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If Daffy Dean is crowned tonight, I think he may have peaked just a tad too soon. That will give the other Dems (read, the Clintonistas) nearly a year to destroy him before the convention next summer. On the other hand, it will give Mrs. Dean nearly a year to improve her appearance.

And now for something less serious:

Are Chelsea Clinton and boyfriend Ian Klaus circling the altar? The former First Daughter, 23, just returned from a romantic Spanish getaway with her 24-year-old boyfriend.

"Chelsea and Ian's trip basically amounted to a honeymoon before the marriage," a pal says in the National Enquirer's next issue.

That's probably hyperbole, but the two plan to live in New York - mind you, in separate apartments. [Sure]

Though it's said she'lll be earning a salary of $120,000, Chelsea is "going to be living in Manhattan with a good friend of hers," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters on Tuesday. "She is starting work this week at McKinsey [& Co.], which is a consulting firm here in the city," said the senator, adding, "I don't know what consultants do. [The smartest woman in the world doesn't know what consultants do?] I asked her that and she goes, 'Oh, mom!'"

Aside to Hillary: The Enquirer also features photos of your bikini-clad baby frolicking with Klaus in the hotel's pool. Ny Daily News

Quotes & Toasts of the Day -

"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make."--Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." --Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible."
--A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

Good morning everyone.

WASHINGTON - (AP) -- Nearly 1.4 million more people in the United States fell into poverty last year -- almost half of them children -- even as the country emerged from recession, according to a Census Bureau survey.

The city of Miami retained the No. 1 poverty ranking among large cities, with 31.2 percent of its population in poverty.

The next highest was Newark, N.J., at 30.6 percent.

Miami-Dade County's poverty rate was 18 percent, and Broward County's rate was 11 percent.

About 12.4 percent of the U.S. population, or nearly 34.8 million people, lived in poverty in 2002, according to the bureau's American Community Survey, to be released today. That was up from 12.1 percent, or 33.4 million, in 2001.

Roughly 17.2 percent of children, or 12.2 million, lived in poverty in 2002, up from 16.4 percent, or about 11.5 million, in 2001.

Median household income rose by $51, when accounting for inflation, to $43,057 after a slight drop the previous year, when the nation was in recession from March to November.

Robert Greenstein, executive director of the liberal-leaning Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, blamed the increase in poverty on rising unemployment and the government's failure to promote more child tax credits for low-income families and stronger unemployment insurance.

However, increases in poverty in 2002 were ''not out of the ordinary'' for a recession, and less adverse than expected, said Sheldon Danzinger, co-director of the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan.

"I don't know what consultants do. [The smartest woman in the world doesn't know what consultants do?] I asked her that and she goes, 'Oh, mom!'"

Methinks Chelz doesn't know what consultants do either.

And what kind of grammar is "she goes"? Perhaps a try at being a joe schmo? Sure, call me cynical but if hilly starts like using like in like every sentence and like every other like word, well then, I'll like have my answer.