GregsOpinion.com

Stealing the idea from OpinionJournal.com ... Six pols I'll miss that exited the stage in 2002:

1. John Sharp - likely to be the last of the conservative Dems to hold a statewide presence. As it presently stands, the Dems are basically left to wait for something truly scandalous or catastrophic to hit the state to see their fortunes reverse. Till then ... its time to play the waiting game.

2. Tim Penny - 16% in the last election as the successor to Jesse Ventura in Minnesota. That's a pain that's gonna linger. Its also a damn shame for one of the truly independent voices out there in the world. Minnesota may have set the third party movement back farther than it realizes.

3. Paul Colbert - Republican gerrymandering in Texas does away with one of the brightest minds on education law Texas has seen in a while. He'll be missed, but Scott Hochberg may be up to the task of picking up the slack.

4. Tony Hall - Dayton congressman was truly one of the good guys and now he's gone on to bigger and better things, working to end hunger around the globe as best as any one person can do. One of these days, someone's going to write one hell of a bio on this guy.

5. Roy Barnes - the one person shared from John Funds list, and for precisely the same reason.

6. Paul Wellstone - one of the few people in the world you can gain respect for even while disagreeing with him. No point on the ideological map will ever find a more passionate and articulate clarion for their cause than Wellstone was for his.

And just for good measure ... 6 I won't miss (this one if FAR easier):

1. Phil Gramm
2. Jesse Helms
3. Strom Thurmond
4. Bob Barr
5. David Bonior
6. Cynthia McKinney