President Barack Obama greets troops at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Thoughts about President Barack Obama's surprise visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan?

Former President Jimmy Carter said he expects President Obama to win reelection, but Mitt Romney would be his top choice on the Republican side. “I think of all the Republican candidates who are prominent, I think Romney would be the one I would rather see have a slight possibility to be president,” on MSNBC's “Jansing & Co” in an interview that aired Wednesday. When pressed on whether he would be “comfortable” with a Romney presidency, Carter responded, “I would rather have a Democrat, but I would be comfortable.” “I think Romney has shown in his past, in his previous years as a moderate, a progressive that he was fairly competent as a governor and also running the Olympics. As you know, he has a good solid family,” Carter said/The Hill. More here. (AP file photo)

Question: Are you ready for the cage match between President Barack Obama & Mitt Romney? Who wins?

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum gets a hug from his wife Karen after announcing he is suspending his candidacy for the presidency today in Gettysburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Rick Santorum is suspending his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, clearing a path for Mitt Romney to become the nominee. A campaign spokesman says the former Pennsylvania senator was to make the announcement Tuesday in his home state of Pennsylvania, two weeks before the GOP presidential primary there. Santorum faced a tough fight in his home state against Romney/AP.

Question: Are you ready for Barack versus Mitt?

Marine Sgt. Gary Stein, who is facing dismissal for posting critical comments about President Obama on Facebook, accused the review board that recommended he be discharged of basing its decision on “personal opinion” Tuesday. “I believe it was more based on personal opinion on the three members than it was based on the legalities on the case. They denied four expert witnesses that were there to talk about the legalities. They didn't even want to hear or take written testimony from them,” said Stein on CNN's “Starting Point” Tuesday morning. … The three-member review board recommended last week that Stein receive an “other than honorable” discharge, which would include a loss of benefits and reduction in rank, for saying he would not follow orders he believed unlawful and for calling Obama a “domestic enemy” on his “Armed Forces Tea Party” Facebook page/Geneva Sands, The Hill. More here. (AP photo)

Question: Should Marine Sgt. Stein be booted from the Armed Services for posting critical remarks about President Barack Obama?

House Democratic Leader John Rusche is euphoric about what he sees as a rare chance: his party winning seats in the Legislature with an incumbent Democratic president atop the ticket. Rusche concedes President Barack Obama’s unpopularity in Idaho but says the GOP’s effort to mandate ultrasounds before an abortion might be trump. “They played special-interest social politics and forgot the people care about their personal freedom,” Rusche said. “The response in the House wasn’t anything but a response to the massive outpouring from basically women and Republican women.” Fearing a rout at the polls, House Republicans revolted last month after the Senate passed Senate Bill 1387, denying the bill a hearing. Sponsors, however, say they’ll be back in 2013, keeping the issue alive for the November election/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Do you see Idaho Democrats picking up seats in the 2013 Legislature as a result of the battle over pre-abortion ultrasound during the last session?

Holding a sign saying “We Love ObamaCare” supporters of health care reform rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 27, 2012, as the court continued hearing arguments on the health care law signed by President Barack Obama. Go ahead, call it ObamaCare. Obama’s re-election campaign has lifted an unofficial ban on using the opposition’s derisive term for his health care law. Democratic activists have been chanting, “We love ObamaCare,” in front of the Supreme Court. And the campaign is selling T-shirts and bumper stickers that proclaim: “I like ObamaCare.” (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Question: What do you think of the move by the Obama administration to embrace the opposition's word, “ObamaCare”?

For weeks, President Obama, Democratic activists and their friends in the media have relentlessly pushed the idea Republicans have launched a “War on Women.” After weeks of this carefully orchestrated campaign, the consensus among administration officials and Beltway insiders is clear: Women are outraged by Republican policies, the GOP has done enormous damage to its brand among women and the Democrats are going to reap the benefits at election time.If you're David Axelrod or Debbie Wasserman Schultz, it's a great story. But is it true? The Washington Post has no doubt. A few days ago, they ran a story titled “Recent debate over contraception comes as GOP loses gains among women.” And the story is filled with quotes and anecdotes about how knuckle-dragging Republicans have badly damaged themselves by daring to stand up to the latest Obamacare mandate. But what are the facts? What does the polling actually say?/Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington. More here.

Question: Do you believe Republicans have launched a “War on Women”?

Vigorously defending his policies, President Barack Obama ridiculed critics of renewable energy sources Thursday, calling them naysayers and comparing them to the flat-earthers of yesteryear. Obama did not mention his detractors by name, merely referring to them as “professional politicians.” But his targets were clear. “A lot of the folks who are running for a certain office who shall go unnamed, they've been talking down new sources of energy,” Obama told a crowd of students at Prince George's Community College in Washington's Maryland suburbs. “They dismiss wind power. They dismiss solar power. They make jokes about biofuels. They were against raising fuel standards. I guess they like gas-guzzlers,” he said/CBS News. More here.

Question: Who do you blame for the current high gas prices?

President Barack Obama welcomes British Prime Minister David Cameron during an official arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington this morning. More here. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Question: Do you know much about England?

Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull has failed to exhibit good behavior in communicating an ugly, offensive email message that is terribly disrespectful of President Barack Obama, the president’s deceased mother, women, black Americans and citizens who voted for Obama. Once the awful message was sent to the Great Falls Tribune, Cebull apologized. He apologized again Wednesday in an interview with a Gazette reporter. He sent a letter Thursday apologizing to Obama. He asked the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit to review his conduct. Honestly, I don’t know what else I can do,” Cebull wrote to Obama. There is something more: Cebull should retire — now . He will turn 68 in a few weeks, having served 11 years as a U.S. district judge, the past four as chief judge of the Montana District/Billings Gazette Editorial Board. More here. (AP file photo of Judge Cebull)

Question: Should U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull of Montana step down as a result of his offensive email re: President Obama?

President Barack Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Story here. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Question: Should President Obama and the United States interfere with a possible pre-emptive strike by Israel to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons?

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio looks on as investigators announce the preliminary findings of his Cold Case investigation into the authenticity of President Barack Obama's birth certificate and other issues surrounding his eligibility to be President during a news conference on Thursday in Phoenix. Story here. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)

DFO: Since Arpaio visited Coeur d'Alene to much fanfare 2 years ago (and sorta endorsed Raul Labrador) and since Gary D has been banned to Spokane and since it is news today, I'll post this with fear & trembling.

Question: Why now?

Montana’s chief federal judge apologized Wednesday for forwarding an email that contained a joke involving bestiality and President Barack Obama’s mother, saying he did so because he dislikes the president and not because he’s racist. Judge Richard Cebull, of Billings, forwarded the email from his chambers to six other people on Feb. 20, the Great Falls Tribune reported. Cebull said that his brother sent him the email, which he forwarded to six “old buddies” and acquaintances. The text of the forwarded email says: “Normally I don’t send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine/AP. More here. (AP file photo of Judge Cebull making speech during Naturalization proceedings last summer)

Question: What do you do when you receive ujsolicited emails from friends or acquaintances containing racial, sexual, or other inappropriate content?

• Monday Poll: Almost a supermajority of Hucks Nation disagrees with GOPresidential candidate Rick Santorum's claim that President Barack Obama is hostile to religion. 128 of 201 respondents (63.68%) said Obama isn't hostile to religion. 68 of 201 respondents (33.83%) said the president is hostile to religion. 5 of 201 (2.49%) were undecided.
• Dan English Poll: 61 of 117 respondents (52.14%) said they'd like to see former Kootenai County clerk Dan English, a Democrat, run for the seat currently held by state Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, if English decides to seek county or legislative office this year. 25 respondents (21.37%) want to see English run for county commission; 13 (11.11%) want him to seek Rep. Vito Barbieri's seat; 8 (6.84%) want him to seek Sen. Steve Vick's seat; and 10 (8.55%) want him to seek an undisclosed seat.
• Today's Poll: Should the Idaho Board of Education add the word “flagship” back into the mission statement of the University of Idaho?

• Weekend Poll: A solid majority of Hucks Nation believes President Barack Obama was wrong to apologize to Afghanistan for U.S. military burning of Qurans. 161 of 278 respondents (57.91%) said the president was wrong to apologize to President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan. 108 of 278 respondents (38.85%) said the president did the right thing by apologizing. 9 of 278 (3.24%) were undecided.
• Today's Poll: Is President Barack Obama hostile to religion, as GOPresidential candidate Rick Santorum claims?

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire goes to kiss President Barack Obama upon his arrival at Paine Field, in Everett, Wash. ,  earlier today. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Question: Would you like to be kissed by a president?

On the editorial page of Wednesday’s USA Today, state schools superintendent Tom Luna argued against President Obama’s proposal requiring states to require students to stay in high school until age 18, or until they graduate. USA Today argued in favor of the proposal from Obama’s Jan. 24 State if the Union address. Here’s an excerpt from the USA Today editorial: “The age proposal is no cure-all, but it's a step forward. In 19 states, 16-year-olds are allowed to drop out. That's a vestige from the pre-industrial era, when most Americans lived in rural areas and fewer than 10% of teenagers graduated. In today's global economy, far fewer teens are needed on the farm and far fewer jobs are available for high school graduates, much less for dropouts. Even those lucky enough to get jobs pay dearly in lost wages over a lifetime”/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Should students be forced to stay in high school until they're 18?

Lisa Benson/Washington Post Writers Group

President Barack Obama declared today he’s found a solution to a birth-control uproar that will protect religious liberty but also ensure that women have access to free contraception, as he rushed to defuse an election-year issue that threatened to overtake his administration. Capping weeks of growing controversy, Obama announced he was backing off a newly announced requirement for religious employers to provide free birth control coverage even if it runs counter to their religious beliefs. Instead, workers at such institutions will be able to get free contraception directly from health insurance companies/Associated Press. More here. (AP photo: President Barack Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius leaving press conference this morning)

Question: What do you make of the move to satisfy Catholics and other religious groups by President Obama?

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington earlier today to criticize President Barack Obama for insisting that employers must provide health insurance that includes birth control for women. House Speaker John Boehner said at the news conference that Congress will overturn the policy. Story here. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Question: Will this issue come back to haunt President Obama in fall campaign?