidate who wins a total of TWO primary states gets a ton of media coverage, but not every presidential candidate is Newt Gingrich. Having attempted a last stand in Tuesday's Delaware's primary — where he finished a weak second to Romney with just 27 percent of the vote — Gingrich is prepared to officially end his candidacy on May 1.

This of course begs the question: had he won Delaware, or even done well, would that have been enough to keep him in the race? And if so, why?

But that's not the point. We are, after all, talking about Gingrich, the always unpredictable and often exhausting former speaker of the House.

Other than perhaps Gary Hart and his short-lived return to the campaign trail in early 1988, it's hard to think of anyone with as much baggage who had serious designs on a presidential nomination.

Where do you start? A personal life that included two divorces and three marriages (one affair taking place as he was leading the Impeach Clinton Because Of Monica crusade), the ethics cases against him while Speaker in the 1990s, being drummed out of the leadership by his own GOP troops, the lobbying for Fannie and Freddie as he was attacking Washington business as usual, the dismissal of Paul Ryan's budget ideas as "right-wing social engineering" ... the list is endless. And yet, nobody captivated the audiences as he did during the early debates, with effective attacks on the moderators and the media leading to sustained ovations. In many ways he would have been a disaster of a nominee for the GOP. And yet there was a time when many pundits, and Gingrich himself, were convinced he was the guy to beat. For me, Newt Gingrich has been fascinating to watch since I first met him in the 1980s, always filled with ideas and energy and willing to talk to anyone who would listen. I never thought his White House ambitions were going to go anywhere, and I certainly never thought he would be part of any "brokered convention" scenario.

If nothing else, he ends one of the shibboleths of politics. Every Republican who has won the South Carolina primary since its creation in 1980 has gone on to win the nomination.

Not this time.

Gingrich will make the end of his campaign official with an announcement on May 1.

Political Updates. I post periodic political updates during the week on Twitter. You can follow me at @kenrudin. Time for two questions from readers:

Q: How many Miss Americas have run for political office or been married to men who have run for political office? — Pete Golkin, Arlington, Va.

A: Let the record show that you sent in this question two years ago. But it is especially relevant today following the announcement that Erika Harold, Miss America 2003, is asking Republican leaders in Illinois' 13th District to consider her as a replacement for Rep. Timothy Johnson (R), who decided to retire after winning renomination in the March 20 primary. Harold, 32, is currently an attorney in Chicago but she grew up in the midst of Johnson's district.

The only Miss America to have ever run for office before was Bess Myerson, who won the crown in 1945. But she didn't win the Democratic nomination for the Senate from New York in 1980, where she came in second to Elizabeth Holtzman. (Holtzman went on to lose to Al D'Amato in a three-way contest.)

As for the second part of your question, I can think of one. Phyllis George of Texas, crowned Miss America 1971, later married John Y. Brown Jr., who was elected governor of Kentucky in 1979. She herself was mentioned as a potential Kentucky gubernatorial candidate in 2007 but never ran.

Q: I imagine you're greatly disappointed that Constitution Party nominee Virgil Goode did not pick Tim Pawlenty as his running mate. — Jeff Roberts, Ankeny, Iowa (via Facebook)

A: Yes, it's hard to give up the Goode & Pawlenty joke that I've been using to death on TOTN and the podcast these last several years. Goode, the former Democratic-turned Independent-turned Republican congressman who narrowly lost his seat in 2008, is the Constitution Party's presidential nominee this year. Jim Clymer, who has often sought office in Pennsylvania, is his running mate.

Political Junkie segment on Talk of the Nation. Each Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, the Political Junkie segment appears on Talk of the Nation (NPR's call-in program), hosted by Neal Conan with me adding color commentary, where you can, sometimes, hear interesting conversation, useless trivia questions, and sparkling jokes. Last week focused on the Romney primary sweep, the withdrawal of Gingrich, and profiles of two VP hopefuls, Marco Rubio and Rob Portman. Special guests were Lucy Morgan of the Tampa Bay Times and Mike Thompson of member station WOSU in Columbus, Ohio.

Podcast. There's also a new episode of our weekly podcast, "It's All Politics," up every Thursday. It's hosted by my partner-in-crime, Ron Elving, and me. With Ron off last week, NPR's Mara Liasson pinch hit.

And Don't Forget ScuttleButton. ScuttleButton, America's favorite waste-of-time button puzzle, can be found in this spot every Monday. A randomly-selected winner will be announced every Wednesday during the Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation. You still have time to submit your answer to last week's contest, which you can see here. Not only is there incredible joy in deciphering the answer, but the winner gets a TOTN t-shirt!

Previous winner: Dan Seidman of Watertown, Mass.

Political Junkie cocktail. So we're at the Modern Hotel in Boise, Idaho, for a StateImpact training session. More specifically, we're at the bar. And, surprisingly for me, I'm yakking away. And the bartender says, "You know, your voice sounds like the Political Junkie on NPR." And I say, "My good man, I am the Political Junkie on NPR." And before you know it, Michael, the bartender, makes a drink he calls the Political Junkie cocktail. And trust me, it's pretty good, especially after seven or eight of those things.

Ingredients: one ounce Scotch (he suggests Dewar's White Label), one ounce Irish Whiskey. A half ounce of orgeat. Half ounce of fresh lemon. Add an orange peel. If it sounds sweet, I guess it is. But how could a Political Junkie cocktail not be?

Hotline trivia contest. If you must know, the team comprised of Amy Walters of ABC News, Stephen Hayes of The Weekly Standard, Jonathan Martin of Politico and me finished a close second in the April 26 "political pursuit" contest at the Newseum in Washington. The good news is that we beat out two other teams, including the reigning champions led by former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.). But the winners, who have yet to be tested for steroids, were the ragtag team of Greg Giroux of Bloomberg News, Stacey Skotzko of CQ/Roll Call, Jonathan Allen of Politico, and freelancer Mark Greenbaum. See National Journal's writeup of the results here.

ON THE CALENDAR:

May 1 — Newt Gingrich expected to officially suspend his campaign.

May 8 — Primaries in Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia. GOP Senate primary to watch: incumbent Dick Lugar vs. challenger Richard Mourdock in Indiana. Also: Wisconsin Democratic gov. recall primary.

May 15 — Primaries in Idaho, Nebraska and Oregon.

May 18 — Filing deadline in Washington State. Just in case lame duck Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is thinking about it.

May 22 — Primaries in Arkansas and Kentucky.

May 29 — Texas primary.

June 5 —Wisconsin gov. recall election. Also: primaries in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.

June 12 — Special election in Arizona's 8th CD to succeed Gabrielle Giffords (D), who resigned. Also: congressional primaries in Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia.

June 26 — Congressional primaries in Colorado, New York, Oklahoma and Utah.

Mailing list. To receive a weekly email alert about the new column and ScuttleButton puzzle, contact me at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

******* Don't Forget: If you are sending in a question to be used in this column, please include your city and state. *********

This day in campaign history: One day after he is sworn in as Chicago's first black mayor, Rep. Harold Washington (D-IL 01) resigns his House seat. Washington was elected April 12 over Republican Bernard Epton in a record mayoral turnout for the city that was dominated by race issues (April 30, 1983). Washington's successor in the House will be Democratic labor leader Charles Hayes, who will win the seat in a special August election.

Got a question? Ask Ken Rudin: politicaljunkie@npr.org

While most of you are riveted by today's Delaware primary, I thought I would try and break your concentration by bringing back ScuttleButton after a week's absence.

I was in Idaho last week, working with the wonderful folks at Boise State Public Radio for NPR's StateImpact project. But wherever I went, the lament was the same: "I need my ScuttleButton fix."

So here it is. Just don't forget how to play.

