With the primary election coming up, BW put together some quick metrics using social media.

Number of "likes" on Facebook:

Idaho Republican Party: 446
Idaho Democratic Party: 3,772
Ada County Democrats: 504
Ada County Republicans: 334
The Idaho Tea Party: 20
Tea Party Boise: 73
Drinking Liberally Boise: 315
Obama for America—Idaho: 1,418
Idaho for Mitt Romney: 70
Idaho Republicans for Mitt Romney: 10
Nicole LeFavour: 658 subscribers
Mike Simpson: 831
Boise State College Republicans: 125
Boise State College Democrats: 37
Chuck Winder: 1,076 friends
Chuck Winder for Idaho: 103
James Mace, Chuck Winder's challenger: 1,250 friends

Followers on Twitter:

Idaho GOP: 2,080
Boise State College Republicans: 50
Idaho Dems: 1,705
Senator Chuck Winder: 65
James Mace, Chuck Winder's challenger: 46

From that data, it appears that President Barack Obama and the Democrats will sweep Idaho, but struggle in Ada County, and that while people may claim to be friends with Chuck Winder, no one likes or follows him.

Also, there are seven times as many Idahoans for Mitt Romney as there are Idaho Republicans for Mitt Romney, meaning a closed primary was a really bad idea, or Romney is actually a filthy moderate.

Reader analysis of the above data may be offered in the comment box below.

Once, maybe twice, it's been mentioned that there is something of an enthusiasm gap to be closed for the GOP's soon-to-be-nominee, Willard "Mittens" Romney.

To illustrate it, the good folks over at Talking Points Memo put together a mash-up of Romney and President Barack Obama speaking to college students this week.

This photo sums it up, but you really have to watch the video to fully absorb the difference.

El hefe President Barack Obama promised America a thing or 16 whilst running for office. And according to Politifact's Obamameter, his record is better than his detractors give him credit for. Only 12 percent of his promises have been broken. Not too shabby, considering Politifact is tracking more than 500 of the little devils.

One pledge was to give taxpayers increased transparency by creating an online taxpayer receipt. And that is one more pledge Politifact can slap "promise kept" on. Said online receipt is now live on the net.

Go to whitehouse.gov/2011-taxreceipt, enter in how much you paid in taxes and it will give you a breakdown of where that money went.

Spoiler alert: We hope you love defense spending so much you want to marry it, and don't give a rat's ass about science or responding to natural disasters before you look at the numbers.

Rick Santorum's campaign released a new web video this week that looks far more like a low-budget horror film than it does a campaign ad.

It features a dark montage of scenes from a post-apocalyptic small town. This town's name—Obamaville—is spelled out in fonts that look like they're straight out of a classic zombie film.

It should also be pointed out that, in addition to being bizarre and somewhat hysterical, the video is unlisted on YouTube, meaning you have to have a link to find it. Which is probably because if it were seen by the general public, it would be rightly outed as the point in presidential politics where The Fonz lands back in the water after jumping over a shark on waterskis ... and then immediately jumps another.

This is exactly the sort of thing Aaron Sorkin was writing about in the monologue climax of his film The American President.

It's legal to hunt a lot of game in Idaho, so when people from out of state decide they want to come to Idaho and hunt, it is not normally an issue. People from around the world come to hunt elk, deer, moose, bear, wolf and mountain lions. However, it is not legal to hunt mountain lions in California. And that has gotten California Fish and Game director Dan Richards into a lot of hot water back home, where California Dems are calling for his resignation as wildlife chief of the Golden State.

• California Fish and Game director Dan Richards is being pressured to resign for shooting a mountain lion in Idaho. The photo first appeared in Western Outdoor News at wonews.com.

Senior advocate Jim Metropulos published the following reaction regarding Richards' take in Idaho:

“We believe that Mr. Richards’ actions have shown that he cannot effectively serve, especially as president, on the Commission. His actions, while legal in Idaho, show utter contempt for Californians that he has sworn to serve. Should Mr. Richards fail to heed the Assembly’s request to resign, Sierra Club California urges the Legislature to remove him by passing a resolution dismissing him. While the governor appoints the members of Commission, only the Legislature may remove them. We do not have any confidence in Mr. Richards’ ability to be involved in setting policy or making decisions regarding the management of California’s fish and wildlife resources or protecting California’s endangered species. We thank Assembly member Ben Hueso for his leadership and for calling other legislators’ attention to Mr. Richards’ actions.”

