Nancy Pelosi

Dear Madam Speaker:

I want to congratulate you for personally seeing to it the Bailout Bill would go down in flames. You broke the simplest rule of politics, “Don’t gloat before you vote.”

Democratic committees from the three counties that comprise the 1st Congressional District will meet tonight to put U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews back (D-Haddon Heights) on the ballot.

Pretty much everyone acknowledges that's a foregone conclusion.  Everyone, that is, except Andrews.

Andrews said that he doesn't take his candidacy for granted, and has reached out to over 500 county committee men and women from Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties.

"All I know is I've made an effort to reach out to as many county committee people as I can," he said.  "I just think people want to be asked, and these are the people that have been most instrumental in my political success.  The committee people are really the heart and soul of the party, and I wanted to make it known that I respect their judgment."

Barack Obama shakes Bob Menendez's hand at the Democratic National Convention in Denver tonight: MSNBC Photo
U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, who did not get a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention, made it near the stage tonight -- he watched Joe Biden accept the vice presidential nomination from premium seats near the stage, in a box that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean, and former Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle. After Barack Obama joined Biden on the stage, he made his way over and shook hands with the junior Senator from New Jersey.

There is no shortage of second and third generations of American political families addressing delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week: Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy; James Roosevelt, Jr., the grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988; U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), the daughter of former New Orleans Mayor/U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Moon Landrieu; U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), the son of former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey; Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the daughter of former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the daughter of former Baltimore Mayor/U.S. Rep. Thomas D’Alesandro; Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, the son of former U.S. Sen. John Culver (D-IA); New York Gov. David Paterson, the son of former New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson; and Cecile Richards, the daughter of former Texas Governor Anne Richards.

Check out the winner and runner-ups for this week's Cartoon Caption Contest.