Congress, it's just trivial!

Here are the answers from last week's quiz. How'd you do? Are you ready for some politics? Stay tuned.

1. Which member of Congress is the only one who refuses to disclose his or her date of birth?
• Representative Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) - best the Congressional Biographical Dictionary can say is December 1952.
  
2. Which member of Congress is baseball great Hank Aaron's brother-in-law?
• Representative David Scott (D-GA)
3. Which member of Congress delivered his 2002 opponent's baby?
• Representative Michael Burgess (R-TX)
  
4. Which member of Congress worked for Jerry Springer's 1982 Ohio gubernatorial campaign?
• Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
  
5. Which member of Congress carried the "nuclear football" for Presidents Carter and Reagan?
• Representative John Kline (R-MN)
  
6. Which member of Congress is the only member to list the addresses of all his district's bowling alleys on his congressional website? (Oh, think about this one, it's easy!)
• Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) (told you it was easy.)
  

More Questions from the Almanac of American Politics

Here are some more questions from the new issue of the 2008 Almanac of American Politics, which hit bookstores last week. Answers next week.

1. Which member appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a professional athlete?
2. How many current governors served in Congress?
3. How many Senators served in the House?
4. How many Senators are children of Senators?
5. How many presidents has Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.) served under since he was sworn in?
6. Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore failed to win 30 percent of the vote in four states in 2000. Name them.
7. Which three states switched their presidential vote from 2000 to 2004?
   

The Primary Lineup

The New Hampshire Secretary of State has finally declared that the first presidential primary will take place on January 8. With that, the schedule is set.

• January 3, 2008 - Iowa caucuses
• January 5, 2008 - Wyoming caucuses (Republicans)
• January 8, 2008 - New Hampshire primary
• January 15, 2008 - Michigan primary
• January 19, 2008 - Nevada caucus and South Carolina (Republicans) primary
• January 26, 2008 - South Carolina primary (Democrats)
• January 29, 2008 - Florida primary
• February 1, 2008 - Maine caucus (Democrats)
• February 5, 2008 - being dubbed as "Tsunami Tuesday" or "Super Duper Tuesday" when 21 states will hold caucuses or primaries.
  

• Alabama

  Alaska (caucus)

  Arizona

  Arkansas

  California

  Colorado (caucus)

  Connecticut

  Delaware

  Georgia

  Idaho (Democratic caucus)

  Illinois

  Kansas (Democratic caucus)

  Minnesota (caucus)

  Missouri

  New Jersey

  New Mexico (Democrats)

  New York

  North Dakota (caucus)

  Oklahoma

  Tennessee

  Utah

• February 7, 2008 - Hawaii caucuses (Republicans)
• February 9, 2008 - Kansas Republican caucus, Louisiana primary, Nebraska Democratic caucus
• February 10, 2008 - Maine caucuses (Republicans)
• February 12, 2008 - The "Capital Primary" - Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia primaries
• February 19, 2008 - Hawaii caucuses (Democrats), Washington state and Wisconsin primaries
• March 4, 2008 - Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont primaries
• March 8, 2008 - Wyoming caucus (Democrats)
• March 11, 2008 - Mississippi primary
• April 22 - Pennsylvania primary
• May 6, 2008 - Indiana and North Carolina primaries
• May 13, 2008 - Nebraska primary (Republicans) and West Virginia primary
• May 20, 2008 - Kentucky and Oregon primaries
• May 27, 2008 - Idaho primary (Republicans)
• June 3, 2008 - Montana, New Mexico (Republican), and South Dakota primaries

Get Your Motor Running!

Don't you think that Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" would make an awesome campaign song? This on the heels of Senator Obama's admission that he used illegal drugs and drank in college (well, who didn't really?), maybe he should pick a new song.

But it is time to get pumped for the upcoming presidential campaign. Yes, sure it's been going on for a while, leading to this Onion story, but the Iowa caucuses are less than two months away! I hope that this blog will be your site for finding out who will grab their respective party's crowns and head off to the general election.

As a teaser, here is a short trivia, courtesy of today's Washington Post. Answers next week. And lots more content coming!

"Like us, you probably spend the holidays gathered around a roaring fire, leafing through the family's beloved, dog-eared copy of the Almanac of American Politics. (Did you know that Collin Peterson - the Susan Lucci of Congress - lost four consecutive races for Minnesota's 7th District before he got elected?) To pump you up for the newly released 2008 edition, the publishers offer these brainteasers to share with your loved ones this Thanksgiving."

1. Which member of Congress is the only one who refuses to disclose his or her date of birth?
2. Which member of Congress is baseball great Hank Aaron's brother-in-law?
3. Which member of Congress delivered his 2002 opponent's baby?
4. Which member of Congress worked for Jerry Springer's 1982 Ohio gubernatorial campaign?
5. Which member of Congress carried the "nuclear football" for Presidents Carter and Reagan?
6. Which member of Congress is the only member to list the addresses of all his district's bowling alleys on his congressional website? (Oh, think about this one, it's easy!)