Partisan Fighting for Your Business

Barnes, likewise, is attacking Graves for his congressional voting record on affordable housing and oversight of Fannie Mae. Her campaign says the GOP assertion that Barnes is somehow to blame for the nation's economic calamity is "laughable."

"Her role on the advisory board would be like blaming a passenger on the Titanic for the failure of the captain to miss the iceberg," says Steven Glorioso, Barnes's campaign director.

Doing One's Civic Duty

Guess where Franklin Raines spent the better part of his day Wednesday? Hint: not in front of a congressional committee, where many lawmakers, especially Republicans, would love to grill him for his role in the financial nightmare.

Raines was in the D.C. Courthouse for most of the day, but not because of the alleged accounting irregularities that marked his tenure at Fannie Mae. He had jury duty, like any Joe Six-Pack.

Raines quietly read the newspapers in his "expensive blue blazer and a nice pair of slacks," according to one top Senate aide and regular On the Hill informant, while he awaited his fate on jury duty.

"Can't tell if he has noticed yet that both President Bush yesterday and then John McCain last night basically blamed the current economic crisis on Fannie and Freddie and by extension, on him," our snarky tipster e-mailed from the courthouse.

We caught up with Raines via e-mail to see if he was chosen for jury duty and whether he'd like to respond to McCain's attacks. He had no comment on the latter, but he did let us know he was off the hook for jury duty.

"Today was my biennial jury service day," replied Raines, who now sits on the board of Steve Case's Revolution Health company. "I was placed on a jury selection panel but not picked to serve. Murder case. I will be back to the court house in two years."

Rogues' Gallery

It's closing time for half the reporters in the Senate's Daily Press Gallery up here on the third floor of the Capitol. Major renovations are underway, temporarily shuttering the end of the gallery where The Washington Post, Reuters, the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal set up shop.

A host of us scribes and gallery staff have dug through decades of old files to decide what gets tossed in the trash and what's a newfound keepsake. Here's a rundown of some of the best finds so far:

· A Tandy 200 portable computer, built in 1985 (trashed).