Gossip Roundup: Modest Edition

•The Reliable Source: Eric Alterman'sMost notable characteristic? Modesty. . . . NPR is doing polling onBob Edwards."Amazing," he says. [ WP ]

•Inside the Beltway: Congressmen complain it will cost $500,000 to send 50 people to an AIDS conference, down from $3.6 million for 236 people in 2002. . . "Between [campaign] stops [forEdwards'ssenate seat,Rep. Richard M. Burr]slips some Skoal smokeless tobacco 'dip' in his cheek, but doesn't spit out the juice. His college football coach banned the cups into which players would expectorate, soBurrand others learned to minimize the juice and swallow."

[ WT ]

•The Scoop: Streisand"is pulling out all the stops" forKerrywith a "major, major" fundraiser, probably at her Malibu home. [ MSNBC ]

•Under the Dome: DeLay: "The moreTeddy Kennedyon the campaign trail, the better.". . .Rep. Jim Morandid not meet his weight loss goal. . . The only son-of-a-senator serving in Iraq is back home withSen. Tim Johnson. . .Schumersays no ads on baseball players;McCainsays no steroids. . .Scaliabends airline rules to save $480. [ The Hill ]

•Inside Politics: Kerry"doesn't warm anybody up" according to a focus group. . .Miss USAon Iraq: "What needed to be done had to be done." [ WT ]

•Liz Smith: New issue ofAmerican ConservativeshowsBush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Riceas Pinocchios, calls forBushto admit mistakes with Iraq, and defendsClarke.[ NYP ]

•Cindy Adams: Teresa Heinz KerrymeetsCindy Adams. . . 365Gay.com onLynne Cheney's Sisters: "same-sex promiscuity 'represents the antithesis of the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign.'" [ NYP ]