Caucus Update: "People not named Richard or Willard" edition

If you have been away from television for a few days, you may have missed Alec Baldwin's parody of Rick Perry's bungled debate performance.  Ignoring whether SNL is funny in 2012 (I don't watch it enough these days), it does seem it still captures the nation's collective (People still think Sarah Palin said "I can see Russia from my house").

So, the question is now whether the once infallible Rick Perry will continue to lead the field, or if Mitt Romney (who a poll this week, said he was not be the most popular, but he is the most electable) will seize this chance.

Let's take a look at some of the other candidates.

Michele Bachmann was in Iowa this week, including a showing on the 10:00 local news.  I don't think Bachmann can win it all, but I think it is too early to count her out in Iowa.  Bachmann has made a lot of outlandish quotes over the years, but I don't think many people have seen her campaign.  For starters, don't confuse her with Sarah Palin.  Bachmann doesn't come across all as "If I'm in the White House, I'd just be a big ol' Mama Grizzly Bear".  The Bachmann that appeared on local tv is competent, intelligent and concerned.  She is also planning on spending some time every week in Iowa.  This is the Bachmann that won the Ames Straw Poll.

It is also worth noting that when Perry joined the race, the most obviously noticeable thing was that most of the new Perry supporters were deserting Bachmann.  I don't think Bachmann needs to beat Romney, Paul or Gingrich.  She just needs to beat Perry.

Ron Paul is running ads this week.  His 'Veterans' Friend" ads are positive and upbeat, but are they effective?

I like that Ron Paul worked to get Vietnam vets the medals they deserve, but what does the average voter take away?  They are feel-good (Does that actually work?), but they don't feel Presidential.  What does the ad tell you about Paul's intended leadership direction.  It really does feel more like an ad for a small Congressional district.  At best, it feels like a late October General Election ad that would be effective on a rotating basis with other ads (Paul just is running the one ad currently).

Rick Santorum spent the week complaining the media is ignoring a Presidential Candidate who is currently running Eighth nationally and polling roughly 3%.

I wonder what Tim Pawlenty thinks about the current situation- the Perry blunder, the nonstarts of Palin and Chris Christie, the dropoff of the Bachmann campaign.

Eh, he probably looks at Santorum and is glad he didn't spend another second on it.

On the Shelf 65: Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is out with Welcome 2 My Nightmare. If you haven't followed Cooper very closely, he's still prolific as ever (probably more than you realize - 8 albums since 1994). Like that other Detroit madman, Cooper seems to be stuck between two spots- slickly produced commercial albums that appear to be aiming for one last Top 40 single a la "Poison" or "Hey Stoopid" and under-the-radar back-to-basics stripped down records that aim to recapture the glory days (The best of these being 2005's Dirty Diamonds).

Welcome 2 splits the difference. It has a very ambitious bent- one, being a sequel to arguably Alice's last great album Welcome to My Nightmare and two, by bringing back some of the most well known names of Alice's past - Dick Wagner, Steve Hunter, Dennis Dunaway, Neil Smith, and producer Bob Ezrin.

Maybe because of this, the album's a mixed bag. I would have liked to see (to quote Jim Rome) an 'A' or an 'F' on this effort. Instead it's not an instant classic or a throwaway, instead a low B.

The headline has been the Ke$ha collaboration, and why I don't have a problem with whatever it takes to get Alice back in the mainstream- that collaboration 'What Baby Wants' is one of the low points.

This also feels like the most Manson-ish of Alice's records (not that he isn't entitled to that) and that is likely in part to the backing of Marilyn's ex-guitarist John 5.

My favorite tracks are opener "I Am Made Of You" which has a lot going against it (audiotune, lyrics by Desmond Child), but is a classic Alice epic, and "Last Man on Earth" which is classic Alice (think "Some Folks") but also has an unmistakable Tom Waits vibe to it.

You can find samples of every song in the video below with some Alice commentary on top of it.

Forced to decide. I'm going to give this a thumbs up. The hits make up for the misses ("Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever" and "Ghouls Gone Wild" are great titles, but terrible songs) and it's a definite step up from 2008's Along Came a Spider.