Quick Hits

• Ailing Dem Senator Tim Johnson is recovering after brain surgery and is said to be in stable condition, upgraded from critical at the time of this WaPo article. That means Johnson will probably be well enough to continue on in the Senate and won't either die or be forced to resign. - Johnson was in critical condition at George Washington University Hospital but was described as recovering on Thursday. The South Dakota lawmaker, 59, was on "an uncomplicated postoperative course," the U.S. Capitol physician said after visiting him Thursday afternoon.
  "He has been appropriately responsive to both word and touch. No further surgical intervention has been required," said the physician, Adm. John Eisold. - This means that Trent Lott ("You know I'd like to be in the majority...") and some far-right blogs should probably stop playing this for partisan benefit.

• George Allen has popped up again, giving an interview to the AP. He discusses his slim loss to Dem Jim Webb and why he thinks that he lost that race (not macaca) and sprinkles the interview with dozens of football analogies. But Allen is tight-mouthed on his future political plans, only saying that he wants to win again so he can be "reborn". Whatever that means...

• RCP has "The Daily Obama", with a few nice updates on the man whose family now fears for his safety. One nice blurb from the RCP piece is that Barack is worried that a general faceoff against John McCain might be seen as "War hero against snot-nosed rookie".