On the other hand, the media, in trying to prove that Republicans are stupid, make themselves look stupid.

Q Does the President support the Republican candidate for Senate in Connecticut?

MR. SNOW: The President supports the democratic process in the state of Connecticut, and wishes them a successful election in November.

Q Wait a minute. I realize he supports democracy, but I'm wondering, does he actually support his own party's candidate?

MR. SNOW: I know that's not news —

Q Why aren't you committing — why wouldn't the President commit support for the Republican candidate in that —

MR. SNOW: I don't know. Why do you ask? Is there something about the candidate that I should know about that would lead to judgments?

Q I'm just asking you —

MR. SNOW: No, that's just a —

Q — it seems like a very natural thing, why wouldn't he support a member of his own party? Is it because he's well behind in the polls? Is it because the President likes Joe Lieberman? What's — why not?

MR. SNOW: There may be — there are a whole host of reasons the President — I'm just not going to play.

Q It's not really a game —

MR. SNOW: It's not a game. It's not a game, but I'll — okay, I'll tell you what. I'll refer you to the political office to give you the full judgments on that. I think you know the situation in Connecticut.

Let me harness my multitude skills of political punditry to explain the situation in Connecticut to some of the not particularly intelligent in the White House press corps.

The GOP candidate in Connecticut doesn't have a chance of winning. If Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont keeled over tomorrow, the GOP candidate would lose the write-in vote to Mickey Mouse.

So, there are two realistic possibilities to come out of the Connecticut race: Joe Lieberman can win or Ned Lamont can win.

Lieberman and Lamont are indistinguishable from each other on 98 percent of the issues facing the nation. The remaining 2 percent consists of the war in Iraq, national security and fighting terrorism. On this 2 percent, Lieberman is in line with President Bush.

Every vote in Connecticut for the GOP candidate who can't possibly win is a vote that Lieberman doesn't get and a boon for Lamont. Republicans aren't idiots, so they aren't going to put blind loyalty to party above cool political calculation -- a Lieberman win is the best possible outcome in Connecticut.