Weiner Hard On His Staff

According to the NY Times latest piece, Representative Anthony D. Weiner is an absolute joy to work for and admits, “I push people pretty hard.”

Mr. Weiner, a technology fiend who requires little sleep and rarely takes a day off, routinely instant messages his employees on weekends, often just one-word missives: “Teeth” (as in, your answer reminds me of pulling teeth) or “weeds” (as in, you are too much in the weeds). Never shy about belting out R-rated language, he enjoys challenging staff members on issues, even at parties.

It’s no wonder he leads the NY delagation when it comes to staff turn-over.

Jonathan Kaplan is Back

And probably giving a few Chief of Staffs heartburn this morning.

Politico: Taxpayers pay for reps big screen TVs

A leased Cadillac: $557 a month.

Chinese food for 230 colleagues: $1,425.

A 46-inch Sony flat-screen television: $2,805.

Having taxpayers foot the bill: priceless.

That Didn’t Take Long

Citizens United launches “Hype”

Here’s the movie trailer:

BREAKING NEWS: Flight Carrying TX Members Makes Emergency Landing

Reported here.

Rep. Culberson was not on the plane - hence the reason nobody Twittered the landing.

We Pass the Laws, We Don’t Live By Them

This story is sure to ruffle a few feathers - especially given the out of control gas prices lately.

It looks like the DNC and perhaps the RNC will get a pass on paying gas taxes when they each host their conventions in the next few months.

And just how are some reacting?

“The DNC is not government. The RNC is not government,” Faatz added. “They are political parties and they are putting on a huge party, and that is not providing services to each and every citizen each day.”

Stay tuned…

UPDATE: Teresa McFarland, a spokeswoman for the Minneapolis-St. Paul host committee, said they’re getting their gas at the pump.

“We’re not getting a tax break on fuel,” she said. “That’s not the set-up at this end.”

In Case You Didn’t Know

Frank Luntz is a BIG deal. He has many leather bound books and his apartment smells of rich mahogany.

Shenanigans: Who said the following?

“I’ve been getting yelled at that I need to take time for me.  I work so hard I have great relationships.
Steve Wynn wants me to go on his yacht for a week– I can’t go.  Mike Milken wants me to fly on his plane with him - I can’t go.  I had dinner with Prince Charles a month ago – it was so hard to schedule, this is the prince, the future King of England, and I could barely schedule it. Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson – it’s all jammed in.  I’ve missed all these opportunities -  I never have time to go.  I’m not retiring in any way but I have reached 100 hours of work a week. And I’m going to do about 350,000 [flier] miles this year. Tally it up.”

FamousDC wonders if Prince Charles called Mr. Luntz after his self Google Alert went off.

Jill Chappell is FamousDC

Wolf Blitzer’s producer Jill Chappell might want to hire an agent pretty soon.

First she handles a LIVE call from Ellen and now she’s hanging with Tate Donovan.

Shenanigans: The Damages Edition

CNN booker in D.C. Jill Chappell got to visit actor Tate Donovan on his TV set of “Damages” in New York over the weekend. See? Good things do happen in Iowa. You get to meet people like Tate Donovan.

We’re Totally In Love With Barack, Too

The McCain camp just launched a couple of YouTube videos about the media’s love obsession with Barack Obama. And they want you to vote.

Do you love the idea?

For Smokers Only

From today’s Politico Playbook:

With Senator Obama still in Iraq, his staff and press could be seen smoking flavored tobacco in hookahs in their Amman hotel bar, well past midnight local time.

Puff, puff, pass…

Because Serious Business Gets Done Between 2 - 4 a.m.

Some St. Paul bars get OK to stay open late during RNC Convention

The Legislature gave communities in the Twin Cities area the authority to allow bars to remain open until 4 a.m. during the convention.

VEEP STAKES Heating Up

The Evans-Novak Political Report is reporting that the McCain Veep pick will come this week:

Sources close to Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign are suggesting he will reveal the name of his vice presidential selection this week while Sen. Barack Obama is getting the headlines on his foreign trip. The name of McCain’s running mate has not been disclosed, but Mitt Romney has led the speculation recently.

According to FamousDC sources …

Team McCain will wait until after Obama picks his VP and Obama’s pick is expected as soon as he returns from the Middle East.

