The Daily Troika: The Rath Of Cindy And Tom

We'll probably see more of this in South Carolina as the year progresses.

"Brigham Young, who succeeded Smith as church leader, wrote that God put a curse on Cain — a “flat nose and black skin” — for killing his brother Abel." It's in a piece by Lee Bandy, describing a confrontation between Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon, and Cindy Mosteller, Chrleston Co. GOP chair, who "came armed" to a state GOP meeting with " a bunch of material — and questions — about the Mormon church." "Afterward, Mosteller said the governor did not answer any of her questions. She described the meeting as “very tense.” But "Cindi Costa, a conservative Christian from Charleston and member of the Republican National Committee, waited outside the room. She earlier pleaded with Mosteller not to confront Romney." Mosteller supported Sen. John McCain in '00.

Meanwhile, the biggest non-secret in New Hampshire is out: RNC committeeman Tom Rath has joined Romney's PAC as a senior advisor. Rath said Romney "demonstrated as a strong chief executive in both the public and private sectors an ability to make difficult decisions to ensure that things improve. And that's a quality Republicans need to talk about as we go through this election year."

Fighting the old fight: IA Gov. Tom Vilsack, at St. Anselm's, was "grilled" about the DNC calendar controversy.

Here's how to make headlines: ""Iraq is taking the focus away from Afghanistan and Iran," says Sen. Evan Bayh.

And finally: food for gossip from the latest Iowa Poll.

Rudy Giuliani defeats: Hillary Clinton, Tom Vilsack, John Kerry and John Edwards John McCain defeats: Clinton, Vilsack, Kerry and Edwards Edwards defeats: Bill Frist and Mitt Romney Kerry defeats: Frist and Romney Vilsack defeats: Frist and Romney Romney defeats: Clinton Frist defeats: Clinton Clinton defeats: No one