Richards has not been taking the criticism lightly. He wrote a letter to the Sierra Club of California in which he said: “My 100-percent legal activity outside of California, or anyone else's for that matter, is none of your business.” He went on to say: “And so we're perfectly clear, this hunt was not a high-fence hunt, we didn't use 4-wheel drive trucks, snow machines or ATVs to chase the cat, I did not use a high-powered rifle with a scope at 300 yards and we did dine on mountain lion for dinner, all contrary to so many erroneous reports.”

He wrapped up his letter with a final jab at the legislators: "In the meantime, I will continue to hunt and fish wherever I please."

Even the most cursory look at the news can give one the impression that the world is in flames, especially here in Idaho, where we've recently seen the Republican-controlled Legislature shoot down local control of natural gas resources, block a bill to ban housing and employment discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, and pass a bill to evict those pesky Occupiers, whose vigil serves as a constant reminder of a litany of economic issues lawmakers would likely prefer to sweep under the rug.

It's enough to make you want to say f@#$ it and party. And since today is Fat Tuesday, the semi-official opening for Mardi Gras, there's no shortage of parties going down tonight.

But if you think you're the only one feeling stressed dealing with the hullaballoo, think about the poor state legislators losing the good fight. They could probably use a little moral support right about now—that or a stern half-time lecture about "winning one for the Gipper." And you could be the one to give it to them, if you can peel yourself away from Fat Tuesdaying about the city.

Lucky for you, today there's a way to combine all that into one single event.

From noon-1:15 p.m., the Ada County Democrats are hosting a FREE Brown Bag Lunch with Rep. Elaine Smith and Sen. Edgar Malepeai in the House Minority Caucus Room, Room 426, fourth floor, of the Capitol.

There you have it: It's your chance to hobnob with the Dems and to do it over lunch so you don't have to trim any fat from your Tuesday.

Those interested should RSVP by calling 208-331-2128.

• Glenn Greenwald captivated the crowd without stopping to take a breath.

Prolific political commentator Glenn Greenwald—author of books on the George W. Bush administration and most recently, With Liberty and Justice for Some—visited Boise on Feb. 11.

All morning prior to the 7 p.m. banquet, Greenwald gave interviews to local news media in the lobby of the Grove Hotel. During our 22-minute conversation, Greenwald gushed out more than 3,000 words fully transcribed. Greenwald provided his perspective on topics ranging from the militarization of city police forces to privacy concerns to drone attacks to a scathing indictment of the Obama administration's continuation of Bush-era policies.

"Once you start changing the way people think about their relationship with the government and the belief in the use of force, it's very very difficult to start to reverse it," Greenwald told Boise Weekly.

With a background as a constitutional and civil-rights lawyer, Greenwald has won numerous journalism awards, and was named one of the top 25 most influential political voices by The Atlantic.

Over dinner in the Grove Hotel, Greenwald was the keynote speaker for an evening that included a silent auction and a brief presentation by Monica Hopkins, ACLU Idaho executive director, on successes in litigation against Canyon County for its treatment of inmates.

More than one of the banquet's attendees donated $1,000 to the ACLU that evening, perhaps swayed by Greenwald's powerful speech.

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul got a face-full of glitter at a recent campaign event as part of a running protest against those perceived as being opposed to same-sex marriage.

Paul's position isn't expressly against gay marriage, but it is one that the state shouldn't be involved in marriages at all, as it's a religious matter. But he has also said that it should be left to states and local communities to decide whether to recognize marriages. Paul was also a co-sponsor of the Marriage Protection Act, which would have barred federal judges from hearing constitutional challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act.

After some posturing and flip-flopping on the subject, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released his tax returns, showing that his total income was in the neighborhood of $21.6 million in 2010. Apparently, it pays well to have a full head of hair and the emotional range of a shovel.

And if for some masochistic reason you'd like to hold that cheddar up against your annual income from working part-time at Walmart to see how it compares, Slate.com has released a handy online tool to do just that.

Just enter in your annual income and it will tell you how long it took Mitt Romney to earn it. This reporter's annual salary took Romney a full nine hours, 18 minutes and four seconds to earn. Which is good. Because if it took any less than a single work shift, I might be insulted.

Will this calculator not pass go and lead immediately to class warfare? Or is it just a good old-fashioned measuring contest? Who knows. But if it's the latter, according to C-SPAN, you're probably going to lose that one, too.

Submitted without comment: Former Utah Gov. and current Republican Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman's daughters singing a Huntsman campaign jingle to the tune of "SexyBack," by Justin Timberlake.