The American Spectator

has announced he is exhibiting Alzheimer-like symptoms. The NRA was careful to orchestrate the announcement of his condition, and has already announced there are no plans for him to step aside before his term ends. /p>

And according to some board members, the group feels that this is a critical period for the organization. “We’re coming off some real successes,” says one NRA board member. “It’s been a good run. I don’t think we want to do anything to undercut what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

The latest victory was the NRA late push on behalf of Michigan Rep. John Dingell, which is partially credited with helping the Democrat win his primary challenge against anti-gun-rights Rep. Lynn Rivers.

Already the name of actor Tom Selleck has been tossed about as a possible replacement for Heston. Selleck is a lifetime member of the NRA and famously took on lesbian talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell in debating gun-ownership issues.

Unlike Heston, though, Selleck has distanced himself from politics in recent years, and most likely would not be able to provide the NRA with the full-time attention that Heston has given the group.

A darkhorse possibility? Well-known conservative activist Grover Norquist, who has sat on the NRA board for several years. “He’s media savvy, knows our issues and really pushes them,” says an NRA lobbyist, who knows Norquist. “But he probably wouldn’t want to do it, given all of the different hats he wears.”

p> LAST STOP, ATLANTA br> In one of the few congressional districts where his support would be welcome, Jesse Jackson preached in Atlanta’s Ben Hill Methodist Church and from the pulpit pushed the candidacy of Rep. Cynthia McKinney . Where many of her colleagues in Congress find her to be rather extremist in her views (recall she called for an investigation into whether or not President Bush knew in advance of the 9/11 attacks and let them happen so his family friends could make a profit), Jackson told reporters and an audience outside of the church that McKinney was a “cutting edge politician.” /p>

Ever since reports of extramarital dalliances and possible financial shenanigans in his Rainbow Coalitions and Operation PUSH offices, Jackson has been on the outs with a Democratic Party that once embraced his support for its candidates, especially African Americans. “He’s not on the top of our list of people to send out campaigning,” says a DNC advance staffer. “There aren’t many places we could send him where there wouldn’t be controversy. He’d just take attention away from the candidate. In the case of McKinney, that could work to her advantage.”