It would be a uniquely American irony if Alex P. Keaton, who taught a generation of young Republicans how to knot a tie, flipped Congress to the Democrats. It'd be an even greater irony if Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity helped. Yet, by making Michael J Fox's appeal for candidates supporting stem-cell research the biggest political story in the second-to-last week before the biggest off-year election in over a decade, they might have done just that.

Fox plans to appear with New Jersey's Robert Menendez, the Democratic candidate in one of the tightest Senate races in the country. To offset Hollywood stardom (and to make it all the harder for Menendez to take advantage of his small lead over Tom Kean Jr.), the National Republican Senatorial Committee just dropped $5 million dollars into New Jersey for the last two weeks of the race.

In a related story, Meredith Baxter's agent is presently getting an earful of "Why didn't you get me out front on clean coal!?"

NRSC to Invest As Much As $5M In New Jersey [The Hotline]