ScuttleButton, as you know, is the once a week waste of time exercise in which each Monday (or, as some people call today, "Tuesday") I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)

For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck!

By the way, I announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN. But with a new puzzle up every Monday afternoon, you should get your answer in as soon as possible.

Here are the buttons used and the answer to the last puzzle:

picture button of actor Alan Alda — Not much to add to that.

George to George to George — The thinking being, since we've already had a President George (Washington) and a President George (H.W. Bush), it couldn't hurt to have another President George (W. Bush) in 2000.

Women's Faults Are Many/Men Have Only Two — Notice I didn't complete the rest of the button's wording here.

So, when you combine Alda + Presidents + Men, you may just very well end up with ...

All the President's Men. The powerful Woodward/Bernstein book about Watergate that chronicled the end of the Nixon presidency, later made into a 1976 movie.

(For the record, there were lots of answers of "All the King's Men." But these guys were presidents, not kings.)

This week's winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Dan Seidman of Watertown, Mass. Dan gets a TOTN t-shirt.

P.S. Don't forget to enter my "Guess the Romney VP" contest. Deadline is April 30. Send prediction to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Pennsylvania is often described as a swing state for November's presidential battle, as polls there show a very tight contest shaping up between President Obama and Mitt Romney. Of course, the Keystone State was also thought to be in play four years ago, when Obama easily dispatched John McCain by a 55-44 percent margin.

The fact is, Pennsylvania's reputation as an up-for-grabs state has been belied by the fact that it has voted Democratic for president the last five times. In 1988, the last time the GOP carried it, George H.W. Bush beat Michael Dukakis by just two percentage points.

That's not to say, of course, that Pennsylvania won't be close in November.

In the Senate races, however, it's been a different story. In the 17 Senate contests since Democrat Joe Clark was re-elected in 1962, the Republican candidate has won 15 times. Their only defeats: in 1991, when Harris Wofford took the seat of the late John Heinz (R) in a special election (only to lose it three years later), and in 2006, when Bob Casey unseated two-term Sen. Rick Santorum (R) by more than 17 points.

Casey effectively linked Santorum with the unpopular President George W. Bush. Republicans are trying to return the favor this year by tying him with Obama. But it's questionable whether that tactic will work. Barring the unforeseen, Casey is well positioned to become the first Senate Democrat from Pennsylvania to win re-election in 50 years. Five Republicans are competing in Tuesday's primary, but none is especially well-known, even in the GOP. And two candidates who are thought to be among the frontrunners do not have longstanding allegiances to the Republican Party.

Steve Welch, a wealthy entrepreneur and venture capitalist, is the choice of the party establishment, having won the endorsements of Gov. Tom Corbett along with two of the commonwealth's top newspapers, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Giving Welch a literal battle for his money is Tom Smith, who went from working in a coal mine to owning a lucrative coal company and who has dipped generously into his personal fortune to finance his campaign. Smith has been linking Casey to Obama at every opportunity. But Smith was a Democrat himself for decades and became a Republican only recently. That has led Welch to attack Smith as a faux Republican — an argument that seemingly would be effective had Welch not left the party himself in 2005 and voted for Obama in 2008, only to return to the GOP shortly after.

Former state Rep. Sam Rohrer, who boasted of a solidly conservative record during his 18 years in the legislature, is the only one of the five who has run statewide, having lost to Corbett in the 2010 gov. primary.

Also running are attorney Marc Scaringi, whose positions on the Federal Reserve and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are similar to that of presidential candidate Ron Paul; and Dave Christian, a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran who twice ran and lost to then-Rep. Peter Kostmayer (D), coming within an eyelash in 1984.

Republicans insist Pennsylvania is undergoing a conservative tide, pointing to the victories of Gov. Corbett and Sen. Pat Toomey in 2010. But the Casey name is still magic here — his late father, former Gov. Robert Casey, was a longtime dominant figure in the state — and the younger Casey remains popular with independents and moderates of both parties.

The main House primary to watch is in the new 12th District. With Pennsylvania losing one congressional seat this year, Republicans who control the reapportionment process threw two incumbent Democrats into the same district: Jason Altmire, who was first elected to Congress in 2006, having unseated GOP Rep. Melissa Hart; and Mark Critz, who won a special election in May 2010 to succeed his former boss, the late Rep. John Murtha (D). Most of the area and voters are from Altmire's current district. Polls show Altmire ahead, and he is vastly outspending Critz. But Critz boasts the endorsements of most of the labor unions (Steelworkers, United Mine Workers, Service Employees and AFL-CIO) as well as that of Bill Clinton, and says that labor's ground game will make up for his financial disadvantages. Both oppose abortion rights, gun control and the Obama healthcare bill.

Also, there is a multi-candidate GOP field in the 4th CD in the race to succeed Rep. Todd Platts (R), who is retiring.

Hatch forced into primary. Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah conservative who has been targeted for defeat by Tea Party conservatives unhappy with his record as of late, survived his first test at Saturday's Republican state convention. The Utah GOP requires candidates to win 60 percent of the delegates at the convention to win the party's nomination outright; if no candidate reaches that threshold, the top two advance to a primary. Against nine challengers, Hatch finished first with 59 percent of the convention vote, falling just short of the magic number on the second ballot by just 32 delegates out of more than 3,900. Former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist, 37, who won the backing from most of the other candidates eliminated on the first ballot, received 41 percent and will face Hatch in the June 26 primary.

Two years ago, GOP Sen. Bob Bennett, another Tea Party target, was denied renomination by finishing third at the convention. The seat was ultimately won by Mike Lee (R). Hatch responded to Bennett's defeat by actively wooing conservatives, many of whom insist the 78-year old senator has lost a step or three since he was first elected in 1976. Mitt Romney, who is widely popular in Utah, endorsed Hatch.

The Democratic nominee will be former state Sen. Scott Howell, who was trounced by Hatch in 2000. No Democrat has won a Senate race in Utah since 1970.

Gary Herbert, who became governor in 2009 after Jon Huntsman resigned to become President Obama's ambassador to China, also faced a challenge from the right at the convention, but won the nomination outright on the second ballot.

Political Updates. I post periodic political updates during the week on Twitter. You can follow me at @kenrudin. Time for two questions from readers:

Q: In the wake of Rep. Allen West's revelation that 78 to 81 Democrats in Congress are members of the Communist Party, I ask you: Has there ever been a member of Congress who at any time in his/her life belonged to the Communist Party? — Eli Taub, Los Altos, Calif.

A: For those of you not familiar with this story, West, a freshman House member from Florida, was asked earlier this month at a town hall meeting, "What percentage of the American legislature do you think are card-carrying Marxists or International Socialists?" West responded, "It's a good question. I believe there's about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party who are members of the Communist Party. ... It's called the Congressional Progressive Caucus." West spokesperson Angela Melvin, asked by the Miami Herald for an explanation, said this:

"The congressman was referring to the 76 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The Communist Party has publicly referred to the Progressive Caucus as its allies. The Progressive Caucus speaks for itself. These individuals certainly aren't proponents of free markets or individual economic freedom."

West further elaborated on Facebook, according to the Herald:

"I stand by the point of my comments. The press wants to write gotcha stories and talk semantics, but just look at the words and actions of the Progressive Caucus. You can call them socialist, Marxist, communist or whatever you want, but the point is, they oppose free markets and individual economic freedom, they want to redistribute wealth, and they want to see the nation fundamentally transformed. Their policies are destructive and I will stand up to them regardless of the critics. Members of this Caucus lavished praise on Fidel Castro following a 2009 visit, just to name one example. The Communist Party USA claims the Progressive Caucus as its 'ally.'"

As for your question: While candidates have been running for Congress under the Communist Party banner for decades, none has ever been elected. And I can think of no member of Congress who ever was a member of the Communist Party, either before or after (or during!) his or her tenure in office.

