Blogger Joe Monahan (the real "Morning Joe") got the drop on the rest of us again and let slip this morning that President George W. Bush would be starring in a high-dollar fund-raiser ($1,000 a pop, and a Kodak moment with the president for just $5,000) for Sen. Pete Domenici at the home of Los Ranchos Mayor Larry Abraham on Aug. 27.

"I am honored that the President will be coming and that I am able to help Pete," Abraham told Monahan on Monday.

Abraham, a political independent, was elected mayor of the bucolic (and tough-on-speeders) enclave in the North Valley, in March 2004, and he told Monahan he plans to seek a second term as mayor next year.

Meanwhile, Vice President Dick Cheney made a quick, now-you-see-him, now-you-don't visit to Albuquerque on Monday, addressing the Marine Corps League for its 84th national convention this week, telling the current and former Marines it would be a mistake to pull out of Iraq before stabilizing the war-torn nation, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Cheney flew in and out of Kirtland Air Force Base after just about an hour on the ground, sandwiching in a 20-minute speech that was interrupted eight times with applause from a friendly audience, the Journal reported.