Every Monday it is my pleasure to sit in with Steve Hiller on 90.1 WMBI-FM in Chicago to discuss the events of the day. Today if those who listen to "Prime Time Chicago" would like I've decided to open up a special offer to them and anyone else that would like...

My syndicated column comes out every Sunday here on TownHall - but I would like to offer convenient free delivery of it for you simply shoot me an e-mail here with the e-mail address you would like to have it delivered to...

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2pm:
If a person has a moral objection to gambling, then cashing in lotto tickets from Christmas makes one a hypocrite - right? It's never happened to me before but one of my co-workers, and one of the Lovely Bride's gave us lottery tickets and scratch and wins. I am on the record opposing the expansion of state lotteries and the expansion of gambling. The Lovely Bride's scratch and wins netted $20 of winnings off of $6 of cards. If we cash these winning tickets - that we did not purchase - we become accessories in the perils that come into people's lives. 800.345.WMCA.

3pm:
A man is much more likely to commit adultery if he fears no consequences. Fox Broadcast has a new game show hitting the airwaves first part of 2008. The promo ran in the middle of the football games yesterday. Contestants hooked up to lie detector machines, and the question was: "Would you cheat on your spouse if it were guaranteed there would be no chance of getting caught?" Every man in America would have to do one of two things: "say yes" or "say no and risk a spike on the falsehood meter." Bonus question: "Should a healthy, self respecting person play these game shows?"  Hey here's an idea, feature two special episodes guesting the primary candidates of the individual political parties! 800.345.WMCA.

3:55pm: The McCULLOUGH PUNCH
Moral Clarity in Iowa!

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...spamming anything that moves...

What subject matter could evoke the worst internet instincts (and etiquette) amongst the least civil supporters of any of the GOP 2008 candidates?

Bonus exit question: Before the end of the day Sunday - how many Ron Paul spammers will leave comments there?

"OUT!"

Aside from the utter destruction it would do to American society as we have come to know it over the last 200 years, wouldn't it be a hoot to see these two in the Oval Office?

"I don't recall God speaking to me..."

Ok... here's a little theological spice to throw into the holiday weekend mix.

My Mormon readers insist on being counted as part of orthodox Christianity. My Evangelical readers reject that resoundingly. But I'm somewhat certain that in both Mormon and Evangelical traditions the claim would be made that direct revelation from God has occurred many times since Moses and the burning bush.

The entire biblical account of the Gospels, the Apostle Paul - I mean if taken literally the life of Christ on earth also counts... Not to mention the biblical ministry of the Holy Spirit that evangelicals refer to as indwelling and guiding.

Mitt's claim could be written off as a moment of jesting - but then that draws into credibility the claim that he takes his faith seriously and endeavors to live by it.

If he opts for the "well there are things about my private life that I will always keep separate from my public service" response to the reporter's question then he is in to the Ted Kennedy style of religion - which is pretty much fake.

To be honest it doesn't much surprise me that the East Coasters didn't get their necks bent because of his response. I mean do people on the east coast really connect religion and life for the most part? But it does seem telling to me that the Utah brand of Mormonism would have theological problems with Mitt's laugh it off approach... especially since it calls directly into question the reliability of his story about crying when he heard the news that black people were finally equal in the Mormon church.

I'm with Bryan though - not being Mormon I merely find this "interesting" but not crossing over into the realm of "deal-breaking."

UPDATE: Pre-Eminent Mormon Scholar Says Governor Romney’s Comment Doesn’t Contradict LDS Church. “Jan Shipps, one of the pre-eminent Mormon scholars, says Romney’s comment doesn’t contradict LDS Church beliefs because he mentions that God spoke to ’some others,’ and he didn’t just leave it at Moses.” (Thomas Burr, “Comment Appears At Odds With LDS Faith,” Salt Lake Tribune, 12/22/07)

Mitt's: "Searched"

When advising campaigns I always think the "human element" ads are the strongest thing you can produce (on the positive side of the ledger). There is so much I like about this ad it's hard to fit it all in. One thing that stood out to me is the indictment it is to Giulianni. There's no timeline mentioned, there's no reference to the Mayor - but invoking New York City is way more than just symbolic. "Command Center"? Finding someone's LOST loved one? The funny thing is the producers may not have even intended it to be an anti-Giuliani message - but the conclusive overwhelming effect certainly leads the mind to that result.

I've said it soooo many times before Mitt's video team is perhaps the best I've ever seen in a presidential cycle. Ad after ad after ad have been so compelling, so dead center on target. This early in the primaries and they're already producing the quality of spots that we don't often see until late summer...

Huck's: "Enough"

Dick Morris repeatedly says on nearly every television and radio show he does that the most important campaign ad is the "reponse" ad. Because for most, it is the "final positioning" of whatever the specific issue is in the minds of the voters. If that's true then Huck does himself pretty good in this newest ad. A firm rebuke to the red-faced-press-secretaries in waiting. And yet he manages to keep it positive. And that's hard to do. But this speaks to Huck's original appeal that the TownHall/NRO nexxus still really fails to grasp. An analyst who shall not be named spent yesterday documenting each gaffe that he could count of Huck's. Like a twelve year old with an abacus the score piled up. Then there was the self-congratulatory gloating on-air... but with all respect - it didn't move the needle on Huck. Huck's supporters aren't supporting him because he's perfect, or that he attempts to look, sound, or campaign perfectly. There is a trust factor that Huck's supporters are with him on that runs deeper than that - and that's why it drives the pointy-left-brainer-my-listeners-are-all-the-rich-smart-better-than-you-types a little crazy. Huck will never shop at Nordstrom, and people like him all the more for the fact that he's ok with that.