There of course have been numerous claims about the president being a Communist, and it hardly started with the current president. I recall Robert Welch, the founder of the John Birch Society, writing in the 1950s that Dwight Eisenhower was a "dedicated, conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy." And just last year, Rep. Paul Braun (R-Ga.) said this on the House floor:

"In fact, Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent his advisers, his close friends, his Cabinet people to go visit with Stalin in communist Russia to study what he was doing, what Stalin was doing there, so that FDR could replicate it here in the United States. And he did everything that he possibly could to do so."

Still, my guess is that no U.S. president has ever been a secret member of the Communist Party.

Q: What is the highest number of states that an eventual major-party nominee lost during the primary season? And did that nominee win the general election in November? — Travis Gray, Honolulu, Haw.

A: Barack Obama lost 20 primaries, not including the disputed contests in Michigan and Florida, to Hillary Clinton in 2008, and of course went on to win the White House.

Political Junkie segment on Talk of the Nation. Each Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, the Political Junkie segment appears on Talk of the Nation (NPR's call-in program), hosted by Neal Conan with me adding color commentary, where you can, sometimes, hear interesting conversation, useless trivia questions, and sparkling jokes. I was out of town last week, visiting our crack StateImpact team in Idaho at Boise State Public Radio, but you can click on the link below to hear the April 11 show.

Similarly, I missed last week's "It's All Politics" podcast as well, but this link will get you the April 12 edition.

And Don't Forget ScuttleButton. ScuttleButton, America's favorite waste-of-time button puzzle, can be found in this spot every Monday. A randomly-selected winner will be announced every Wednesday during the Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation. You still have time to submit your answer to the most recent contest, which you can see here. Not only is there incredible joy in deciphering the answer, but the winner gets a TOTN t-shirt!

Previous winner: Robert Marlow of Annandale, N.J.

Reminder: Don't forget to send your pick for Mitt Romney's running mate. Guaranteed huge prize for the lucky winner. Send it to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

ON THE CALENDAR:

April 24 — Primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Congressional primaries in Pennsylvania.

May 8 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia. GOP Senate primary to watch: incumbent Dick Lugar vs. challenger Richard Mourdock in Indiana. Also: Wisconsin Democratic gov. recall primary.

May 15 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Idaho, Nebraska and Oregon.

May 18 — Filing deadline in Washington State. Just in case lame duck Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is thinking about it.

May 22 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Arkansas and Kentucky.

Mailing list. To receive a weekly email alert about the new column and ScuttleButton puzzle, contact me at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

******* Don't Forget: If you are sending in a question to be used in this column, please include your city and state. *********

This day in political history: Two days after the resignation of South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu, a clear sign that the war was lost, President Ford urges the American people to put Vietnam behind them and not debate who was responsible for its conclusion. Ford, speaking at Tulane University, says, "I ask tonight that we stop refighting the battles and recriminations of the past," and he calls for a "great national reconciliation" (April 23, 1975).

Got a question? Ask Ken Rudin: politicaljunkie@npr.org

Not to whine, but my weekend was completely ruined when someone inadvertently revealed to me the ending of "Titanic." So thoughtless. Now I know what it's like when someone spills the beans on the ScuttleButton answer.

ScuttleButton, as you know, is the once a week waste of time exercise in which each Monday (or, as some people call today, "Tuesday") I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)

For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck!

By the way, I announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN. But with a new puzzle up every Monday afternoon, you should get your answer in as soon as possible.

Here are the buttons used and the answer to last week's puzzle:

A — A button often seen in these puzzles, I got it from an Anarchist book store in NYC in the early 1970s.

Margaret Chin City Council — A Democrat, she represents Chinatown on New York's city council.

For U.S. Senator / Mrs. Haar for You! / For South Dakota — Charlene Haar was the unsuccessful Republican nominee against Dem incumbent Tom Daschle in 1992.

Block Captain for Ike — Great Eisenhower button from 1952.

So, when you combine A + Chin + Haar + Block, you may just very well end up with this very taxing puzzle ...

H & R Block. Those folks who help you with your taxes.

Anyway, this week's winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Robert Marlow of Annandale, N.J. Robert gets a TOTN t-shirt.

P.S. Don't forget to enter my "Guess the Romney VP" contest. Deadline is April 30. Click here for details.

Rick Santorum will get out of the race for the Republican presidential contest when he feels it's the right time, and the incessant "when will you drop out" questions to him are not going to change that. Will he last until the April 24 Pennsylvania primary? Will he end it this week? I think we can let Santorum leave the race when he wants.

Even Newt Gingrich, another candidate who doesn't have a chance for the nomination and who happened to opine last week that Mitt Romney is "conservative enough" to be the nominee, continues to insist that he's staying in the race all the way to the Tampa convention, or until Romney officially gets the 1,144 delegates needed to go over the top.

And when host Piers Morgan asked Ron Paul on CNN the other day, "Why don't you just do the decent thing and just pull out?" — and who knows more about decency than CNN? — Paul quickly responded, "Why don't you do the decent thing and not pester me with silly questions?"

I have no problem with candidates deciding on their own timetable when they want to end their campaign. However, after having witnessed some three dozen primaries and caucuses thus far, it is a fair assumption that Romney will be the nominee.

And so the question left before this summer's convention is, who will be his running mate. And that leads to a new Political Junkie contest.

This arrived in the mailbox this week:

Q: Ever since you correctly picked Dan Quayle as George Bush's VP candidate in 1988, I feel like you are the go-to guy for VP picks. So, (should he win the nomination), who will be Mitt Romney's choice as a running mate? — Gus Sperrazza, Washington, D.C.

I am not about to make a prediction this early in advance; after all, I have a reputation to uphold. But that doesn't mean you can't. Send your pick, along with your name, city & state, to politicaljunkie@npr.org. All submissions must be received by Monday, April 30, 2012. Winner(s) will be announced once Romney makes his choice. And yes, there will be prizes.

As to Gus' e-mail, I was, for the record, quite proud of my Quayle prediction in '88. And, as some friends from Camp Lokanda might remember, I also picked Thomas Eagleton as George McGovern's running mate that summer of 1972. What's less known is that, aside from guessing John Edwards for the Democrats in 2004, I've been wrong on a running mate every other time since Eagleton:

1976

GOP Prediction: Howard Baker

GOP Actual: Bob Dole

Dem Prediction: John Glenn

Dem Actual: Walter Mondale

1980

GOP Prediction: Richard Lugar

GOP Actual: George H.W. Bush

1984

Dem Prediction: Michael Dukakis

Dem Actual: Geraldine Ferraro

1988

GOP Prediction: Dan Quayle

GOP Actual: Quayle

Dem Prediction: John Glenn

Dem Actual: Lloyd Bentsen

1992

Dem Prediction: Jay Rockefeller

Dem Actual: Al Gore

1996

GOP Prediction: John McCain

GOP Actual: Jack Kemp

2000

GOP Prediction: Jim Gilmore

GOP Actual: Dick Cheney

Dem Prediction: Dick Durbin

Dem Actual: Joe Lieberman

2004

Dem Prediction: John Edwards

Dem Actual: Edwards

2008

GOP Prediction: Tim Pawlenty

GOP Actual: Sarah Palin

Dem Prediction: Jack Reed

Dem Actual: Joe Biden

Anyway, don't forget to enter the Name the Veep contest.

The 2012 story so far:

Mitt Romney (24 contests won): New Hampshire (1/10), Florida (1/31), Nevada (2/4), Maine (2/4-11), Arizona (2/28), Michigan (2/28), Washington (3/3), Alaska (3/6), Idaho (3/6), Massachusetts (3/6), Ohio (3/6), Vermont (3/6), Virginia (3/6), Wyoming (3/6-10), Guam (3/10), Northern Mariana Islands (3/10), Virgin Islands (3/10), American Samoa (3/13), Hawaii (3/13), Puerto Rico (3/18), Illinois (3/20), D.C. (4/3), Maryland (4/3), Wisconsin (4/3) = 660 delegates.

