Favre Retires. Hillary Wins. COINCIDENCE?

What a day Tuesday was. Brett Favre retires, Hillary Clinton comes storming back to win three of four primaries, and Bernie Salazar gets bounced from “Biggest Loser.” (Sorry, poor choice of words.)

Also, my condolences to Purdue basketball fans. The Boilermakers are having a great season, but it looks like the Wisconsin Badgers might end up with the Big Ten title. Fingers crossed.

OK, back to politics. Mike Huckabee is out of the race. The Republican candidate with the most charm and by far the best sense of humor, Huckabee could never quite broaden his appeal past conservative evangelical Christian voters. As someone who wants to believe that genuinely nice people can be president, I’m a little sad to see him go. But as someone who believes in the theory of evolution, along with other theories, like the theory of gravity, I am a little relieved. You’re a good man, Huck, but you’re a little too far out there for my taste.

McCain got a coronation of sorts today, visiting the White House and getting President Bush’s endorsement. Pssst! John! You’ve got the primaries wrapped up! You don’t need to play to the base anymore! Get as far away from GWB as you can!

That’s actually part of McCain’s challenge. Even with the nomination secured, he still has to sell himself to the Republican base and keep them enthused about his candidacy. So embracing President Bush may help him now, but I expect we’ll see much less of that as the general election gets closer. At some point, McCain is going to have to do something to distance himself from this unpopular president, and it will be interesting to see how the Republican base responds.

As for the Democrats, it remains a tight race. Obama had a pretty bad week overall leading up to Tuesday, and I again think that something positive can come of that. Let’s get a little dirt on the Teflon and see how he responds. Clinton was a little harsh, maybe a little unfair, in her attacks last week, but so what? This is politics, and it’s a tough business. I do think Obama is a different kind of candidate, but he’s still human, still a politician, and he’s going to have to have some thick skin and some sharp elbows. We’ll see. I still think it’s hard to see how Clinton gets the nomination, but you’ve got to admire her tenacity.

Obama could also learn a thing or two from McCain. In the last week, Obama had a press conference where he basically walked off after less than a dozen questions. His aloof style of press management has become something of a liability for him. At around the same time, John McCain was holding a barbecue for the press. There’s a reason why the media loves McCain. He treats them a lot better than most politicians.

(Now that I think about it, Clinton could also improve in that regard. Her campaign recently created a pressroom in a men’s bathroom. The women journalists covering the campaign must have appreciated that.)

Anyhow, I’m going to go find my VHS tape of Brett Favre throwing a 60-yard bomb to Sterling Sharpe in the Silverdome for a game-winning touchdown. Thanks for the memories, Brett.