I guess I need to toss that English degree of mine in the circular file -- it didn't even teach me limerick scansion! I'm not too bad at heroic couplets, sonnets and villanelles though.
Formatting was the bigger thing than the extra 2 beats; like I say, I wanted to post that to this thread anyway.
Thanks for your contribution.
If you look closely at mine, you may find that while there are the right number of syllables, they don't always read as smoothly as a limerick should. To this I say, read it 'stiffly' in a John Kerry voice.
Someone should consider sending some of these to the RNC/GOP to share the laugh.