To hearty laughter from what sounded like anchor Wolf Blitzer (who would have a live mike, but listen and judge for yourself), CNN's Jack Cafferty on Tuesday afternoon asked on The Situation Room whether viewers would “rather just stick needles” in their eyes than listen to Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich? During the 4 PM EDT/1 PM PDT hour “Cafferty File” segment, Cafferty inquired: “Would you rather listen to a speech by Sarah Palin or a speech by Newt Gingrich?” Then he quickly added another option which is what prompted the laughter: “Or would you rather just stick needles in your eyes?”

Finished guffawing, Blitzer soon wondered: “What do you think, Jack? You want to listen to Palin or Gingrich deliver a speech?” Cafferty replied he dislikes them both: “I'm not interested in listening to either one of them.”

Amongst the replies Cafferty read at the end of the hour, this one from Dann: “That’s like asking 'Who do you think is the best hockey player in Ecuador?' It’s not much of a choice. If given a third option, I would rather trim my nose hair with a carrot scraper.”

Audio: MP3 clip (30 seconds)

Online version of this segment, as posted on Cafferty's blog.

What aired in the first “Cafferty File” segment for Tuesday, June 9, which does not fully match the blog entry:

JACK CAFFERTY: Sarah Palin didn’t make a speech, but that didn’t stop her from stealing the show at a big Republican fundraising dinner in Washington last night. The Alaska Governor’s appearance was a question mark up until the last minute… and followed weeks of an on-again, off-again saga. Palin had originally been billed as the keynote speaker, then her office said she never confirmed that she would appear. Later, Palin's office wanted to know if she could speak at the dinner. Party leaders said she could, then took back the invitation. They were worried that Palin would upstage Newt Gingrich, who was the new keynote speaker. This is big-time  drama here, folks.

But Palin, along with her husband, got big cheers from the audience when they were introduced on stage at this fundraiser last night; and their table was the only one in the ballroom with a crowd around it. Several Republicans thanked Sarah Palin for showing up. Senator John McCain said it was great to see her again, Senator Jon Cornyn praised Palin’s leadership, and Gingrich said the U.S. quote, “would be amazingly better off” had McCain and Palin been elected.

There’s been speculation that both Gingrich and Palin might be interested in running for the White House in 2012 -- which certainly must be music to Barack Obama's ears. A recent poll among Republicans showed 21 percent back Palin, 13 percent back Gingrich.

So here’s the question: “Would you rather listen to a speech by Sarah Palin or a speech by Newt Gingrich?” Go to CNN -- Or would you rather just stick needles in your eyes? [Over loud laughter off-camera from a man other than Cafferty, presumably Blitzer] Go to CNN.com slash CaffertyFile and you can post a comment on my blog. I forgot about the third option.

WOLF BLITZER: What do you think, Jack? You want to listen to Palin or Gingrich deliver a speech?

CAFFERTY: I'm not interested in listening to either one of them. I like listening to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you. Good to have you back.

— Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center