After weeks of hinting that he would be available for the Democratic presidential nomination, Vice President Alben Barkley goes one step further, announcing he will actively seek the nod. As his campaign button suggests, he is hoping lightning will strike.

The announcement comes just two weeks before the party convention will open in Chicago. President Harry Truman surprised the nation back in March by saying he will not run again.

Barkley, at 74, would be the oldest person ever elected to the presidency. The leading Democratic candidates are thought to be Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee and Averell Harriman, the Mutual Security Director, but the nomination will go to Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson.

Today in Campaign History is a daily feature on Political Junkie.

She's also found herself in many controversies away from home: battling with talk-show host David Letterman, giving mixed signals about attending a GOP fundraising dinner in Washington, and being blamed by some unnamed John McCain staffers for the party's defeat last year.

But few expected her to flat-out resign. On the one hand, it could give her more time to prepare for a 2012 presidential run -- while the conventional wisdom is that she still needs to work out her deficiencies to be seen as a serious candidate, polls show her popularity among Republicans still very high.

Or it could signal that she's had enough -- of the attacks and the ridicule she and her family have endured since she was named to the ticket in 2008.

Fourth of July fireworks started a bit early this year.

I miss it already.

Plus: The myth of the 60-vote Senate majority, Mark Sanford and John Edwards try to decide which scandal has more of an "ick" factor, Sarah Palin flags a new controversy, and Carolyn Maloney is set to challenge Kirsten Gillibrand in New York -- until Rahm Emanuel shows up with an offer she can't refuse.

And it can all be found here:

Credits --
Nonstop talkers: Ron Elving and Ken Rudin
Producer: Evie Stone

Wanna subscribe to the podcast? You can do it through iTunes.

Wanna hear previous episodes? Click here.

Wanna be on my weekly mailing list? Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Wanna follow my rantings on Twitter? Go to http://twitter.com/kenrudin.

This Friday, we celebrate the Fourth of July holiday.

So today, one day early, we celebrate another great American tradition: ScuttleButton.

And here's how to play the game.

It's a rebus. Simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)

And don't focus on a political answer. It doesn't necessarily have to be political, though it could be.

A correct answer chosen at random gets his or her name in this column. Personally, I can't imagine a greater honor.

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state -- you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Here's the answer to last week's puzzle.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be the first on your block to receive notice when a new puzzle goes up on the blog. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck, have fun, and have a happy and safe 4th.

I thought she was from Argentina, not South Korea.

The point being, had he focused on solving the latest ScuttleButton puzzle, instead of opening up his heart to the Associated Press, he might have had a chance of political survival.

But he didn't. And he doesn't. And, as a consequence, someone else is this week's ScuttleButton winner.

Less than a year after the famed March on Washington, Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is signed into law by President Johnson, shortly after the House votes to pass it, 289-126. The Senate approved it on June 19 by a vote of 73-27.

Among those voting against it was Arizona's Barry Goldwater, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.

Today in Campaign History is a daily feature on Political Junkie.

This week, ScuttleButton appears on Thursday!

Answer: They were both born in South Carolina except for Sanford, who was born in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

In short, they don't have much in common.

Except this: there's a current fixation on their extra-marital activities.

Or, as they say on cable television, the gifts that keep on giving.

Writing in the WorldNetDaily blog, Chelsea Schilling tells us that Joe Wurzelbacher is back on the political scene, planning to attend tea parties on the Fourth of July for the purpose of "taking America back." He's going to speak in Conroe, Texas, on July 2 and then in Austin the following day.

But what about a run for office from Joe himself?

It doesn't look like it's going to happen. Said Joe, "I hope not. You know, I talked to God about that and he was like, 'No.' "

The Minnesota Supreme Court rules against Norm Coleman, who concedes his Senate contest to Al Franken.

Mark Sanford gives TMI to AP.

And speaking of tell-alls, a former aide to John Edwards inks a book deal.

Plus: gays and the Obama administration. Promises were made, and some gay leaders say the president has yet to deliver.

Join host Neal Conan and me every Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET for the Junkie segment on TOTN, where you can often, but not always, find interesting conversation, useless trivia questions and sparkling jokes. And you can win a Political Junkie T-shirt!

Last week's segment -- which was interrupted by the Sanford shocker -- can be heard here.

If your local NPR station doesn't carry TOTN, you can hear the program on the Web or on HD Radio. And if you are a subscriber to XM/Sirius radio, you can find the show there as well (siriusly).

Martha Mitchell wanted her husband to quit politics. His resignation as Nixon's campaign manager came too late to save him from prison.

John Mitchell, the former U.S. attorney general, announces his resignation as President Nixon's campaign manager. He will be replaced by former Rep. Clark MacGregor (R-MN), the chief White House adviser on congressional relations and the 1970 GOP Senate nominee against Hubert Humphrey.

Mitchell's decision comes a week after his wife, Martha, tells reporter Helen Thomas of UPI that she will leave him if he does not give up politics. It also comes, coincidentally of course, two weeks after five men, including one employed by the Committee for the Re-Election of the President -- headed by Mitchell -- are arrested in an attempt to bug the Democratic national headquarters at the Watergate office building.

Today in Campaign History is a daily feature on Political Junkie.

But all that changed today. The court, in a unanimous decision, rejected Coleman's argument that previously rejected absentee ballots should be counted. The justices said Al Franken (D) won the election, and that the 238-day saga needed to come to an end.

Coleman agreed, conceding the election and congratulating Franken.

Al Franken (D) wins.

It's over.

But I say Norm Coleman concedes the election to Al Franken at his 3 p.m. Central/4 p.m. Eastern news conference.

Anyone think otherwise?

But no word yet from Norm Coleman (R), who has been thwarted once again by another legal ruling. Late word says he will have a statement at 3 p.m. Central time (4 p.m. Eastern).