Ms. Rice was interrupted frequently in the course of her questioning, with Democrats on the panel accusing her of unnecessarily long-winded answers to simple questions.

Most expected one of his long-winded answers, but he shocked the crowd into laughter by answering: "Yes."

Mr. Rakowitz engaged in long-winded but coherent answers yesterday, in contrast with his videotaped confession, in which he spoke in a haphazard and disjointed fashion.

Mr. Kerry, who was especially prone to long-winded answers early in the campaign, was more concise and forceful.

- and he preens and gives a boring, long-winded answer that ends with a dodge - "I like a lot of them."

The third question always involved a rather more long-winded answer, explained using props.

It's kind of a long-winded answer," he said, "but it's my passion.

Which usually results in a very, very long-winded answer.

Instead, he gave a long-winded answer that left Mr. Kerry to conclude, "You're not answering my question."

A simple report that all was well, drawn out into several minutes of probing question and long-winded answer.