TBO’s Voter Guide went live this week. If you haven’t already, check it out!

Voter Guide is one of my favorite things to work on at TBO. It’s also a huge undertaking. We contact candidates in all 10 counties in WFLA’s viewing area, track down their e-mail addresses, and then needle them to fill out a questionnaire on their background and opinions.

We first used the Voter Guide software in 2008. An enhancement to this year’s edition is GIS - that is, geographic information systems - basically, a better way of creating maps of the various voting districts. The system should be able to identify which district you live in, down to the sub-county level, based on your address.

But there have been some glitches. The maps we received for Manatee County weren’t compatible somehow, so voters there will have to choose districts manually. And sometimes, people testing the system find other conflicts. If you find one, or have any other problems using the guide, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). I’ll do what I can to help.

I’ve never been particularly attached to either Al or Tipper Gore, but the breakup of their 40-year marriage actually shook me a bit. Their family life always seemed stable and affectionate - the opposite of the sparring Clintons’. And when the news first broke, that seemed to be the prevailing view.

Here, though, is an essay by an insider who says the Gores always seemed a bit mismatched to him. According to Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, Al lived life in the public sphere and Tipper would have preferred more privacy; her photography hobby could have been a way of distancing herself from events. Like many political couples, their life involved plenty of theater - they were known to dress in Disney-created costumes at Halloween parties, completely disguised. (I have to wonder - Mickey and Minnie? Chip and Dale? Pluto and Goofy? Alas, there are no photos.)

Sharp-eyed observers at President Obama’s remarks on financial reform today caught sight of an intruder: a furry rodent who scurried across the Rose Garden steps.

ABC’s White House crew thinks it was a mouse or a rat. I was going to guess shrew, because it’s hard to see the animal’s ears. Either way, it looks like the Obamas should consider following in the steps of none other than Abraham Lincoln, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush - it’s time we had a cat in the White House once again!

The ABC reporters note that the White House, like any old building, has long been home to a population of rodents. Imagine the stories they could tell.

Signing the health care bill yesterday was a feat of calligraphy as well as politics. President Obama used a total of 22 pens to get it done.

The pack of pens will be distributed to top Congressional leaders and other advocates. Obama gets to keep one. And two are going to the archives, meaning they belong to all of us. Here’s the complete list.

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