Dept. of Advice

My advice to the Republicans is: Let it go. Let it go and wait for tomorrow. Sometimes you're down by 20 with three minutes left, you don't play hard anymore. You just finish up and wait for tomorrow. Tell them to concentrate on 2008, but not too hard.

Did I tell you I'm a Democrat?

-- Dikembe Mutombo , former Georgetown Hoya center,

now with the NBA's Houston Rockets

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Never give up. You've got to impress upon your opponent that one thing, that you haven't given up. And you have to regain the momentum in any way you can. If you have 5 or 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter and you're behind, you've gotta gain the momentum, make the other team make a mistake and capitalize on it. Right now, maybe the Democrats have the mental edge. So the Republicans have to recapture it. If you're at fourth and long, that's your last play, that sucks. But if you're in the fourth quarter and you still have 5 or 10 minutes to go, you have time to regain the momentum.

-- Ray Schoenke , former Redskins offensive lineman and candidate

for the Democratic nomination in the 1998 Maryland gubernatorial race

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I would tell Republicans that it's time to pull out a trick play or two to catch their opponent off guard and regain momentum. Time for a double-reverse pass or an onside kick, anything you can do to startle your opponent and put him on the defensive. And they have to stay positive. In a game two weeks ago, we were down 28-7 with one minute to go in the third quarter, but we stayed positive, even though we were getting our brains beat out. And we went on to win, 35-28. You never know how the outcome can change.