HERE'S YOUR QUOTE TO PONDER FOR THE WEEKEND

“Heck, even the white rednecks who go to church on Sunday didn't come out to vote for us.”

Rep. Adam H. Putnam (R - Bartow)
Examining the 2006 GOP loss in the midterm elections during a Thursday meeting of the House Republican Conference, in which he was elected chairman.

Putnam also managed to piss off former conference chairman Congressman J.C. Watts (R - OK) by saying that “JC Watts ruined the Conference by removing the member services functions that it offered until 1998” by turning it into only a communications and press vehicle. According to two Republicans, Putnam took the same swat at Watts during a Republican Study Conference session [Wednesday].

A Watts associate confirmed that he had learned of Putnam’s comments and that he was angered by them. Watts was not immediately available to comment.