You could laugh or you could cry. With apologies to Jimmy Breslin, Dems vs. Repugs is looking ever more like "The Gangs That Couldn't Shoot Straight"

Or maybe it's as if Wile E. Coyote, instead of being up against the Road Runner, were up against his own evil twin. Here, without further comment, are two items plucked out of Al Kamen's Washington Post "In the Loop" column:

The Dems' Poor Bet

Congressional Democrats have been crowing about their brilliant campaigns. But we're hearing that two weeks before the elections, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was looking to expand the playing field into other races that seemed to be tightening.

So with Iowa looking like fertile Democratic territory, the DCCC commissioned a poll in the state's 2nd District and concluded that Rep. Jim Leach (R) was probably unbeatable. The group decided not to give any money to the long-shot candidate, Rep.-elect Dave Loebsack.

The Viet Gone

And now, from the gang that announced it was going to play the national anthem of the Republic of China--also known as Taiwan--for China's president, Hu Jintao, when he came to the White House earlier this year. . . .

President Bush is heading to Vietnam this week to make nice with the commies. The White House Web site announced his visit there and to Singapore and Indonesia.

And the Vietnamese flag the site featured? Looks a lot like the flag of South Vietnam, which hasn't existed since 1975. The White House figured it out last night and put up the correct flag.