Tour de France Politics

Hotline OnCall runs through every imaginable political analogy, at play in the Tour de France, which kicks off this weekend in...France. The post includes contributions from such illustrious cycling fans/political journalists as Pollster.com's Mark Blumenthal, Hotline editor Amy Walter, and Jeremy Jacobs of Campaigns and Elections. Just to give you a small taste:

-- Alberto Contador = Nancy Pelosi. A very good run over the last several years, but with many enemies made along the way. Still the most talented player. Has to be considered the odds-on favorite based on past history.

-- Andy Schleck = Eric Cantor. Young, aggressive, talented. But still finding the right way to victory. Needs a bit more experience to become dominant, but definitely with the raw talent to pull off something big.

-- Lance Armstrong = Rahm Emanuel. Lance may be from Texas, but he is like Rahm -- a classically trained practitioner of "The Chicago Way." Fair, fierce, loyal and willing to do whatever it takes, and God help you if you cross them.

-- Cadel Evans = Jim DeMint. A damn hard guy to figure out. Clearly able to do some amazing stuff and his supporters are fiercely loyal. But most folks find him ... well, odd.

-- Ivan Basso = Chuck Schumer. So talented, so cool, so good on his feet. Everything about him just screams "talent" and "natural." Oh, and getting into trouble seems to slide right off him.

My contribution: Miguel Indurain as Bill Clinton. His first-place finishes, five in a row from '91 through '95, roughly coincide with Clinton's rise. He finished 11th in 1996, while the Lewinsky affair was going on. He never raced in the Tour after that. He's the early-'90s king of cycling, and he had style. Not unlike our 42nd president.