Jim Talent's Bridge Playing

The American Spectator, a conservative magazine that gained prominence among the right during the 1990s, is making a strong case for why voters should save Sen. Jim Talent from an approaching political tsunami.

The article by Quin Hillyer, targets 3 Republicans that "matter": Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Ohio Gov. candidate Ken Blackwell and our own Sen. Jim Talent.

Hillyer notes Talent's skills as a bridge player, and makes the case that he uses the same maneuvers while legislating:

"A good bridge player, like a good legislator, remembers not just where the cards are but how each player has wielded them in past hands -- and must be both highly effective analytically and able to communicate well with a partner who may have different ideas. And while it may be a cliche, there really is something to say, both in bridge and in Congress, for knowing how to play one's cards well. Bridge requires many of the same tactical skills that are necessary for effective legislating. They are skills sorely lacking in the Republican leadership today."

Hillyer goes on to praise Talent as a man of "high principle and integrity."

"He's a conservative through and through, but he's impossible to portray as an extremist. Instead, he has a record, Reagan-like, of working effectively across the aisle for conservative ends," Hillyer writes.

Hillyer says Talent not only beat McCaskill in their recent debate, but "outclassed her."

"For months now, Jim Talent has been running about even in the polls with popular challenger Claire McCaskill. But he thoroughly outclassed her in a recent debate, and he is accustomed to the rigors of races that go down to the wire," writes Hillyer.

"It is near-universal wisdom among national conservatives that his re-election campaign is the linchpin for conservative legislative hopes in the next Congress. Every pundit in the land knows that Talent can win his race. Every knowledgeable conservative will try to see that he does."