Way, way back in the latter years of the 20th century, when I first came to Washington to cover Capitol Hill, a colleague at the Los Angeles Times recommended that I read a book on notable Speakers of the House that had been written by an up-and-coming Congressman from Wyoming and his brainy wife. It was called “Kings of the Hill,” and …

John McCain just confirmed what at least a few people were already thinking about his partner on the stage. Schilling just deftly deflected a question about what would have happened if Alex Rodriguez had come to Boston, first with some humor — “Is there any New York media here?” — and then with self-deprecation — “I’ve said some …

Over at Gristmill, David Roberts reports that Nancy Pelosi is leaving a carbon footprint … on the posteriors of some of her recalcitrant colleagues:

Well, there’s remarkable stuff going on up on the hill today. Thanks to the persistence of Nancy Pelosi (and others), the energy bill has been almost entirely restored to its original

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Proudly bedraggled.

Jim Poniewozik raises this point:

Speaking of which, why, exactly, does it constitute “bigotry” to vote against someone on the basis of their religion? Religious beliefs are relevant, strong and foundational–as political candidates never tire of reminding us. No one calls it bigotry when someone votes for a candidate explicitly

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Mike Huckabee’s Wayne Dumond problem seems to be getting bigger. Writing on Huffington Post, Murray Waas has evidence showing that as governor of Arkansas Huckabee was petitioned to block the release of Dumond, a convicted rapist, by several former victims who warned that Dumond would be a threat to society if he was released. Over the …

Our colleague Jim Poniewozik has posted a thoughtful if admittedly cynical preview of Romney’s upcoming speech about “faith in the public square.” And I think he’s onto something, especially with these observations:

Is Romney’s Mormonism a subject he has no choice but to face now? Or is it a media briar patch he’s willingly throwing

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The Boston Globe has a jaw-dropping story about Romney’s lawn care issues. Not crabgrass, but illegal immigrants. Specifically, the same illegal immigrants that were working for him last year. This is only a jaw-dropping story, of course, because of Romney’s own heated rhetoric on the issue. And, I gotta say, for a guy who is campaigning …

Why we love C-SPAN: As Mitt Romney prepares to give his much-anticipated speech on religion, it’s worth spending 46 minutes watching this clip of JFK’s famous September 1960 appearance before the Houston Ministerial Association. The speech itself is eloquent and powerful, but more remarkable is the brutal question-and-answer session that …

Last night, John McCain’s response to a student’s question about Darfur drew perhaps the evening’s loudest round of applause (except for the standing ovation he got at the end). He reiterated — as he’s done before — that America must do something: in 2006 he and Bob Dole suggested that U.S. use its intelligence assets to investigate …

Yesterday Pew released its “Democratic Primary Preview” polls, done in association with the AP, from Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina (giving Clinton a slight lead in the first and big leads in the other two). Today comes the “Republican Primary Preview”, with numbers from the same three states testing the strength of the GOP …