Romney and Religion

"I don't need to tell you which poll got all the media attention. Do I?

"The Zogby survey was covered repeatedly on CNN, earned coverage from MSNBC, Fox News, and Reuters and was covered by multiple other smaller outlets."

Gallup got squat.

John McCain's problem is that no one is beating up on him? That's the Roger Simon thesis:

"In politics, you don't draw attacks for only two reasons: You are a saint or you are irrelevant.

"According to the RealClearPolitics Poll Averages, McCain is in fourth place nationally, fifth place in Iowa, third place in New Hampshire and fourth place in South Carolina. So he could use some buzz, even if it's in the form of an attack."

Attention, blog triumphalists: You win this round. At least according to this Slate report by Christopher Beam:

"You know it's 2007 when a candidate, in this case Mike Huckabee, holds a bifurcated conference call, first with reporters, then with bloggers. I listened in on both calls to see what the differences were. The reporters' questions were much more concise and polished. But the bloggers' questions were more substantive by a long shot. Here's a sampling of the reporters' questions, paraphrased:

"How much flak are you getting for endorsements by Chuck Norris and Ric Flair? Is the drop in violence in Iraq making it a less important campaign issue? What's it like facing the Clinton political machine? Why aren't you spending more time in Iowa right now? What do you think of Romney and Giuliani going after each other? What's going to be your strategy coming out of Iowa?

"Compare that with questions raised by the (largely pro-Huckabee) bloggers:

"Can you speak about the Arkansas home-schooling bill that came up when you were governor? How is the Fair Tax likely to affect tourism in Michigan? What are your thoughts on a parental rights amendment? How do you plan to make education a bigger issue on the trail? Can you respond to claims that your economic policies are in line with populist traditions of the Democratic party? What would you say to immigrants turned off by all the anti-immigration talk among Republicans?

"Everyone knows the media is shallow, horse-race obsessed, blah blah blah . . . but in many cases, bloggers really are the ones driving discussion of the issues."

We'll get around to Huckabee and the issues . . . any month now.

Finally, do these people never learn?

"The American Red Cross dismissed its president and chief executive, Mark W. Everson, on Tuesday, citing his 'personal relationship with a subordinate employee.' "