61.   So public an admission of failed strategy is something that no candidate does for any reason other than survival.

62.   Some minor-party candidates have done so in the past.

63.   That subset is one with which Republican candidates traditionally do best.

64.   That makes sense, because banning open-ended contributions to political parties and candidates will do no good if donors simply turn around and give money to these partisan groups.

65.   The best any vice-presidential candidate can do is no harm.

66.   The concept that one candidate might do good for the whole nation is alien.

67.   The first question, posed by Sharpton, focused on what each candidate would do to ban racial profiling and prevent police brutality while keeping crime low.

68.   The debates should focus on what the candidates would do in the next century.

69.   The holidays have passed and in a presidential election year that means that the country is ready to attend to what the candidates are doing and saying.

70.   The other candidates were also doing some last-minute campaigning in the state Friday.