Settling in for some intense stalemating, pundits across the nation are sharpening their pencils and polishing their No-Doze in anticipation for the first square off between the dusted-off Democrats and an adamant Republican president. Find out what some, including John Hood, have to say about this battle royal in Reason magazine. If you want some fireworks, start paying attention to the jockeying going on in the Democratic camp.  Clinton and Edwards are already turning into this year’s political version of Rosie and Trump (quite a fun game).  The war of words signifies that perhaps Clinton views Edwards as a potential political problem for next year.  Some might be surprised that Edwards seems to have made quite a remarkable rebound from his vice-presidential defeat in ’04.  Not us here at Locke.  We saw him making his move shortly after his defeat, when he became director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill. John Hood explains it in Yes! Weekly. In the NC House, Jim Black’s bow-out for the Speakership is sure to lead to a series of interesting closed-door meetings between Democratic leadership. Don Carrington provided his insight on the issue with Henry Hinton on the Talk 1070 station in Greenville. Don discussed with Henry the selection of Joe Hackney as the Democrat caucus nominee for speaker of the house.