The Lunch Buffet’s a little early today due to some logistical problems I need to deal with. So there will be a brief hiatus early this afternoon.

Here are some midday news/views snacks:

* Buzzfeed‘s Benny Johnson has a depressing piece, with a lot of photos, about the seven ugliest public buildings in DC. Who ever thought massive concrete structures were inspiring?

* In new Gallup survey, HRC has net favorable rating of +16 (55/36) among all adults, better than any of her potential Republican opponents. More later on the GOP numbers.

* New NBC/Marist poll of Iowa and NH shows HRC with favorability ratios among Democrats of 89/6 in IA and 94/4 in NH. Wow.

* Republicans may want Todd Akin to go away, but MSNBC is giving him quite a platform.

* Good RCP overview by Scott Conroy of GOP presidential hopefuls “swarming” in Iowa during State Fair season.

And in non-political news:

* Real Madrid soccer club maintains top spot on Forbes list of most valuable sports franchises.

As we break for lunch, here’s Johnny Winter again, covering Elmore James’ blues classic “Dust My Broom” on Letterman.

Ed Kilgore

Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.