Rick Santorum (10): Iowa (1/3), Minnesota (2/7), Colorado (2/7), North Dakota (3/6), Oklahoma (3/6), Tennessee (3/6), Kansas (3/10), Alabama (3/13), Mississippi (3/13), Louisiana (3/24) = 281 delegates.

Newt Gingrich (2): South Carolina (1/31), Georgia (3/6) = 135 delegates.

Ron Paul (0) = 51 delegates.

Delegate total as of April 8 according to Associated Press. A total of 1,144 delegates are needed to win the nomination. Because many caucus states don't officially award delegates until later in the year, NPR is more conservative in tabulating delegate totals and thus our numbers for Romney and Santorum are smaller than the AP's.

Tim Johnson to retire. Rep. Tim Johnson, an Illinois Republican who has been in Congress since 2001 and who only last month won renomination in the primary, announced April 5 that he changed his mind and intended to retire, citing family obligations. The move came as a total shock and left the GOP scrambling to find a replacement. Johnson, 65, is usually returned to office with considerable landslides, though Democrats this year did what they could to redraw his district and make life uncomfortable for him in November. (The new 13th district, as currently formulated, went to Barack Obama with 55 percent four years ago.) But his Democratic opponent, David Gill, is the same guy he defeated three times in the past, most recently in 2010 with 64 percent of the vote.

Johnson is a bit of a maverick, having called for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also has endorsed Ron Paul for the GOP presidential nomination.

House dress code. The recent move by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) to take off his suit jacket and put on a "hoodie" while addressing his colleagues — in solidarity with Florida shooting victim Trayvon Martin — put a new focus on what is and isn't allowed to be worn on the House floor. It also reminded many of us about an incident involving then-Rep. Bella Abzug (D-N.Y.). In the book Changing Differences: Women and the Shaping of American Foreign Policy, 1917-1994, author Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones writes that on her first day in Congress, in 1971, House Doorkeeper William "Fishbait" Miller asked Abzug to remove her trademark hat in conformity with House rules. To which Abzug reportedly replied, "Go f*** yourself."

Political Updates. I post periodic political updates during the week on Twitter. You can follow me at @kenrudin.

Last week, there was a reader's question about 2012 likely being the first time since 1944 that neither major-party presidential nominee will have had military experience. That elicited this note from Jeff Rundell of Seattle, Wash.:

No big surprise Tom Dewey did not serve in the military. He was too young for World War I, and educated young men of the day did not join the peacetime military unless they were going to make it a career. Besides, with Taft, Hughes, Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, the GOP had recently had a string of seven nominees in a row who had not served. Of course, served does not mean combat. During Ike's long and storied career he never saw a moment of combat. FDR (whose polio didn't come until 1921) went to France in the summer of 1918 to inspect the troops. Though Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he found his way to a front line army artillery unit that let him fire the guns a few times.

Political Junkie segment on Talk of the Nation. Each Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, the Political Junkie segment appears on Talk of the Nation (NPR's call-in program), hosted by Neal Conan with me adding color commentary, where you can, sometimes, hear interesting conversation, useless trivia questions, and sparkling jokes. Last week's show focused on the Wisconsin recall campaign.

Wednesday's show will be the last for Junkie producer Peter Granitz, who is leaving NPR after two years to be the Washington correspondent for Alaska Public Radio. Peter has been an absolute delight, always fun, cheerful, inspiring and creative. And he will be sorely missed.

And Don't Forget ScuttleButton. ScuttleButton, America's favorite waste-of-time button puzzle, can be found in this spot every Monday. A randomly-selected winner will be announced every Wednesday during the Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation. It's not too late to enter last week's contest, which you can see here. Not only is there incredible joy in deciphering the answer, but the winner gets a TOTN t-shirt!

Previous winner: Jenny Trapp of Wilmington, N.C.

By the way, I offered up a special Sunday edition of ScuttleButton last week, with four buttons assembled to ostensibly lead to a solution. Of course, last Sunday was April 1st, and only Jim Hopp of San Carlos, Calif., figured out it was an April Fool's joke.

Some folks were amused, or at least appreciated the effort. "Good April Fool's, it definitely got me," wrote Brett McQuillan of Boulder, Colo. Will Thanhauser of New Orleans called it "very sneaky." Nora Levine of Oakland, Calif. said she was "dreaming about that April Fool's puzzle!!!"

Some were pleased that they didn't see it in time. Joe Franklin of Citrus Heights, Calif., wrote on Monday, "I'm glad I only looked at the Scuttlebutton today. I would have gone crazy trying to figure out your April Fool's edition." Barb Baumann of Damascus, Md., added, "Luckily I didn't see the April Fool's puzzle or I would have been cursing you too!!! :)"

Some were ready to storm my house. David Nelson of Madison, Wis., demanded, "I want back the four hours I spent trying to figure this one out." @Smedette wrote on Twitter, "I spent hours on that damn Scuttlebutton. F-bombs were uttered. Fists were shaken in your direction." Also on Twitter, @ginpeck wrote, "I knew it! And yet I still spent time on it!" And @cemlane added, "Arrrgh! Well THAT was a waste of a day! Well done."

Then there was Michael Ruffin, Pastor at First Baptist Church in Fitzgerald, Ga. He somehow came up with a solution to the four buttons — "NCAA Finals Championship Week." Here are his thought processes:

Button 1: Letters "N," "C", "A," and "A" all appear on the button.

Button 2: "Final" with the "S" in "Answer" directly underneath = "Finals."

Button 3: "Championship."

Button 4: For all I (or anyone else) knows, "Slawek" is pronounced 'Sla-week," thus "Week."

Michael adds, "Anyone can solve the real ones. It takes a genius to solve the fake one."

Podcast. There's also a new episode of our weekly podcast, "It's All Politics," up every Thursday. It's hosted by my partner-in-crime, Ron Elving, and me. This one focuses on the de facto opening of the Obama-Romney general election and speculation on Paul Ryan for VP.

ON THE CALENDAR:

April 21 — Utah state Republican convention. Sen. Orrin Hatch seeking renomination.

April 24 — Primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Congressional primaries in Pennsylvania.

May 8 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia. GOP Senate primary to watch: incumbent Dick Lugar vs. challenger Richard Mourdock in Indiana. Also: Wisconsin Democratic recall primary.

May 15 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Idaho, Nebraska and Oregon.

May 22 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Arkansas and Kentucky.

Mailing list. To receive a weekly email alert about the new column and ScuttleButton puzzle, contact me at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

******* Don't Forget: If you are sending in a question to be used in this column, please include your city and state. *********

This day in political history: Some 150,000 people turned out in Atlanta for the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was shot and killed in Memphis on April 4. It was the largest funeral ever held for a private citizen in U.S. history, and it was broadcast on national TV. Its attendees included Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Jacqueline Kennedy, and current and former presidential candidates such as Richard Nixon, Robert F. Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, Nelson Rockefeller and George Romney. Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox (D), a segregationist, remained in his office in Atlanta (April 9, 1968).

Got a question? Ask Ken Rudin: politicaljunkie@npr.org

I hope by now you've forgiven me for that fake April Fool's ScuttleButton of yesterday. Only one person, Jim Hopp of San Carlos, Calif., knew it was a ruse. Others spent hours trying to figure it out. Please, drop your thoughts of revenge and focus instead on bigger and better things.

Like the real ScuttleButton.

Just don't forget how to play.

ScuttleButton, as you know, is the once a week waste of time exercise in which each Monday I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)

For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck!

