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And what impact would a second one have? It’s usually about this time that commentators begin to speculate about third candidates entering the US presidential race. Partly that’s because the line-up otherwise is known (it’s too late now to file for some leading primaries), and third candidates provides the uncertainty on which pundits thrive. There’s more than just talk to it this year given the organisation of the Tea Party and the scramble in some Republican quarters for a viable…

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What should we do about the Poster of the Year? Each Christmas it’s been traditional on PB to hold a series of ballots designed to choose the poster of the year. There been a lot of tough fights and suggestions, at times, of ballot rigging. There’ve even been rows about the voting system use. It’s been suggested that this year we might have different formats – instead of going for specific individual we go choose the best posts. We can…

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Cabinet Minister Ladbrokes “Cabinet exit odds”   Chris Huhne 5/2   Theresa May 7/2 Female Ken Clarke 8/1   Baroness Warsi 10/1 Female Vince Cable 12/1   Caroline Spelman 12/1 Female Cheryl Gillan 12/1 Female Andrew Lansley 14/1   William Hague 16/1   Owen Paterson 16/1   Justine Greening 25/1 Female Michael Moore 25/1   Michael Gove 25/1   Andrew Mitchell 33/1   Lord Strathclyde 33/1   George Osborne 33/1   Danny Alexander 40/1   Eric Pickles 40/1   Iain…

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Henry G Manson on Livingstone’s prospects in London This week Ken Livingstone launched the first major policy broadside in the London mayoral election. Labour’s mayoral candidate’s proposal is to allocate a portion Transport for London’s substantial reserves to reduce the fares by 5% in autumn 2012 is something of a masterstroke. To back it up, Labour has produced one of its best campaign videos I can recall. It spells out the full extent of the savings over a 4 year…

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Marf on the Eurozone crisis The cartoon, of course, is by Marf. If you would like to purchase an original or a print please contact her at marfcartoons@btinternet.com

Surely it’s now goodbye from the Governor of Texas? The latest TV debate between the Republican party contenders for President ended like some earlier ones with Rick Perry making a fool of himself. It’s hard to credit it now but barely two months ago he was trading at 6/5 on Betfair while traditional bookies had him at evens If by any chance he were to get the nomination then clips like the one above would be repeated endlessly as “proof”…

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Is this the most critical day of the crisis? Until now the nations caught up in the Eurozone crisis have been small fry. That’s all changed with the heat being on Italy – which is eighth in the world ranking of countries by the size of their GDP. Berlusconi’s announcement that he plans to step down might have had a bigger impact if he had gone ahead and done it. As it is the levels of interest being paid on…

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Welcome – after a day dominated by Italy, PMQs, immigration and the London student march it’s hard to know where to start. But does it matter? The PB NightHawks cafe is PB’s overnight thread where lurkers and those who have never posted before are most welcome and where the conversation is even more unstructured than usual. Please join and have a good evening. @MikeSmithsonPB C