Heads up, Kerrycrats: Senators Kerry and McCain will be on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, um, this week.

It's sort of being billed as a debate - but I'm not falling for that, because I don't believe it's a debate if there are no podiums, opening statements, or a moderator.

I will be holding my usual Unofficial Handsome-Off in my head, and, while I don't want to spoil anything for anybody, I should

1. refer you to the promotional collage ABC is using:

and

2. admit that JK has never lost the Unofficial Handsome-Off, even when paired against Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann, or Stephen Colbert. But it seems premature to declare Senator McCain toast, in the handsome department, when such cockiness may lead to some inexplicable acts of Karma by which he grows a fantastic head of hair at the same exact time JK is severely, but temporarily, disfigured on the way to the TV studio.

But then, even disfigured JK would be for a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, and that will always be way more attractive than the lack thereof.

As I see it, the most likely possible wrench in the Handsome-Off will be Alan Alda getting lost on his way to one of the later segments.

And yes, I'm aware that the interview with Mr. Alda will probably have been pre-taped, and in, like, Long Island or something. But please let me hang onto the fantasy, at least until tomorrow morning, that AA and JK got to hang out backstage at This Week, next to the still, sipping oliveless martinis and cursing the war, and maybe even getting into a debate about how cute that democrafty girl is - I've met them both, so it is, however unlikely, theoretically possible.

Just don't ask me to stage an Unofficial Nice-Off between those two. That would take all damn day.

Did lots of surreptitious C-SPAN 2 viewing at working, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tall guy during the floor debates. (Which were quite interesting, with a particularly good showing by my own senators, Feinstein and Boxer.)

Little did I know, I did not need Windows Media Player and a pair of headphones - JK did the menschy thing and brought the debate to the internets. Oh, well.

In addition to talking about the surge, the GAO report, and benchmarks galore, JK also gave one of the best explanations for why he - and why we - blog, in one of his responses to the user comments:

Believe me, I intend on making this case as forcefully as I can as often as I can. Although you are selling yourself short there, many, many people read what happens here, from politicians to journalists. So making a case here is not just "preaching to the choir." A lot of others are listening in to the choir in this case. As for coordinating message, I think that’s part of what we do here. This isn’t a grass tops campaign, it’s a grassroots campaign. One thing about Democrats: We don't march in lockstep and take orders, and I wouldn't want to belong to a party that did. But we're as united as we've ever been on this, and media reports to the contrary are overblown. Keep in mind – only one Democrat wasn’t on board with our deadline the last vote we had. Harry Reid put himself on the line fighting for the Reid-Feingold amendment to fund a very different mission and change course. Don’t underestimate those decisions. We’ve got a ways to go, but I’ve seen how the perseverance of you, me, and a lot of folks is paying off. We need to keep fighting.

So while we may have miles to go before we sleep, well done, choir, so far.

chair the GAO Report hearing.

For the second time today.

"Why, Democrafty?" You might ask. "So many foreign relations, all in one day!"

Well, gentle reader, if you must know, I watched the hearing live, as well as a late-night rerun, because I can.

Yes, the Senate is back in session, and like any good soap opera, there's now a gay character nobody's sure what to do with. Whee!

TNT may claim to "know" drama, but it's got nothing on the C-SPANs. Like any good researcher will tell you, get your drama from a primary source!

If I seem giddy, that's because gavel-to-gavel Senate coverage will be back in like, SIX HOURS! So get some rest, fans of the Senate - we'll be Kerrying On bright and early tomorrow morning!