By the way, I announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN. But with a new puzzle up every Monday afternoon, you should get your answer in as soon as possible.

Here are the buttons used and the answer to last week's REAL puzzle:

What We Need Is Love As Our Assemblyman — A New York Republican from 1968.

Vernon Jolley U.S. Congress — He was the Democratic nominee against Rep. Marge Roukema (R) in New Jersey's 5th District in 1986.

Catalyst for Change / Shirley Chisholm for President — Chisholm, an African-American member of the House from Brooklyn, sought the Democratic nomination for president in 1972.

So, when you combine Love + Vernon + Shirley, you may just very well end up with ...

Laverne and Shirley — the ABC sitcom that ran between 1976 and 1983, starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams.

Anyway, this week's schlemazel winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Jenny Trapp of Wilmington, N.C. Jenny gets a TOTN t-shirt.

In less than three months, we will know the verdict of the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Obama's signature achievement from 2010. There is no way to predict with any certainty what the court will decide, despite what seemed to be pretty skeptical, if not critical, questions from the justices, especially Anthony Kennedy, considered the court's swing vote.

But that hasn't stopped a plethora of "what if" scenarios that have made it into print and on the airwaves in the past week. Much of the conjecture has been on what happens if the Court strikes down the bill, either just the individual mandate part or the entire law. Some defenders of the Obama administration see a rejection of the bill as a net plus for the president, claiming that it will invigorate progressives for the fall campaign; others argue that it would be a huge embarrassment for someone who once was a constitutional law professor.

One thing that many seem to agree on is that if the law is overturned, Obama would not hesitate to base his campaign not only against a "do nothing" Congress, as he's been doing the last few months, but against an ideological Supreme Court. The Court, of course, is always ideological when it rules against your point of view. But the fact is, there seems to be more and more 5-4 decisions lately, reflecting a conservative vs. liberal split, rather than consensus 7-2 or 8-1 rulings. And if the conservatives hold the majority, guess which side is not going to be happy?

Going after the Court would not be something new for Obama. During his 2010 State of the Union address, he lashed out at the Court's Citizens United ruling:

"With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that, I believe, will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections."

I'm at pains to remember the last time a president attacked the Supreme Court during a State of the Union speech, especially with members of the Court sitting in the House chamber. The moment was made even more memorable when the cameras caught Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head "no" in response to Obama's comments.

And if Obama decides to run in this fashion, it would be a pretty unusual tactic for a president to embrace, especially for a Democrat. Jason Zengerle, writing in the March 30 issue of New York magazine, notes, "Even FDR didn't go negative on the justices during the 1936 presidential campaign, waiting until after he'd won reelection to reveal his plan to pack the bench with his picks." Zengerle adds that since the Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision that desegregated schools, "the Court has generally been perceived as more liberal than conservative." And it's "tended to be held in lower regard among Republicans than Democrats. And whether it was Richard Nixon in 1968 lambasting the Court for 'hamstringing the peace forces in our society and strengthening the criminal forces' or George W. Bush in 2000 blasting it for having 'usurped legislatures' with its abortion decisions, Republican presidential candidates have attacked the Supremes to rally their base."

Actually, persuading Democratic voters on this issue may not be hard to do. Conservatives talk endlessly about judicial activism, and we don't have to go back to the 1950s or '60s, when the John Birch Society actively promoted the impeachment of Chief Justice Earl Warren, or to 1970, when then-House Minority Leader Gerald Ford talked about impeaching Associate Justice William O. Douglas. Look no further than this year's GOP primaries and Newt Gingrich's plan to arrest judges to make them justify their controversial rulings. But liberals have come to distrust the Court in recent years as well, especially since the Bush v. Gore ruling in 2000.

And should the Court strike down the healthcare law, their distrust — and anger — will likely increase. But let's wait for a decision before we decide what everyone's reaction will be.

Political Updates. I post periodic political updates during the week on Twitter. You can follow me at @kenrudin. Meanwhile, time for some readers' questions:

Q: Regarding the intro to your Political Junkie segment [on TOTN], can you tell me where each soundbyte comes from? Who and when? — Janine Collinsworth, Hillsboro, Ore.

A: This is what you hear in the opening montage of the Political Junkie segment every Wednesday on NPR:

"There you go again" — Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan, responding to President Jimmy Carter's charges on Social Security and Medicare, their one and only debate, Oct. 28, 1980.

"When I hear your new ideas, I'm reminded of that ad: Where's the beef?" — Former Vice President Walter Mondale, in his Democratic debate with Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado, March 11, 1984.

"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" — Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, accepting the Republican presidential nomination, July 16, 1964.

"Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" — Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) to Sen. Dan Quayle (R-Ind.) during their vice presidential debate, Oct. 5, 1988.

"You don't have Nixon to kick around anymore" — Former Vice President Richard Nixon, lashing out at the media as he was conceding the California gubernatorial election to incumbent Democrat Pat Brown, Nov. 7, 1962.

"Lipstick" — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, explaining the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull, accepting the Republican vice presidential nomination, Sept. 3, 2008.

"Oops" — Texas Gov. Rick Perry, failing to remember the third government agency he would cut, during a Republican presidential candidate debate, Nov. 9, 2011.

"But I'm the decider" — President George W. Bush, saying it's his decision to keep or remove Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and that Rumsfeld is staying, April 18, 2006.

"Yaaaaaah" (not sure of exact spelling) — Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, talking about how his campaign will go on despite his defeat in the Iowa Democratic caucuses, Jan. 19, 2004.

Q: In your column, you say that Reagan "easily defeated Carter" in 1980. I believe I'd heard on NPR (possibly from you) that Carter was actually in the lead until Reagan went on television shortly before the election saying essentially, "If you're not doing so well economically, give me a chance." And the polls turned around for him to eventually win. Is that true? I know he won handily, but I thought it wasn't as much of a shoo-in as your column implied. — Nancy Poole, Cambridge, Mass.

A: Everything you say is true. Carter, while trailing Reagan for most of the summer, was rapidly gaining strength in September and October. In fact, the last Gallup Poll taken just prior to their Oct. 28 debate had Carter up 45-42 percent. But their debate basically ended any talk about a second Carter term. Reagan needed to prove he was "presidential" — and not "dangerous" or a "warmonger," as the Carter camp tried to portray him. The view of many was that Reagan did what he needed to do, and did so convincingly. His "there you go again" line was less of a specific rebuttal to Carter's charges and more to show that he was likeable and not scary. But his closing comments — "are you better off than you were four years ago?" — signaled the end of the Carter comeback and the beginning of the Reagan surge. One week later, Reagan beat Carter by more than eight million votes and carried 44 of the 50 states.

Q: In [the March 26 column], you wrote that the last presidential nominee to lose his previous re-election race was [New York Gov.] Horatio Seymour in 1864. You forgot Benjamin Harrison, who was defeated for re-election as U.S. Senator from Indiana in 1886 and was elected president in 1888. — Dewie Gaul, Sioux City, Iowa

A: You are correct, but there's a little asterisk that needs to be added. Back then, U.S. senators were chosen by their state legislatures. The direct election of senators didn't happen until the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1913. Harrison was elected by the Republican-controlled Indiana legislature in 1880 but was ousted six years later when the Democrats took over the legislature and denied him a second term.

Q: I enjoy your [Talk of the Nation] segment on Wednesday afternoons. I wish it was longer. Anyway, one of the attributes I use in making a decision about who to vote for is military service. If I'm not mistaken, unless Ron Paul gets the Republican nomination, this will be the first time in my voting life that I will not have a choice of a nominee from a major party with military service. I think the last time this happened was 1944 between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Thomas Dewey. — Frank Allen, Tallahassee, Fla.

