Inside the Beltway

Interesting. Atypical, perhaps. Just as talk gets louder that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush could turn up as a 2012 presidential hopeful, Mr. Bush appears Monday in Louisville, Ky., for a fundraising event for Republican U.S. Senate nominee Rand Paul. Like we said, interesting.

JUST IN TIME

A multimillion-dollar grant to study — wait, what? Wake Forest University has received close to $4 million for the Character Project, an exploration of the “nature of character.” The grant from the John Templeton Foundation is the largest the campus has ever received for humanities research.

Among key questions, says principle researcher Christian Miller: “Do character traits such as honesty, courage or compassion really exist? How should we go about improving our characters and overcoming character flaws? Should thinking about human and divine character be central to theological ethics?”

JUNIOR RANGER

Well, at least somebody’s got out of town this week.

“On Monday, the Vice President will visit Yellowstone National Park where Recovery Act projects are generating economic activity and preserving the life of the park. The Vice President will deliver remarks to workers outside the Madison Junior Ranger Station, joined by director of the National Park Service Jonathan Jarvis.”

— from a White House dispatch.

PATRIOT’S SUPERMAN

Wonder Woman’s traditional star-spangled uniform recently was replaced by a gritty “street fighter” ensemble by DC Comics, to the dismay of many fans. Other superheroes have also received costume makeovers with a more global sartorial stamp as well. But Superman?

Not to worry, at least on CW’s “Smallville.” For the fall season, the network has replaced actor Tom Welling’s edgy black and silver uniform with a “new, traditional blue-and-red Superman suit,” as in days of yore. Producer and writer Kelly Souders says the actor will be wearing a suit modeled after the version found in the 2006 “Superman Returns” movie.

POLL DU JOUR

• 62 percent of Americans disapprove of the way the Obama administration is handling the federal deficit.

• 59 percent disapprove of the way the administration handles illegal immigration.

• 57 percent disapprove of the way it handles the economy.

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