A favorite question so far:

“I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians?”

And someone needs to get the snowman an agent.

The news that McCain is a sometimes-practicing Baptist will shock anyone who doesn’t remember the senator’s first presidential run, when discussions about McCain’s faith or lack of it became one of the slightly less icky arrows in Bush’s oppo arsenal. If the controversy is that he sometimes calls himself a Baptist, and sometimes an …

Though some in the party wonder whether he was ever really in it. Anyway, the former Rhode Island Senator (and Montana blacksmith) says he quietly quit the Republican Party a few months back:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he has left the Republican Party because the national GOP has drifted too far from him

…

• You’ll take our completely involuntary drawdown and you’ll like it: “If the object is to bring troops home, you would think people would be happy with that, regardless of what the reason was,” said Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, “Take yes for an answer, in other words.” [NYT]

• Prayers do get answered: KEYES-OBAMA REMATCH! …

In an interview with Bob Woodward at the Washington Post, the Maestro clarifies what is perhaps the most explosive line in his new book: “The Iraq War is largely about oil.”

Greenspan tells Woodward that this wasn’t the Administration’s motive, but his own view of the situation. And he says he made that point to the White House …

On a technical-glitch-filled conference call this morning, Hillary Clinton and Wesley Clark talked about the general’s endorsement of Clinton’s presidential bid. Clark emphasized Clinton’s preparedness — “she’s smart, she does her homework” — and said, pointedly,
“She’ll be a great commander-in-chief.”

With Rudy and McCain accusing …

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is the latest into the bookstores with a revealing book that takes a sharp look at the Bush Administration. In the Washington Post, Bob Woodward (himself the author of a book about Greenspan), cites this criticism by The Maestro:

“My biggest frustration remained the president’s

…

At a crowded rally at a VFW hall in Hudson, NH last night, McCain — again — used the MoveOn “Betray Us” ad as a emotional crowd-pleaser. It was a boisterous event, so when I thought I heard McCain call for MoveOn to be “thrown out” — and then be drowned out by applause, I first went to the campaign and asked what the candidate said. …

Give the Richardson campaign credit for being the first out of the gate on this:

Governor Bill Richardson Statement on New England Patriots Spying Incident

Of course, this isn’t simply the outrage of America’s ONLY Red Sox and Yankees fan:

SPENCER, IA– Democratic Presidential candidate Governor Bill Richardson, campaigning today in

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At a breakfast with about a dozen reporters this morning, the former Speaker, who earlier this week said it would take $30 million in pledges to get him to enter the race for the Republican presidential nomination, tamped down some of the speculation that had followed. Gingrich said: “The odds are very high that I won’t run.” But where …

I was in the second class car when this call came in, but I can tell you that it was unplanned, unscreened, and unrehearsed — and taped live: the senator’s staff found out about it from reporters who were interviewing McCain when he took Stewart’s call. For what it’s worth, an informal vote among the passengers found the “I’ll See You …