EPA Chief, a.k.a. Acceleratti Incredibilis

Still, there'll be plenty of uncertainty. "Not every representative has to vote by party," Ornstein said, and some may decide they should represent their district's result, or their state, or the popular vote. The pressure to heed the popular vote could be insurmountable for some.

Smile and Say 'Veep'

John McCain's choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate clearly reinvigorated his campaign and excited the country -- one way or another. Barack Obama's choice of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.? Well, maybe a little less so.

At the D terminal at Dulles Airport, in one of those airport stores, there are life-size cutouts of Obama and McCain so tourists can stand next to them and have their pictures taken to show folks back home who they ran into in D.C.

There's even a fine cutout of Palin. But Biden? Nowhere to be found.

Everyone Out of the Pool

Maybe Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), charged with hiding $250,000 in home renovations he allegedly received from an oil services company executive, caught a break as his trial opened this week.

Potential jurors in a criminal case are always questioned about their backgrounds, education, experiences with the criminal justice system, feelings about public officials and such, to ensure that they can be impartial.

But there's a different kind of question being asked in this case, our colleague Del Quentin Wilber reports, one that might make it difficult to find even one impartial juror: How, the judge and lawyers wanted to know, did each potential juror feel about home contractors?

They were interested in jurors' views about work performed by contractors and whether "it was a positive experience, a negative experience or a neutral experience."

Two jurors admitted problems with contractors. One said her contractor did such a shoddy job that someone nearly died. Neither has been struck so far by U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, but the lawyers haven't weighed in.

Still, finding someone in this town who's neutral about home contractors? Gonna be tough to put together a jury.

Hey, You

Folks on the Hill are showing a bit of exhaustion dealing with the pressure of putting together a massive bailout plan to deal with the Wall Street meltdown. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. were testifying yesterday at the Senate banking committee.

In the course of the hearing, the committee chairman, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), referred to Bernanke as "General" and "Senator."

Given the fix we're in, perhaps just "Ben" would do?

Research editor Alice Crites contributed to this column.