A: You are right. Of this year's candidates, only Paul and Rick Perry had served in the military. And Paul is not going to be his party's nominee. As for Romney, he missed military service in the 1960s first because of his student deferment and then because of his missionary work. In 1969, when the draft lottery was initiated, he drew number 300; no one above 195 was taken that year.

In 1944, FDR, of course, was crippled by polio. I've not been able to ascertain why Dewey never served.

Dewey, however, was an aberration for the GOP. Democrats, on the other hand, have had their share of presidential nominees without any military experience — think Bill Clinton. But Clinton was nonetheless elected twice, each time against a candidate with considerable combat experience: George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole.

And there's always time for fan mail:

Tilly Gokbudak of Roanoke, Va.: "As a political junkie myself, I love your hindsight. I want to share this story. Yesterday [Wednesday] I thought I had left my wallet at a gas station near Martinsville, Va. I was an hour away when I realized it and had to drive back to the station. As it turned out, my wallet was under my seat belt the whole time. But it gave me the opportunity to hear your entire Junkie segment and as always I really enjoyed it."

Dave Atkinson: "I enjoy your spot on TOTN every Wednesday and make it a point to listen online over here in Baghdad. Regarding your comment on the most recent show about your occasional fear of not being able to come up with a weekly political question, here's one you can keep in your pocket for emergency use. You'll have to formulate the question, but the answer is Lacey Davenport!"

Amy O'Hara of Tampa, Fla.: "I very much enjoyed listening to your skepticism (which I share) about the tactics and aims of that guy from the Campaign for Primary Accountability. If we are all disturbed by the amount of money in politics, the thought of yet another Super PAC, financed by some Texas millionaires, is ridiculous. Thanks for pointing out how ludicrous this group is."

Xander Almeida of Portland, Ore.: "First off... I LOVE POLITICAL JUNKIE. There is only one radio show in the whole world I will never miss an episode of, and it's Talk of the Nation with the Political Junkie."

Todd Harper of Kennesaw, Ga.: "I really enjoy your show and look forward to it every week. You'll be interested to know that last week, Nancy Kassebaum was staying with my parents in Kansas City. (My father was her former state administrative assistant.) I was able to pass along the fact that she had been the answer to the previous week's trivia question."

Christa Foster Crawford of Valencia, Calif.: "I wish that your show was on more often — it's my favorite thing to drive to. If I get home before it's over I sit in my car in the driveway looking like a fool until it finishes. Thanks for keeping me up to date!"

This last one, from H. Jochen Bussmann of Berlin, Germany, is for the most part fan mail: "The capacity of your memory is truly amazing. But your listeners could profit so much more from your immense knowledge and judgment if you would not waste most of your much too scarce radio-time with discussing week after week a question nobody cares to know the answer. I love to listen to you and learn a lot about your country by doing it. ... By the way: NPR is the best possible 'propaganda' for the U.S. I love it and listen to it every day!"

Political Junkie segment on Talk of the Nation. Each Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, the Political Junkie segment appears on Talk of the Nation (NPR's call-in program), hosted by Neal Conan with me adding color commentary, where you can, sometimes, hear interesting conversation, useless trivia questions, and sparkling jokes. Last week's show asked the question of when is it time for presidential candidates to end their efforts. Special guest: Chip Saltsman, campaign manager for Mike Huckabee in 2008.

And Don't Forget ScuttleButton. ScuttleButton, America's favorite waste-of-time button puzzle, can be found in this spot every Monday. A randomly-selected winner will be announced every Wednesday during the Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation. It's not too late to enter last week's contest, which you can see here. Not only is there incredible joy in deciphering the answer, but the winner gets a TOTN t-shirt!

Previous winner: Ann Selzer of West Des Moines, Iowa.

Podcast. There's also a new episode of our weekly podcast, "It's All Politics," up every Thursday. It's hosted by my partner-in-crime, Ron Elving, and me. This one focuses on the Supreme Court arguments on health care, political reaction to the Trayvon Martin killing, and Mitt Romney moves closer to the nomination.

ON THE CALENDAR:

April 3 — Primaries in D.C., Maryland and Wisconsin. Congressional primaries in Maryland.

April 21 — Utah state Republican convention. Sen. Orrin Hatch seeking renomination.

April 24 — Primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Congressional primaries in Pennsylvania.

May 8 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia. Also: Wisconsin Democratic recall primary.

May 15 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Idaho, Nebraska and Oregon.

May 22 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Arkansas and Kentucky.

Mailing list. To receive a weekly email alert about the new column and ScuttleButton puzzle, contact me at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

******* Don't Forget: If you are sending in a question to be used in this column, please include your city and state. *********

This day in campaign history: Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley (D) wins a third term, defeating Ben Adamowski, a Republican. But his margin, which was nearly a half a million votes four years ago, is reduced to about 150,000. In another race of note, Birmingham Police Chief Eugene (Bull) Connor (D) fails in his bid to become mayor of that Alabama city (April 2, 1963).

Got a question? Ask Ken Rudin: politicaljunkie@npr.org

ScuttleButton is up a day early this week, and with it appearing on a Sunday, it gives you a full day to figure out the puzzle without having to deal with the unpleasant things in life, such as *work*.

As you know, each week I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)

For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck!

I'm sure you're aware of what's going on right now. Kids between the ages of 12 to 18, from all 12 Districts, are being thrown into the elements in which only one person can attain the ultimate goal: solving this week's ScuttleButton puzzle.

It can get pretty ugly. And that's why you need to know the rules.

ScuttleButton, as you know, is the once a week waste of time exercise in which each Monday (or, as some people call today, "Tuesday") I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)

For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck!

By the way, I announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN. But with a new puzzle up every Monday afternoon, you should get your answer in as soon as possible.

Here are the buttons used and the answer to last week's puzzle:

Bush Tax Plan/You're Gonna Pay — 1992 Democratic campaign button criticizing President George H.W. Bush's economic policy.

picture button of the Tin Man — from the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz.

"ING" on a green button — Boy, does this one come in handy for ScuttleButton puzzles. This 1968 button is for Alaska Sen. Ernest Gruening (pronounced "Green-ing"), who was defeated for renomination in that year's Democratic primary by Mike Gravel.

So, when you combine Pay + Tin Man + Ing, you just very well may get ...

Peyton Manning. The outstanding NFL quarterback who, because of a severe neck injury that caused him to miss the entire 2011 season, was recently released by the Indianapolis Colts and later signed by the Denver Broncos.

This week's ScuttleButton winner, chosen completely at random, is ... J. Ann Selzer of West Des Moines, Iowa. Ann is the pollster for the Des Moines Register, and I'm guessing everyone is thinking the same thing: can't we do without talking about Iowa for another four years? I mean, really. Well, whatever. Ann gets a TOTN t-shirt.

On May 20, 1980, George H.W. Bush won the Michigan Republican presidential primary by a nearly two-to-one margin over Ronald Reagan. It was an impressive, dominating victory over the GOP frontrunner, as Bush took 77 of the state's 83 counties, carrying union members, Catholics and wealthy suburbanites.

Six days later, Bush was out of the race, deciding that Reagan's delegate lead was too vast to overcome. He said he would ask his delegates to support Reagan at the national convention.

When we think of parallels to 2012, there are two messages that emerge from this. One is that Bush read the writing on the wall, saw that he was not going to stop Reagan, and decided to quit. The other is that even though the battle went well into May, the party was united in plenty of time before the general election, when Reagan easily defeated President Jimmy Carter.

Of course, drawing comparisons with 2012 don't exactly work. Yes, the party came together back in 1980, with its antipathy towards the Democratic president overriding any doubts that may have existed about Reagan's staying power. This year, there seems to be as much disdain for Mitt Romney among some in the party as there is for President Obama.

