SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:15 P.M. ET:

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' – Ah, there was a time when California was a red state.  Not anymore.  Latest registration figures from our largest state show 43.5% Dem registration to 30.3% Republican.  California is now a safe Democratic state, with little prospect of changing anytime soon.  This was the state that produced Ronald Reagan. 

HATCH – Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, who is in his sixth six-year term, will have to win a primary in his state to receive the nomination for a seventh.   He failed to hit the required 60%-mark at a state convention, which was dominated by those who believe Hatch to be insufficiently conservative.  He is, though, considered the heavy favorite to win the June 26th primary, in part because he has so much seniority and clout in the Senate.

DEGRADING – President Obama will make an appearance April 24th on the late-night Jimmy Fallon Show on NBC, a network whose news division increasingly appears to be an adjunct to the Obama White House.  At the start of his term, Obama appeared on the Tonight Show, with Jay Leno, also on NBC.  It's pretty clear that the purpose of appearing on the Fallon show is to go after the youth vote, which is less enthusiastic about Obama this year.  Look, this isn't the biggest story of the year, but I think Obama demeans the presidency by appearing on talk shows.  I can't imagine any past president doing it.  It symbolizes the lack of style of this administration.

April 21, 2012