The Unsweet 16

We'll bring in our "bracketologists" Tim Tagaris and Josh McConaha to disect the matchups and predict the first round outcomes for two of the brackets. Join us later for the second half, and feel free to put yours in the comments:
Tim: Let's start out in the "Pioneers and Rangers Bracket" where Jack Abramoff earns the one seed.
Josh: The Tobin vs. Noe matchup in round one is one of the more intriguing of the first round.
Tim: Personally, I think Tom Noe deserved the two seed in this matchup. I mean, Coingate... come on! And that doesn't even take into account the real darkhouse in this matchup, his wife, Bernadette. She was an elections officer in Lucas County, an area that experienced extreme voting difficulties during the 2004 election. It was so bad that Ken Blackwell, of all people, asked her to resign. She's such a key player that even President Bush personally thanked her at a campaign rally in Toledo. I gotta go with Noe, and I don't even think this ones going to be close.
Josh: I think you underestimate Tobin, greatly. Of the two, he is actually a convicted criminal. And that's to say nothing of the fact that the RNC has paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars to his legal defense fund. But as an Ohio partisan, I'll go with Noe as well ... but it will be close.
Tim: Well, one game down, and our first upset. Let's move on to Abramoff vs. Ralph Reed.
Josh: Is there any question here?
Tim: Not really, but it's fun to see all that effort from GOP's Golden Boy land him a spot in the tournament.
Tim: Alright, let's move on to the Senate regional. Bill Frist vs. John McCain in the first round.
Josh: McCain's status in the tournament was in question only days before the selection committee met this weekend. I think his hiring of Terry Nelson probably put him over the top.
Tim: Terry Nelson?
Josh: Yeah. He was the guy forced to testity to a grand jury about his involvement during the money laundering scadal with Tom DeLay's TRMPAC.
Tim: You don't think that's enough to beat Frist, do you?
Josh: I'm not sure. But as we all know, the Senate Majority leader is being looked at by both the Justice Department and the SEC because of questionable stock sales and insider trading.
Tim: Well, who are you going with?
Josh: I'm not sure yet.
Tim: Up or down vote please, McConaha.
Josh: I'll go with First... but McCain is truly a rising star in the Republican culture of corruption. Remember what Abramoff said about him two weeks ago in Vanity Fair? "As best I can remember, when I met with him, he didn't have his eyes shut. I'm surprised that Senator McCain has joined the chorus of amnesiacs."
Tim: Ahhh, the "Straight Talk Express" ... derailed. But I agree, it's Frist. Now Santurm v. Conrad Burns. If ever there was a matchup that both people deserved to advance in. But there's gotta be a winner.
Josh: I like Burns in this one, who can forget the quote from Abramoff, again, in that Vanity Fair piece: "Every appropriation we wanted [from Burns's committee] we got. Our staffs were as close as they could be. They practically used Signatures as their cafeteria. I mean, it's a little difficult for him to run from that record."
Tim: Too tough to call here. We all know Conrad Burns is so deep in culture of corruption he might not even run for re-election this year, but Santorum, I mean, this guy doesn't get the name "Captain K-Street" for nothing. And so brazen too ... you hate to see that kind of chutzpah go out in the first round. The man has zero shame. None. First he denies ever even talking to Grover Norquist -- then a video shows up Santorum thanking him for all his support.
Josh: Remember that Washington Post article earlier this month?
After saying in January that he would end his regular meetings with lobbyists, Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), the third-ranking GOP leader in the Senate, has continued to meet with many of the same lobbyists at the same time and on the same day of the week.
Tim: I like Burns. But man that was tough.
Josh: Yeah, gotta be Conrad Burns. Either way, neither of them will be in the Senate come 2007.
Tim: That's about all the time we have right now ... join us later as we disect the other half of the bracket.
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