Another difference is that it seems clear Obama and the Democrats might be loving every minute of the bitter Republican battle. Back in 1980, Carter had his own worries in a protracted battle for renomination with Ted Kennedy.

But April and May are virgin territory for the Republicans, with recent nomination battles ending shortly after Super Tuesday. Think John McCain in 2008, George W. Bush in 2000 and Bob Dole in 1996. Each time Rick Santorum wins another state to extend the contest even further — his victory Saturday in Louisiana being the latest example — another member of the party leadership comes out bemoaning the situation. That was the real message in Jeb Bush's endorsement of Romney last week. Enough is enough. We've had our fun. Now it's time to rally behind our nominee.

But as long as Santorum's disdain for Romney continues, as long as he keeps on winning states, and as long as there continues to be doubts about Romney's core principles — the "Etch a Sketch" comment by his top aide didn't help — there's no sign this will end any time soon. No matter how much joy the Democrats are getting out of this.

Here's a look at the three most recent Republican nomination battles and when the other candidates dropped out.

2008 — John McCain, nominee

dropouts: Jim Gilmore (7/14/07), Tommy Thompson (8/12/07), Sam Brownback (10/19/07), Tom Tancredo (12/20/07), Duncan Hunter (1/19/08), Fred Thompson (1/22/08), Rudy Giuliani (1/30/08), Mitt Romney (2/7/08), Mike Huckabee (3/4/08), Ron Paul (6/13/08).

2000 — George W. Bush, nominee

dropouts: Robert Smith (7/13/99), John Kasich (7/14/99), Lamar Alexander (8/16/99), Dan Quayle (9/27/99), Elizabeth Dole (10/20/99), Orrin Hatch (1/26/00), Gary Bauer (2/4/00), Steve Forbes (2/9/00), John McCain (3/9/00), Alan Keyes (7/26/00).

1996 — Bob Dole, nominee

dropouts: Pete Wilson (9/29/95), Arlen Specter (11/22/95), Phil Gramm (2/14/96), Lamar Alexander (3/6/96), Dick Lugar (3/6/96), Steve Forbes (3/14/96), Pat Buchanan (4/17/96).

The 2012 story so far:

Mitt Romney (21 contests won): New Hampshire (1/10), Florida (1/31), Nevada (2/4), Maine (2/4-11), Arizona (2/28), Michigan (2/28), Washington (3/3), Alaska (3/6), Idaho (3/6), Massachusetts (3/6), Ohio (3/6), Vermont (3/6), Virginia (3/6), Wyoming (3/6-10), Guam (3/10), Northern Mariana Islands (3/10), Virgin Islands (3/10), American Samoa (3/13), Hawaii (3/13), Puerto Rico (3/18), Illinois (3/20) = 568 delegates.

Rick Santorum (10): Iowa (1/3), Minnesota (2/7), Colorado (2/7), North Dakota (3/6), Oklahoma (3/6), Tennessee (3/6), Kansas (3/10), Alabama (3/13), Mississippi (3/13), Louisiana (3/24) = 273 delegates.

Newt Gingrich (2): South Carolina (1/31), Georgia (3/6) = 135 delegates.

Ron Paul (0) = 50 delegates.

Delegate total as of March 24 according to Associated Press. A total of 1,144 delegates are needed to win the nomination. Because many caucus states don't officially award delegates until later in the year, NPR's delegate totals for Romney and Santorum are smaller than the AP's.

Illinois House primary results. The one to watch was in the newly-drawn 16th CD, in the Chicago suburbs, where Democratic redistricting efforts led to two Republican incumbents running in the same district: freshman Adam Kinzinger and veteran Don Manzullo. Kinzinger, with the surprise backing of many in the House GOP leadership, such as Majority Leader Eric Cantor, defeated Manzullo by a 54-46 percent margin.

In the 2nd CD, centered mostly in Chicago, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. walloped former House member Debbie Halvorson in the Democratic primary. Halvorson, who was ousted by Kinzinger after just one term in 2010, thought Jackson would be vulnerable because of ethics questions pertaining to his attempt to get then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to appoint him to the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. But Jackson crushed her with more than 70 percent of the vote.

Other results: Tammy Duckworth, the disabled Iraq War vet who had run for the House in another district back in 2006, won the Democratic primary in the new 3rd CD and has a good chance at ousting freshman GOP Rep. Joe Walsh in the fall. And Bill Foster, who lost his House seat to Randy Hultgren (R) in a nearby district in 2010, is the Democratic nominee in the new 11th CD and will face Rep. Judy Biggert (R) in November.

Mikulski breaks the record. Last week Barbara Mikulski, the senator from Maryland, became the longest serving woman in the history of Congress. After 12,858 days in office, she surpassed the record of Rep. Edith Norse Rogers (R-Mass.), who served from 1925-60. In January 2011, Mikulski broke Margaret Chase Smith's (R-Maine) Senate record. Mikulski was first elected to the House in 1976, winning the seat vacated by Paul Sarbanes, who elevated to the Senate. Ten years later she won her first Senate race, succeeding the retiring Republican Charles "Mac" Mathias.

Political Updates. I post periodic political updates during the week on Twitter. You can follow me at @kenrudin. Meanwhile, time for some readers' questions:

Q: If you add Santorum's and Gingrich's votes together you get a voting block that is much bigger than Romney's. So the question is, is Romney really "winning?" Isn't this relevant? — Hernan Espinoza, San Francisco, Calif.

A: Several responses to that:

(1) The path to the Republican nomination is reaching 1,144 delegates first. Romney is far closer to that total than anyone else. In fact, I don't see how anyone other than Romney has a shot at reaching it. It's not who has the most votes. But even if it were,

(2) Romney is still getting more votes than anyone else, perhaps a million more thus far.

(3) Would I call Romney's vote totals impressive? Not necessarily. But Jimmy Carter got only 39 percent of the total Democratic primary vote in 1976 and no one questioned his standing as the leader of his party.

(4) It may not even be a fair exercise to combine Santorum and Gingrich's votes. Exit polls out of several states showed that more Gingrich voters preferred Romney to Santorum as their second choice.

(5) I know Gingrich himself has talked over and over about if you combine his votes with Santorum's, it shows that Romney is weak. I think it is a little disingenuous for Gingrich to link his numbers with Santorum's. If you combine the home runs of Andy Pettitte and Hank Aaron, you get 756. A pretty impressive number, without question. But 755 of them are Aaron's.

Q: The brewing question here in the office pertains to Puerto Rico's participation in the delegate selection process for the presidential nomination, though the people can not vote in the general election for President. Please explain. — Lorena Gautschi-Scott, Boise, Idaho

A: Voting for president in the general election is a Constitutional issue. It is limited to the 50 states and, with the passage of the 23rd Amendment, the District of Columbia. Congress granted U.S. citizenship to the people of Puerto Rico in 1917, but they may not vote in the general election, nor do they have congressional representation. But the decision as to who votes in the primaries is decided by the parties. In the Republican contest, for example, Puerto Rico may participate, along with four other U.S. territories: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Q: A follow-up question on Santorum [who lost his bid for a third Senate term in 2006]: Has there ever been a major-party presidential nominee who just prior was defeated for reelection from his previous office? Michael Dukakis and Bill Clinton were each ousted as governor but then they returned to office, so that doesn't count. Neither does Richard Nixon, who lost for governor of California in '62, since he wasn't running for re-election. — Harvey Hudson, Eden Prairie, Minn.

A: Walter Mondale, the 1984 Democratic presidential nominee, was defeated in 1980 for a second term as vice president, but I'm assuming you're referring to re-election back home. In that case, the answer is Horatio Seymour, the Democratic nominee for president in 1868. Four years prior, he narrowly lost his bid for a second term as governor of New York.