DISCLAIMER: For the first time in my punditry history I have chosen NOT to endorse publicly a GOP primary candidate. I am ready to support the nominee, even agressively as long as that nominee is not Rudy Giuliani, well and Ron Paul (but come one no one even thinks he's still running...) There are problems with every single one of our candidates and some significant ones with Mitt, Fred, and Huck, even more with McCain. Yet because any of these four would be clearly superior to Obama, Hillary, Edwards... I can eagerly work for any of them (for McCain while holding my nose.)

...uh-oh...

Yes we all know about the evangelical bigot's "get soft on crime" for born-agains in prison program...

But now we find out that Romney let killers go free too?

The probe uncovered six disciplinary complaints against Tavares between 1993 and 2005 that should have kept him in prison a total of 720 days, nearly two years beyond his release in July...

...Sources said the single most egregious breakdown came under Romney in 2003, when administration officials missed a 60-day deadline for filing paperwork to strip Tavares of 300 days of previously awarded “good time.”

...paid for by McCain, to be used against Mitt, designed by Mitt's media gurus...

Is anyone else's head spinning?

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2pm:
Roger Friedman of FoxNews notes today that pop culture hates celebrities, because of things like the 2007 Anna Nicole Smith, PerezHilton, TMZ effect. He calls it angry bitterness. Isolation, Velvet Ropes, Pushy Publicists, Thuggish Security. I know I have harbored a good deal of "CelebriHate" or at the very least "CelebriDislike" - Tom Brady for example...and I extend it to his whole team. My father-in-law won't go see a movie that's made by an ever growing list of actors. Friedman implies the anger comes from jealousy. My opinion is that it runs much deeper than that... what do you think? 800.345.WMCA.

3pm:
A man asks a woman to marry him but insists she not ask him any important questions before accepting. Would she? Of course not! An employee seeks a job position for a company but has a strict "no questions" policy during his interview - does he get the job? Not in the normal world. Yet with only days left before Iowa, a leading candidate in one of the two parties implements a "no questions" policy. Several Christian ministries have done the same now that they are being investigated by Congress. How does that make a supporter feel? What does it incline a voter towards (support/distance)? I don't feel like we would tolerate that in family, friend, work, church, or community personal relationships. 800.345.WMCA.

3:55pm: The McCULLOUGH PUNCH
Winging it in Iowa!

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"...Friday Zen..."

...owned part of stem-cell research company...

Question: Which is worse? (Please answer in comment section)
a.) Being compensated for speeches made to diabetes research company...
b.) Partial ownership of adamant advocate stem-cell research company...

I have continually stated and restated this from the beginning of the now very long campaign. NO candidate in memory has used television ads more effectively in any campaign I've ever witnessed than Team Romney.

With McCain attempting to make a push in New Hampshire, Mitt's new spot hits hard while striking EXACTLY the right tone. And a bonus advantage that the GOP would have if Romney were the candidate is exactly THIS strength in the general election - so much so that Northeastern states would be put into play that no other right of center GOP candidate could.

ANYONE BUT RUDY - an idea whose time has come!

"Deflating?"

Even though I've pasted the disclaimer across my laptop's monitor: "Any reading of Hugh's pages must be taken with nearly a full bag of salt," I'm still curiouser and curiouser as to how he arrives at conclusions like:

The deflation of the Huckabee campaign frees up voters to go to either Romney, Thompson or McCain though any evangelical leaving Huckabee is unlikely to look past Senator McCain's opposition to a federal Marriage Amendment or the Gang of 14. Romney and Thompson are both pushing conservative agendas, but the momentum is with the former governor as the home stretch opens in Iowa.

Certainly Hugh's pronouncement of Huck's demise following the New York Times issue that never was - has had ZERO impact on his numbers. But it seems to me that every single day Hugh is predicting more and more things - that don't come true.

With ALL the hits that Hugh has levied at Huck in the last half of the last month alone - did it move the needle even a tiny fraction?

Not nationally according to Rasmussen, who is the MOST TRUSTWORTHY pollster out there, yesterday he showed Huck's support ticking UP. And not according to the multiple pollsters that are working Iowa - one of which has Huck at 36%, and an average of all the polls - including Rasmussen's most recent has Huck up by an AVERAGE of 3%.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I do not work for the Huckabee campaign, I have no shot of being picked as Press Secretary for any of the candidates, and was not commissioned to write any of the candidate's books. And while I enjoy a fine relationship with all of the campaigns (with perhaps the exception of Ron Paul), I am not endorsing ANY of them in the GOP primary race 2008.

"I'm done... buh-bye!"

Los Angeles Times' is noting that Hillary has shut off her events to any more questions. Not from voters (for the last two days), nor from media (when a camera crew approached her on the death of Bhutto she AND Chelsea moved away...)

What IDIOT strategist thinks that this ancient antique tactic (from her husband's campaign days) will work in our uber-transparent, new media, expectation-driven campaign cycle in 2008?

...mostly because of him - the skuz-bucket.

Any man who knocks up one woman he purposefully chooses NOT to commit to, to only then leave her pregnant and all for his supremodel flavor of the month... deserves the scorn of ALL decent people everywhere.

"scummy"

Besides, how idiotic do you have to be to drop an intelligent AND gorgeous BRUNETTE, to take up with a BLONDE whose biggest "accomplishments" are measured by inches followed by a non-capitalized letter?