In my ongoing coverage of the rapid extinction of GOP women holding elected office, I have more bleak news. The NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) has added 14 new candidates to its "Young Guns" program, and promoted 15 of its Young Guns to "Contender" status. Of the 14 added, one is a woman; of the 15 promoted, one is a woman.

Sometimes, the pathetic dysfunction of politics unfolds on such a masterful arc, it seems the work of a playwrite, or short-story author. I'm not sure whether this one is comedy or tragedy, but consider:

--Organized labor in Massachusetts had a true-blue, loyal, lunch-bucket union guy ready to go in the special Senate election in congressman Stephen Lynch.

In this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix -- in print tomorrow, online now -- I have a small item about lobbying expenditures on Beacon Hill in 2009 (to which I referred earlier this week).

The article is here: Bay State's Top Lobbyists.

Also, you should check out my colleague Chris Faraone's story on efforts to curb violence in Boston: The War Over Peace

I recently suggested that you keep an eye on the GOP primary in Illinois's 10th congressional district, for an early sign about the prospects of actual Republican women getting elected this year. (BTW, Hotline chimed in on that topic today.)

Well, the woman in question, Elizabeth Coulson, has just conceded defeat to businessman Robert Dold.

Later this week you'll see an item I have in the new issue of the Phoenix about Massachusetts lobbying in 2009. Overall, there seems to have been a slight drop in spending from 2008, when big issues like the energy bill and auto-insurance reform were on the table -- but there were also increases around issues that got hot on Beacon Hill last year.

According to reports, Scott Brown has $4 million left over in his Senate campaign account. That would give him the second-biggest war chest in the Bay State -- behind only former congressman Marty Meehan, who just may be Brown's opponent when he faces re-election in 2012.

Brown's flood of donations came after the new year, and is not represented in the 2009 campaign-finance reports that I have been poring through.

I just saw Rachel Maddow doing a full segment about James O'Keefe -- the guy behind the ACORN videotaping, who was arrested earlier this week -- and I have decided that, as much as I don't want to talk about James O'Keefe, I am going to talk about James O'Keefe in order to explain why people like Maddow (and Olbermann, and Schuster, and liberal bloggers, etc.

There's an interesting primary coming up next week, for those who share my fascination with the declining number of elected women Republicans. As I have written before, this year will be critical in whether that trend reverses or solidifies. That's because a lot of new Republicans will be elected this year (regardless of whether it's a 'wave' election cycle or not -- although obviously more if it is), providing a brief window to get some women into office.

In this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix -- in print tomorrow, online now -- I look at the emboldened Massachsetts Republican Party in the wake of Scott Brown's stunning Senate victory.

In the heady aftermath of victory, state Republicans are suddenly optimistic that 2010 might be another 1990. That optimism is helping push potentially strong candidates toward running, which in turn increases the chances of gains in November.

A couple of updates to my most recent rankings of the GOP's top contenders for the 2012 Presidential nomination:

--Mike Pence (#2) has declined to run for Senate against Evan Bayh, which to me suggests that the whole thing was a ploy to get more public attention among conservatives for his 2012 Presidential ambitions.

The Boston City Council's general irrelevance and futility -- and the mayor's unilateral power -- was a topic of much discussion during last year's city elections. The solid re-election of Tom Menino was, to some degree at least, a vote to maintain that balance, but the issue clearly resonated.

Council president Mike Ross announced committee assignments today, and there is some glimmer that he may be trying to push the council toward a slightly more equitable balance with the executive branch.

I have a habit of picking on Joe Tecce's Restaurant as the emblematic site of political fundraisers and dinner meetings. But is it really number one among pols? With the new campaign-finance reports in, we can find out -- or at least, we can see where the campaign committees and PACs spent the most money in 2009.

A quick search shows a whopping $95,968 paid to Joe Tecce's last year from committees that file with OCPF.

"Mark" asks:

Is Joe Malone serious about running for Congress and does he have a prayer?

In a similar vein, "Southshore Pragmatist" asks via email:

Are Republicans really dumb enough to try to capitalize on Brown's momentum by nominating a guy for Congress (Joe Malone) that essentially went into political exile for 10 years because four of his hand-picked staffers ransacked the Treasury of $9 million?

"Mike D." asks:

Have you been able to analyze Tuesday’s election returns for Boston? If so, is there anything worth noting (e.g., potential vulnerable candidates heading into this fall's elections)?

I have only taken a limited look at the breakdown to this point, so this is a limited analysis, but I don't see a lot of evidence that there are areas with a surprisingly large Brown vote coupled with a potentially vulnerable incumbent state legislator.