Q: I watched the PBS "American Experience" documentary on President Clinton. Was he ever on the inevitable "short-list" of vice-presidential candidates in either 1984 or '88? This then made me think if there have been other presidents who may have been considered as potential running mates, though ultimately not named to the ticket, prior to being elected president. Possible examples that I wonder and maybe you could shed some light on would be: Reagan in '64, '68 or '72, Carter in '72, Bush 43 in '96. — James McKinstra, Freeport, Ill.

A: I can't recall any discussion of Bill Clinton as a potential running mate prior to 1992, though he himself had pondered running for president in 1988. Of those you listed, Reagan was on the list of possible VPs in 1968, before Richard Nixon chose Maryland Gov. Spiro Agnew. And in 1972, when there was talk about dumping Agnew from the ticket, Reagan's name again was mentioned. John F. Kennedy, of course, actively campaigned for the vice presidential nomination in 1956, when Adlai Stevenson threw open the choice for VP to the convention delegates. The convention instead chose Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-Tenn.), and Kennedy came back to win the presidency four years later.

Q: George Romney ran for President in 1968. George Romney was also born in Mexico. Why was this not a problem? — Samantha Stoddard, Manchester, N.H.

A: Article II of the Constitution plainly states that "no person except a natural born Citizen... shall be eligible to the Office of President." However, it's never been completely clear what that means. The same issue came up during the first presidential run of Sen. John McCain, who was born in the Panama Canal Zone. Here's how I addressed this question in a July 9, 1998 Political Junkie column, back when it was running at washingtonpost.com:

Some might define the term "natural-born citizen" as one who was born on United States soil. But the First Congress, on March 26, 1790, approved an act that declared, "The children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond sea, or outside the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural-born citizens of the United States." That would seem to include McCain, whose parents were both citizens and whose father was a Navy officer stationed at the U.S. naval base in Panama at the time of John's birth in 1936. ...

The citizenship question has come up in past presidential campaigns. George Romney, the late Michigan governor and a leading aspirant for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico. ... During the period when he was still being touted as the only Republican who could defeat President Lyndon Johnson, Romney's opponents often raised the issue of his eligibility. William Loeb, the late publisher of the Manchester Union Leader who made his conservative views well known to New Hampshire primary voters, simply dismissed Romney as "Chihuahua George." But Romney was eligible. Romney's grandfather emigrated to Mexico in 1886 with his three wives and children after Congress outlawed polygamy. Romney and his parents, who retained their U.S. citizenship, returned to the United States in 1912, the year Mexico erupted into revolution.

Speaking of Romney's family, there has been a slew of articles lately about Romney's mother, the late Lenore Romney, and her doomed candidacy in 1970 for the Senate against Democratic incumbent Phil Hart. Back then, Michigan Republicans were eager to defeat Hart, a strong liberal. But their first choice, George Romney — who had left the governorship in 1969 to join the Nixon Cabinet — decided he didn't want to run and instead pushed his wife. Lenore Romney lost in a landslide, 67-33 percent. But I thought I would show this button from her campaign ... and a slogan that certainly illustrated how female candidates were perceived back in 1970.

Political Junkie segment on Talk of the Nation. Each Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, the Political Junkie segment appears on Talk of the Nation (NPR's call-in program), hosted by Neal Conan with me adding color commentary, where you can, sometimes, hear interesting conversation, useless trivia questions, and sparkling jokes. Last week's show focused on Romney's victory in Illinois and it featured Mike Duncan, the former chair of the RNC, as our special guest.

That segment was followed by an interview we did with Brian Lamb, the founder and CEO of C-Span, who announced this week he is stepping down from many of his duties on April 1st. I'm sure it's not a coincidence that he announced his decision one day after I appeared on C-Span's Washington Journal program. The interview with Brian is definitely worth a listen.

Not sure about my appearance on C-Span, however.

And Don't Forget ScuttleButton. ScuttleButton, America's favorite waste-of-time button puzzle, can be found in this spot every Monday. A randomly-selected winner will be announced every Wednesday during the Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation. It's not too late to enter last week's contest, which you can see here. Not only is there incredible joy in deciphering the answer, but the winner gets a TOTN t-shirt!

Previous winner: Cindy Mussavage of New Bern, N.C.

Podcast. There's also a new episode of our weekly podcast, "It's All Politics," up every Thursday. It's hosted by my partner-in-crime, Ron Elving, and me. Last week we said goodbye to our producer, Kimberly Adams (who moved to Egypt) and welcomed her successor, Brakkton Booker.

Speaking of the podcast, there were lots of nice comments in response to last week's tribute to the late Peter Bergman of Firesign Theater.

Eric Pardee of University Heights, Ohio, wrote, "I especially appreciated your commemoration of Peter's life. I too spent many a night dissecting their albums and made many of my friends nuts as I randomly quoted their work (only at the most appropriate times.)"

Ann Russell of Seattle, Wash., wrote, "I just finished listening to the 3/15 podcast and had to comment about Firesign Theater. I met my husband in San Francisco in 1970 and I found him to be so funny — then I realized he had memorized most of the Firesign Theater albums. When our son was 11 (in 1992), he discovered all of the old albums and he and his buddies memorized and performed them as my husband had many years before. My husband and I still speak "Firesign." Good to hear others still do too. From the far-flung Islets of Langerhans, thanks for the memories.

J. McCrackan sent me this note on Twitter: "Just listened to this week's podcast. Thanks for the Peter Bergman tribute — I laughed and got choked up at the same time. Good job."

Charlie Miller of South Vienna, Ohio: "I hope thousands of folks search them out and become fans. A remarkable group of guys. I have been a fan since the early/mid 70's when i bought [the album] Don't Crush That Dwarf blind. Cover looked cool, never heard of them, took a chance and was instantly hooked. Next time you're coming to Columbus, Cincinnati or Dayton, let me know and let's do some Firesign banter!"

And David Talley of Raleigh, N.C., reminded me of this note he first sent me in July of 2009: "Just when I thought that the podcast couldn't get any better — obscure political references, sophomoric puns and gratuitous snark — you have started making Firesign Theater references! I was dismayed last week when I heard none, but you came on again this week as strong as a hot kiss at the end of a wet fist. I am flashing back to my days as an student at Berkeley in the late 60s-70s...as best as I can remember. So, get on it and do it every morning! Keep those references coming! Climb back on your sanitary pedestals and inflate your shoes...For Industry!"

ON THE CALENDAR:

April 3 — Primaries in D.C., Maryland and Wisconsin. Congressional primaries in Maryland.

April 24 — Primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Congressional primaries in Pennsylvania.

May 8 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia. Also: Wisconsin recall election.

May 15 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Idaho, Nebraska and Oregon.

May 22 — Presidential and congressional primaries in Arkansas and Kentucky.

Mailing list. To receive a weekly email alert about the new column and ScuttleButton puzzle, contact me at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

******* Don't Forget: If you are sending in a question to be used in this column, please include your city and state. *********

This day in political history: The U.S. Supreme Court, in Baker v. Carr, rules that lower courts may hear challenges to a state's redistricting procedure. The 6-2 ruling becomes widely known as implementing a "one man (person), one vote" standard regarding reapportionment, saying the challenges were judicial in nature, not political. Background: Tennessee's Constitution said that the state should undergo redistricting every ten years, but in fact the state hadn't redrawn district lines in 60 years. So even though Tennessee's population was shifting from rural areas to cities and suburbs, the existing lines kept rural lawmakers in power. The Court's decision changes that. Baker was Charles Baker, a Republican from Shelby County who argued that cities like Memphis had far more people than nearby rural areas but a fraction of the representation. Carr was Joe Carr, the Tennessee Secretary of State who defended the state's drawing of districts (March 26, 1962).

Got a question? Ask Ken Rudin: politicaljunkie@npr.org