Whatever happens, with only a little over three months left before the election and two conventions right around the corner, the daily hedging for the media’s attention will only heat up.

Latest from Daly, Manley, Smith, and Stew

Ben Pershing: Top Hill Aides Talk about the Week Ahead

Is the majority stifling the minority? That seems to be the theme of this week in both the House and Senate, where Republicans are agitating for a chance to get votes on their proposals to open up more domestic territory to oil and gas exploration. Democrats say they have their own plans to try to reduce energy prices, and Republicans should get on board rather than obstruct. The debate continues below, with contributions from aides to the top four congressional leaders.

Crazy C-Span Prank Calls

Keep the audio down if you’re in the office. We can’t believe the hosts never lose their cool.
These are a little dated, but they never get old.

Obama Staffers Aren’t That Into McCain Staffers

It works for James & Mary and Ken & Emily, but not for Obama and McCain staffers.

Eavesdrop DC: Cats and Dogs Living Together

17th and Pennsylvania:
Female DNC Worker: Hi, sir, do you have a minute for Barack Obama?
Guy: No, I’m a McCain supporter.
Female DNC Worker: Okay, well, have a great day!
Guy (stops): You’re cute though…what are you doing for dinner?
Female DNC Worker: ….seriously?

Mad Props to the Advance Teams

OK, so we need someone to ask Speaker Pelosi a question about global warming, and then we need Pelosi to check her blackberry, and then we need to have Al Gore’s voice come over the loud speaker, and then we need Gore to walk on stage and make a surprise appearance at Netroots Nation. And we need to pull this off without any of the media knowing until Gore walks out on stage.

Impossible?

Hotline On Call: Gore Makes Surprise Visit To Netroots Nation

Gore joked, “We oughta take that act on the road, Nancy,” to which Pelosi responded, “We are on the road!” Gore replied, “We are on the road, but I feel right at home, I’ll tell you.”

Ryan Grim Worked This Weekend

And ended up with a top of page Drudge Alert

Politico: Pelosi calls for high-level meeting with Iraqis

[Speaker Pelosi] “So with the prime minister saying it’s time for you to go,” she told the crowd, “I think it’s time for our country to sit down with the Iraqis and work that plan out. [We need to be] respectful of what the prime minister says, and respectful of the will of the American people, who have been against this war for a long time…[We should] have a high-level meeting with the Iraqis to work out the terms of our deployment out of Iraq…So, the end could be in sight.”

Famously Tweeting

Does Presidential hopeful Bob Barr actually Twitter himself?

In case this question has kept you up the past few nights -  the mystery is solved.

The answer, yes.

While Your Gas Prices Went Up Last Night, Lawmakers Played Baseball

The 307th annual Congressional Geriatric baseball game took place last night at Nats stadium.  And for what seems like the 25th year in a row, the Democrats lost.

And how do we know they lost?  The House GOP covered the victory via Twitter and 10 exclamation points.

From GOP Conference Twitterberry: Celebrating the GOP’s win!!!!!!!!!!

We have no idea what this victory means - but it’s always good to see old people getting excited about meaningless victories - like passing legislation on renaming the latest post office.

UPDATE: A tipster tells us at last night’s game Rep. Tom Price helped treat a guy who got hit by a bat while in his seat in the stands. It’s unclear as to which athletically prone lawmaker let a bat fly into the stands.  Email us a tips@famousdc.com if you know the answer.

UPDATE: Rep. Chip Pickering was the one who let the bat fly.

DCCC Message Experts: We Can Hear You, But She Can’t

At first we thought the screen-grab blunder pictured below was the fault of the DCCC web team, but instead, maybe it’s a genius act of subliminal messaging.

There is no actual “quote” in the box because this poor child has gone deaf - and who’s to blame?

… the Bush Administration.

Politicizing the hearing impaired.  Genius.

FamousDC Media Ticket [Round Up]

Last week we launched the FamousDC Media Ticket. Several of our favorite Web sites linked to it so we wanted to pay back the favor:

FishbowlDC:

Lord Save Us: Journos Running The White House?!?
…
The folks at FamousDC have proven smarter at this whole “start a new blog” thing than we ever could have anticipated.

Extreme Mortman:

Save A Pulitzer For FamousDC
…
Outstanding work by FamousDC for its new “Media Ticket.”

