PoliticalDerby.com

On the eve of the eve of Iowa, here’s a story from the Washington Post that will start your new year with a grin and some insight into the candidates.

CLINTON, Iowa — It’s not at all unusual for folks in this town to meet at least one of the presidential candidates. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Chris Dodd et al. have campaigned amid Clinton’s 27,000 residents in recent months.

What’s unusual — okay, a little odd — is for someone to have met almost all the candidates and taken photos of each one smiling with his Mr. Potato Head. That’s right. Mr. Potato Head.

Note McCain’s positioning of the potato head in his portrait. Happy 2008, All! The horses are in the gate!