Life on the campaign trail can indeed be lonely for a presidential candidate struggling to gain traction.

The photo above captures Republican Sam Brownback speaking to a sparse audience at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Tuesday. To be fair, there were at least 11 more people on the right side of the room, not pictured here.

Still, this can't bode well for the Brownback campaign. What does the Republican senator from Kansas need to do to capture the voters' interest? Or is it a hopeless case? Leave your comments below.

Once a year, the political glitterati are forced into a hotel ballroom to laugh at themselves for the entertainment of the D.C. radio and TV correspondents. I guess it's payback for the other 364 days a year that the press corp slogs through double talk and spin from these people.


So, President Bush ( watch him long for the good ol' days) and MC Rove ( watch him rap! and dance!) and Nancy Pelosi (she laughed at Bush's comparison to his mother) play along gamely, displaying their under-exercised funny bones -- even though we know they must be gritting their teeth. And dreading they still have this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner to go.

So how do you think they did: Who was the funniest? Were any jokes over the line? And are the Dick Cheney shooting jokes finally getting old?

Al Gore returned to his old Capitol Hill stomping grounds Wednesday to testify before a joint hearing by two House committees on the issue of climate change. The homecoming proved to be "an emotional ocassion" (Gore had not been back officially since the then-VP last presided over the Senate in 2001) as the former congressman and senator was welcomed back warmly. By Democrats, at least.


Once memory lane was adequately strolled, Gore turned his emotional energy to the mission of the day: warning his former colleagues that the future of humanity rests in their hands. Here's more from AP:

"I want to testify today about what I believe is a planetary emergency -- a crisis that threatens the survival of our civilization and the habitability of the Earth," Gore said. "The consequences are mainly negative and headed toward catastrophic unless we act."

He will later testify before a Senate committee that includes Hillary Clinton.

The now-Grammy and Academy Award winner is getting the rock star treatment. But do you think Congress will act on this issue? Should it? And would you like to see Gore enter the 2008 presidential race? Leave your comments below.

Look out Iowans: John McCain and his "Straight Talk Express" have teamed up again for a tour of your state. For the next two days the tandem will be rolling through the first-in-the-nation caucus state in search of election momentum. From AP:

"Deja vu all over again," the four-term Republican senator said as he embarked on a two-day bus tour of Iowa with his wife, Cindy.

"I'm very happy with where we are right now," McCain said of his campaign, dismissing national polls that show him trailing rival Rudy Giuliani. "We're fine."

The 2000 McCain campaign came up with its "straight talk" slogan to capitalize on the Arizona senator's image as a maverick. These days though, McCain's independent reputation has been tarnished by his lockstep support with the Bush administration on the Iraq war.

Another thing is different since the days of '00: the fact that McCain is stumping for primary votes in Iowa at all. He skipped the state to focus on New Hampshire last time around.

Now that McCain has the band back together again, can he get his campaign rolling? Or has too much changed in the past six years for him to rely on that old "Straight Talk" tune?

So, this is what all the fuss was about?

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., joins the House ranks, becoming the first Muslim to do so. And, as passionately debated earlier, he used an historic copy of the Koran for his ceremonial swearing-in, pictured above.

He also apparently had a first encounter with his chief critic, Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., on the House chamber floor. Our sister blog, The Feed, has the full scoop and video.

It took over 200 years, but a woman joins the distinguished line of men who have led the U.S. House of Representatives. With Nancy Pelosi's election to the post, she also moves up the line of succession -- to No. 2, just behind Vice President Dick Cheney.

How will she do? Leave your predictions in the comments.

So the incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hit the White House earlier today for lunch with the president. The goal? To start the great thawing between two leaders who've had some famously harsh things to say about each other.

So, how'd it go? Let's consult the photo op...

They look comfortable together already, don't ya think?

Me either. So, they're not going to be BFFs. But can these two crazy kids make it work for the next two years? Share your thoughts below.