On our way to the Twilight Crone

The carefully constructed brand known as Hillary!™ just threw its/their/her hat into the ring. (þOlmsted) Has anyone since Nixon been more obviously in it just for the power, or more obviously not given a single damn about anything else?

And the way things are going, the campaigning for the 2012 presidential election looks to start on 1 December 2008, if not earlier.

Our culture is certifiable.

UPDATE: Bloggers all seem to be on a similar wavelength…

Andrew Olmsted:

In what may have been the most anticlimactic announcement since the Coca-Cola Corporation pulled the plug on New Coke, Senator Hilary Clinton jumped into the arena today with her announcement she will seek the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination.

Captain Ed:

In what has to be one of the most anticlimatic campaign announcements since Ronald Reagan in 1979, Hillary Clinton officially announced her candidacy for the 2008 Presidential nomination.

Dave Weigel:

Here it is, folks: The most anticlimactic political announcement since Bob Dole announced he wouldn’t run for president in 2000.

Ed Driscoll takes a different tack:

Worst kept secret on planet finally made public.

Driscoll wins the “since” competition (check the title of his post), but for direct references, Captain Ed’s seems the most far-reaching, all the way back to 1979.

UPDATE PART DEUX: VariFrank. Read.