President Obama's Cincinnati bridge visit is an attempt to literally and figuratively connect Mitch McConnell and John Boehner. No word on whether the top two Republicans in Congress will show up, but Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer is reportedly going to pop in.

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Do you enjoy looking at slideshows of rich people? Here's a good one, themed “Most Corrupt Members of Congress.” Guess which local Eastside representative made the list … Here's a hint: Jean Schmidt.

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President Obama, Joe Biden, John Boehner and John Kasich did what a lot of old dudes do on weekends and enjoyed a game of golf together Saturday. I could make a lot of jokes about the amount of tears shed, containers of sunless tanner used and conversations of how to make Ohio cooler, but I'll leave that to Jimmy Fallon, who covered this golf summit on Late Night recently.

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Here's a bit of news that should spoil the day for Sarah Palin, Mike Wilson, Dusty Rhodes and their ilk: A comparison of two polls suggests  that socialism is more popular among Americans than the Tea Party movement.

A new, wide-ranging Washington Post-ABC News poll reveals that 35 percent of respondents had a favorable view of the Tea Party, compared to 36 percent that likes socialism in an earlier Gallup poll. Fifty-two percent of Americans now hold unfavorable views of the Tea Party, which is an all-time high.

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With the prospects for repealing the U.S. military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy looking ever dimmer, two local groups will hold a vigil to remember the men and women discharged due to the policy.

The Greater Cincinnati Human Rights Campaign and the Alliance, a student group at Xavier University, will hold the vigil Nov. 15 at the greenspace area on Xavier's campus.

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In the words of Public Enemy, “Don't believe the hype.”

Dan LaBotz, the socialist candidate for U.S. senator on Ohio's fall ballot, is criticizing the Obama administration's claims that the combat mission in Iraq is over.

LaBotz, who opposes both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, says President Obama is using a shell game to funnel additional troops into Afghanistan while relying more heavily on private security forces — or “mercenaries,” as LaBotz calls them — to continue fighting in Iraq.

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Nearly two years after the economic meltdown in fall 2008, the U.S. Senate voted Thursday to approve a sweeping financial reform bill aimed at the reckless Wall Street investors who caused the crisis.

The Senate voted 60-39 to pass the reforms sought by President Obama. Three Republicans — Scott Brown of Massachusetts, along with Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine — joined Democrats in supporting the bill.

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Although Fox News hasn’t touted the results so far on any of its shows, a poll by the ultra-conservative cable TV network found that the public views President Obama and the Internal Revenue Service more favorably than the Tea Party movement.

No, I’m not making this stuff up.

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The weekly “State of the Nation” poll by Research 2000 found that President Obama is viewed favorably by 56 percent of respondents, compared to 39 percent who hold an unfavorable opinion about him. Five percent had no opinion.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-West Chester) had a whopping 64 percent unfavorable rating, with just 17 percent viewing him favorably. Nineteen percent had no opinion.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) also had a 64 percent unfavorable rating, compared to 20 percent who view him favorably. Sixteen percent had no opinion.

The poll was conducted for The Daily Kos Web site.

A total of 1,200 registered voters nationwide were interviewed by telephone from March 22-25.

The margin of error is 2.8 percent, meaning there is a 95 percent probability that the “true” figure would fall within that range if the entire adult population were sampled.

Boehner and McConnell can take some solace: Democratic Congressional leaders fared poorly too.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had a 54 percent unfavorable rating, while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) had a 66 percent unfavorable rating, according to the poll.

Still, Congressional Democrats fare better overall than their Republican counterparts.

Congressional Democrats had a 56 percent unfavorable rating, compared to 40 percent who view them favorably. Four percent had no opinion.

By comparison, Congressional Republicans had a 71 percent unfavorable rating, with 21 percent viewing them favorably. Eight percent had no opinion.

That’s an increase of 3 percent who view Democrats favorably from a week earlier, compared to a decrease of 7 percent for Republicans.

Also, the Democratic Party had a 40 percent favorable rating, compared to the Republican Party’s 28 percent.

There’s still seven months until the general election so anything could happen but, if those numbers persist, it might be time for GOP leaders to scale back their talk of a Republican landslide in Congressional races.