Exit Poetry (Updated)

Jon Sanders at the John Locke Foundation is a practitioner of the minimalist poetry commemorating the departure of political figures, dubbed the "bye-ku". He unleashed it mercilessly on my [former] candidate yesterday:

Fred Thompson's campaign,

Like the Law & Order theme,

Simply went "Clunk, clunk."

Fellow Locker Room denizen Paul Chesser's reply was even worse:

Sunken, hollow eyes
Vacant much like his campaign
Will he blame Jeri?

I expressed my dilemma this morning:

Since Bill Buckley said

"Vote rightwardmost viable"

and Fred's not it -- whom?

To which Paul agreed:

Mitt flips; McCain, ugh;
Big tax Huck; Rudy pro-choice
None of the above

The root of the problem seems to me:

"Conservatism",

for voters, has Gaussian

popularity

UPDATE: The Boston Phoenix (HT: Real Clear Politics) raised an interesting historical point: This may not be over yet. My link from the Locker Room:

Brokered convention

May resurrect the morbid

Fred-shade of Harding!

And as I'm reading A Team of Rivals, I might add that Lincoln was nominated under similar circumstances in 1860.