And..............they're off . . . .

[whometense]

Chuck Todd of Hotline has the latest 2008 handicap up, and it'll make your head spin.

His top repukes:

1. John McCain
2. George Allen
3. Mitt Romney
4. Mike Huckabee
5. Newt Gingrich

If that isn't enough for ya, here are his dem picks:

1. Hillary Clinton
2. Mark Warner
3. John Edwards
4. Evan Bayh and
5. Bill Richardson

If he knows anything, I may yet be contemplating that long-postponed move to Quebec. Tim Grieve at Salon adds this:

The rest are, well, the rest. Among them: John Kerry and Bill Frist, two men Todd sees in a race for who can lose the most "buzz" first.

If Todd's early predictions hold up, the Democrats could be in for a bummer all around. We're still a long way away, but recent polls show McCain with a double-digit lead over Clinton in an imaginary 2008 matchup. And a new George Washington University Battleground 2006 Poll finds that voters around the country hold the senator from Arizona in much higher regard than they do the senator from New York. McCain's favorable-unfavorable ratings are 65-18; Clinton's are an upside-down 45-51.

Let me just add that I think this is a pile of crap. But if the dems nominate HRC when she's got those kind of approval ratings nationwide, I'll eat my hat.

And bloggers, let's get to work on those McCain approval ratings...