Mike Allen’s Playbook:

YA CAN’T MAKE IT UP –FAMOUS DC, the mystery website, posts its all-media fantasy administration, with Dana Milbank as V.P., Chuck Todd as White House chief of staff, Rick Klein as Secretary of Labor, Danielle Jones as Secretary of Transportation and Jonathan Martin as Secretary of Education. Someone who’s famous not just in D.C.: “Now THAT’S a good way to abolish the Department of Education.”

Shenanigans:

FamousDC’s Media Ticket!
…
“The Beltway Community lives and dies by the words penned from Washington’s elite press corp - so isn’t about time we put our entire country’s livelihood in their hands?”  — FamousDC
…
And so the blog FamousDC is debuting their media campaign ticket tomorrow, and gave Shenan some teasers - they are hilarious.

Potomac Flacks:

Famous DC has posted their “Media Ticket” — who they envision making the best 2008 Administration if it were all journalists.  At the top of the list — none other than Mike Allen, President.  Good call and we’re certain he’ll leave office with a higher approval rating than any President in history.  Overall, in our judgment, a well-rounded administration.

JibJab Has Done It Again

Some of their best work to date.

theHotfile Returns

We still don’t know who theHotfile is, but FamousDC’s favorite news producer turned YouTube news host has returned!

What’s Bazaar is the Photoshopped Flag

When not on the House Floor, Speaker Pelosi likes to play dress up (from the latest Harper’s Bazaar).
Hat tip - Anne Schroeder Mullins

Famously Quoteworthy

Gotta love the low-level aides who stay off message.

“You can get a low level staffer to say almost anything.”–Obama spokesguy Bill Burton on the one and only Bill Press’ Radio show this morning, reacting to Politico’s own Hill Dems are Miffed at Obamastory. (Of course within the story he did say: “It’s a favorite parlor game in Washington for low-level staff to take shots at anyone they can, given the opportunity.”)

h/t Shenanigans

Come Back, Hotfile

Some of our tipsters have emailed they’re worried about theHotfile. These tipsters want to know if Hotfile is OK, or if FamousDC scared her away. It has been over a week - come back hotfile!

If It’s Meet the Press

It’s time for advocacy ads.

Media buyers know their target audience and they’re drilling home the energy ads during the expensive MTP airing:

T. Boone Pickens - The Pickens Plan
Southern Company - Powered by Common Sense
Chevron - Human Energy
SVEZ - Energies of Progress
Association of American Railroads - Freight Rail Works

Next week Al Gore will be a guest on MTP. Will we see more clean coal, energy futures, and drilling? Or will it be all green and clean?

Change You Can Take to the Race Track

Obama to Sponsor a NASCAR car?

Nah, not so much according to the L.A. Times:

The Barack Obama campaign has reportedly declined the proposal of BAM Racing to be hood sponsor of the No. 49 Toyota driven by Ken Schrader at the Aug. 3 Pocono race.

Monday Morning’s Talker

JoMa: Ya can’t make it up: The New Yorker says it’s satire. It certainly will be candy for cable news.

RedState Gets a Face Lift

The popular conservative community had a little work done recently.  Web 2.0 is such the rage.

Vermont’s Finest Makes His Big Screen Debut

Quit the day job, Pat.  You’ve done good work here.

Famous DC’s Media Ticket

Introducing the “FamousDC Media Ticket.”  If your favorite journalist didn’t make this list - perhaps they’ll make the next - or perhaps, they’re not working hard enough.

President - Mike Allen, Politico
The hardest working media personality needs the top office.  He’s moral, honest, and trustworthy - to a fault. We need a President who will send 1,000 emails per day to answer the American citizens’ questions and concerns. We need daily morning summaries that include White House tee ball updates. We need a President who carries extra blackberry batteries with him, because he always outworks his PDA. We need a President who sleeps only because he’s forced to. We need Mike Allen 2008!

Vice President - Dana Milbank, Washington Post
We’re not sure what the Vice President does, but it sure would be entertaining to watch Dana in office. Milbank’s vlogs from “undisclosed locations” would be the modern day fireside chat. Milbank, who also boasts a solid pedigree, with a degree from Yale, is also a rumored member of the Skull and Bones - a secret quality needed by any potential Vice President.

