WASHINGTON — CUNA teamed up with the National Journal, an inside the beltway publication, to co-sponsor a breakfast featuring top names among political gurus.

At Charlie Palmer Steak, right across from the Capitol, more than 200 Hill staff, lobbyists and other trade association representatives showed up to hear what Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report; MSNBC's Chris Matthews, host of Hardball; and Chuck Todd of Hotline, an online political publication, had to say about the political "silly season."

The hour-long session, which also featured an appearance by Congressman Tom Davis (R-Va.), a former National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, covered matters ranging from partisanship to the highly publicized Republican scandals. Consensus was that, a month out, things do not look good for the Republicans, but elections are a lifetime away.