And this one belongs to the Red States....

Friday night, when the guests settle in at their candle-lit tables for the Hamilton County Republican Party's annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, some of them may be a bit disappointed when the master of ceremonies sits down and the keynote speaker gets up to speak.

Marty Brennaman, the radio voice of the Cincinnati Reds since 1974, is the master of ceremonies at the Lincon-Reagan dinner, one of the local party's major fundraising events of the year. Rich Galen, the Washington political consultant who served both Newt Gingrich and Dan Quayle as press secretary, gets the nod as keynote speaker this year.

Galen is an entertaining, funny guy (check out his "American Cyber-column" at www.mullings.com if you don't believe it), but there will probably be many in the audience who have O.D'ed on political speeches and would just as soon hear the Hall of Fame broadcaster talk about the glory days of the Big Red Machine, the "Wire-to-wire'' championship of 1990, and the buzz around Great American Ball Park about the '06 season.

But, for their $75 ticket, they'll get a political speech instead.

Not that Brennaman shies away from politics.

"I'm a died-in-the-wool, conservative Republican, no doubt about it,'' Brennaman said in a phone interview Wednesday. "I don't get involved a lot, but I'll help where I can.''

Brennaman's most visible political role came a few days before the 2004 presidential election, when about 60,000 people crammed into Great American Ball Park for a rally featuring President Bush. Brennaman was M.C. for that affair, too.

He's spoken at a meeting of the Northeast Hamilton County Republican Club; and, last fall, did a photo shoot with Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Julie Stautberg for her re-election campaign.

"I guess I'm on the Republican party's list now,'' Brennaman said. "They call when they need me.''