White House Chief of Staff - Chuck Todd, NBC
Imagine coming into a Monday morning staff meeting at 5:45 a.m. and Chuck Todd has graphs and numbers for you as you’re choking down your first cup of coffee. Amazing. All leaked documents will finally make sense and will be justified with graphs, numbers, and awkward hand motions. We’ll follow the goater to the grave.

White House Press Secretary - Patrick Gavin, Washington Examiner
Pat already scoops most of Washington with his real time updates. We need him in front of the cameras daily for the gaggle. Cameras will be waiting for Gavin to announce the annual online contest to determine the hottest WH beat reporters.

Secretary of State - Emily Heil, Roll Call
This position requires lots of travel and protocol. Emily is perfect for the job, especially since the American people want the scoop. Who was over-served in South America? Which dignitary lost his luggage in Dubai? State press conferences would become must watch TV.

Secretary of Defense - Jeff Emanuel, Red State
Jeff has not only served his country, but has been to Iraq numerous times and knows what life is like for a US soldier. It takes a brave mindset like his to oversee the Pentagon - not to mention, any Secretary willing to live-blog from the front lines, is a man to follow.

Attorney General - Wolf Blitzer, CNN
We don’t know if Wolf has a law degree, but we believe every word out of his mouth. He’d fix whatever needs to be fixed and the 12 screens and custom animation that accompanied him would have the American people on his side.

Secretary of the Treasury - Charlie Mitchell, Roll Call
Charlie is leading a team that makes the most money in Washington and will have no problem getting the Economist to back him up. If Secretary Mitchell is the man tasked with debating currency exchanges with China - we’ll always stay in the black.

Secretary of the Interior - Anne Schroeder Mullins, Politico
The Second Secretary of the Interior was Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, so we figured the “all media ticket” could use someone with two awesome last names. The Secretary of the Interior also oversees the National Park Foundation. And when you think of parks, you think of fun and when you think fun, well, you think of that gal with two last names.

Secretary of Agriculture - Perry Bacon, Washington Post
Who better than Secretary Bacon to investigate the tomato recall? Nobody cares about tomato more than Bacon. Nobody. Perry Bacon is from Kentucky and knows the plight of the southern farmer. He’s also another Yalie on the Allen-Milbank ticket so the DC dinner party circuit will stay intact. Secretary Bacon will be known throughout the world as “Secretary BLT.”

Secretaries* of Commerce - Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser, Washington Post
Listen, we understand there is more at stake here than sports, but does anyone really care? Within the first 100 days they’ll implement a PTI-esque daily show to explain to Americans what is happening to their hard earned money. Who doesn’t want a rundown of where to invest and when to buy another round at the bar? Tony Reali will become a household name after his “Stat Boy” updates tell people which stocks to dump in the morning before dropping pitchers in their baseball fantasy league. “Goodnight, Canada”

Secretary of Labor - Rick Klein, ABC
Secretary Klein will be the Boy Wonder of the Media Administration. A Long Island native, Klein knows the hardships of the American workforce. His Princeton degree also deepens the Ivy League bench of the Allen - Milbank ticket.

Secretary of Health and Human Services - Nora McAlvanah, The Hotline
When it comes to your well-being - they say laughter is the best medicine - and that’s exactly what Nora does day in and day out as editor of Hotline’s Wake Up Call and Last Call.  Nora will likely have this country in tiptop shape within months of taking office.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - Christian Bourge, Congress Daily
The HUD Secretary should have an affinity for good cigars and a working knowledge of New Orleans jazz musicians. Ok, none of that will help with the job, but the HUD bureaucrats would all benefit from Secretary Bourge’s background. Originally from Louisiana, he will continue to rebuild New Orleans. Secretary Bourge will strengthen the Allen - Milbank ticket and will pull the tobacco farmer vote.

Secretary of Transportation - Danielle Jones, Politico
When it comes to moving, shaking and keeping the trains running on time - there’s nobody more qualified than this young lady.  A veteran of political journalism - Danielle has seen and reported on her share of congressional train wrecks at the Hotline - so she’s more than ready to tackled the nation’s gridlock.

