Who's who.

Many Olympic viewers were touched by President Bush's seemingly impromptu visit with U.S. figure skater Sasha Cohen, in which she handed him a cell phone to say hi to her mom. Michelle Kwan and gold medal-winner Sarah Hughes were not so fortunate, which may not be a coincidence. As Buzzflash.com pointed out, the diminutive Cohen had just been named the official youth spokesperson of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, whose annual meeting Bush had addressed days earlier.

Solicitor General Ted Olson, whose wife, conservative author Barbara Olson, died in the September 11 Pentagon plane crash, seems to be moving on. He's been dating Republican socialite Sydney "Nini" Ferguson, former companion of Sen. John Warner (R-Va.).

Reasoning that Ken Lay is kryptonite to anyone, consultants to Andrew Cuomo's campaign for the Democratic nomination for New York governor are urging the son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo to play the Enron card against opponent Carl McCall, trustee of the state's pension fund, which lost money during Enron's collapse.

Colin Powell may have the star power to get away with advocating condom use on MTV, but the rest of the Bush administration is sticking to the script. Former Oklahoma Congressman Tom Coburn, whom President Bush tapped as the new co-chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, made his name by denouncing the network premiere of Schindler's List as "indecent." While in Congress, Coburn was legendary for using free pizza to lure young Hill staffers to his annual lectures on sexually transmitted diseases. While they ate, Coburn would regale them with pro-abstinence propaganda and clinical slides of genital warts and other STDs. Coburn is fervently opposed to campaigns promoting condom use and safe sex.

John Ashcroft incurred the wrath of Cher when he covered Spirit of Justice, a bare-breasted female statue in the Justice Department lobby, with a blue curtain. But in the tradition of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), he's begun penning patriotic songs to share with baffled colleagues. In February, Ashcroft shocked the audience at a North Carolina seminary by breaking into verse with his latest composition, "Let the Eagle Soar": "Like she's never soared before, from rocky coast to golden shore, let the mighty eagle soar." A video of the performance can be seen at CNN.com.

Just how deep is the rift between George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)? So deep that it extends to their pollsters. The Bush administration, which primarily uses Jan van Lohuizen and Fred Steeper, has blackballed what most in Washington consider the blue-chip Republican polling firm, Public Opinion Strategies. Why? Because they did the polling for McCain's 2000 presidential campaign (no matter that POS is also Jeb Bush's polling firm).

Independent counsel Robert Ray--who claims he could have indicted Bill Clinton, but didn't--has infuriated Democrats who believe he has been quietly preparing to run against Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.), even before wrapping up his duties as prosecutor. Ray, who succeeded Ken Starr, attended a GOP dinner hosted by former New Jersey Governor Donald DiFrancesco and has openly discussed a Senate bid. According to Roll Call, he's introducing himself to Garden Staters as "Robert Ray from Rumson." A recent remark about Torricelli's "paralysis of investigations and scandals" drew an angry letter from Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), pointing out that running for office while still an independent prosecutor violates the law. Wrote Conyers: "As you conclude an investigation that has decried legal hair-splitting and verbal gamesmanship, I would hope you would not hide behind a false distinction based upon what the meaning of the word `candidate' is."

Washed-up conservative pundette Ann Coulter, recently let go by National Review editor Rich Lowry, had more wisdom for this year's Conservative Political Action Conference: "When contemplating college liberals, you really regret once again that John Walker is not getting the death penalty. We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed too."

Like all presidents, George W. Bush wants to leave his mark on the federal government. One likely place is the federal judiciary. While Bush's nominees are conservatives, they share a few other traits. Several were first nominated by George H.W. Bush but never got confirmed, including Washington attorney Ronald Leighton, whose nomination is being contested by both of the state's Democratic senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. Their other distinguishing feature is youth. Ronald Reagan first recognized that since federal judges have lifetime appointments, the younger the judge, the longer he'll be around to perpetuate his ideology. While both Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter chose more seasoned judges, Republican nominees have gotten progressively younger. Clarence Thomas was 43 when appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, the youngest judge on the bench by a decade. The youth requirement is bad news for longtime hopeful Orrin Hatch who, at 67, is too old, despite the Mormon reputation for clean-living longevity. The average age of Bush's nominees to district courts is 49.4. The oldest Bush nominee to ascend to the bench is James H. Payne, the 61-year-old former magistrate judge for the Eastern District for Oklahoma. The youngest is David Bunning, the 35-year-old former assistant U.S. attorney from Kentucky--and son of Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.).