Secretary of Energy - Howard Mortman, Extreme Mortman
The Secretary of Energy is an integral part of any Administration, so you need someone who has a lot of energy to spare. His Extremeness never rests - posting from vacation, the powder room and several stops in between; it’ll take Extreme insight in order to manage the corner office on Independence Avenue.

Secretary of Education - Jonathan Martin, Politico
Designer Fast Food in Every Classroom! Secretary JoMa will make sure all children eat Chick-fil-a for lunch and then spend the next half hour practicing leg kicks to really awful 80’s music. We’re not sure what the kids will learn from this, but the nationwide webcast will be smash-time awesome.

Secretary of Veteran Affairs - Susan Davis, Wall Street Journal
It takes the grit of a Wall Street Journal reporter to tackle this job.  Davis is known far and wide as a fair and balanced journalist - the exact qualities one needs to handle the job of Veteran Affairs Secretary.  She’s also developed very good relationships within the Pentagon - which can’t hurt.

Secretary of Homeland Security - Jim Mills, The Hill
Nobody loves his country more than Jim Mills and he’ll do anything to protect it. Don’t expect to see any more duck tape press conferences with Secretary Mills at the podium - we’re in for a lot of good old fashioned US of A yelling!

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency - Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post
Juliet covered the environment since it was the smelly little thing that nobody talked about. Now she has environmental issues always on the WaPo’s front page. If we’re ready for real reform we want Administrator Eilperin at the helm.

Director of Management and Budget - David Rogers, Politico
David Rogers should be President, but he knows he’ll have more of an impact as Director. He will run circles around Obey, Lewis and the approps gang. He’ll make sure the money goes where it should. Forget earmarks - everything will run through Director Rogers…and the country will be better for it.

Director of National Drug Control Policy - Ryan Grim, Politico
This will be fun to watch. Director Grim will need a good press secretary if anyone is looking for a job. His weekly Eastern Shore Ken Kesey parties will become Page Six fodder.

United States Trade Representatives - Jackie Kucinich, The Hill; Erin McPike, Congress Daily
We understand there is only one USTR, but have you ever seen Jackie and Erin not together? We’ve heard reports since their freshmen year at American that they’re inseparable. So, we’re making two USTRs, but they’ll always travel together. Washington’s “It Girls” are too much to keep in the beltway. We support these appointments solely on the fact of future Facebook updates from abroad.

Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System - Carl Hulse, New York Times
Does Carl understand foreign markets? We don’t know, but we do know his hair will never be out of place. Markets need stability like that.

Commissioner of the Social Security Administration - Markos Moulitsas Zuniga - Daily Kos
Mr. Kos has figured out how to solve the rest of the world’s problems from his laptop, so let’s give him a go at Social Security. It will be broke in a few years and if anyone can crash the gate - it’ll be Kos.

Director of National Intelligence - John Stanton, Roll Call
We understand the DNI is usually an active duty commissioned officer in the armed forces, but we have a feeling Stanton, an American bad ass who ain’t scared of a damn thing, knows people that know people - if you know what we mean.

Barack Obama’s Mustache Mafia

Here’s an interesting phenomenon …

Ever notice that all of Obama’s close associates are hiding behind something common?

The Hills meets The Fix meets Countdown

Ok, FamousDC fans. Let’s figure out where thehotfile works. During the day she is a normal news producer, but once home she turns into….thehotfile.

The self-described “good liberal” is willing and ready to take on the “Double Talk Express.” She wants her 15 minutes, so let’s shine the FamousDC spotlight on thehotfile.

Hotfile:

Yesterday at work I declared, “I canNOT read another blog, I’m all blogged out.” As a producer for a news program, I scour the web, newspapers and magazines for the latest political stories about the ‘08 campaign trail. And now that I’m formally complaining about that on a blog, I can’t help but feel somewhat guilty and like a bit of a brat…but still, I can’t deny that I had truly reached the end of the blogosphere. And after all the reports and analysis on gaffes, cheap shots, superdelegates, superduperdelegates, Bosnia, Bubba, Wright, wronged, Penn, pins, and a place called Hope, I thought, let me take a stab.

Twitter Or Die Tryin’

Congressman John Culberson [TX], you know, the guy in love with Twitter, is claiming the Democrats are trying to censor his tweets.

From his Twitter Feed:

johnculberson Before I could post a Tweet I would have to get approval
of the twits that run the House! 13 minutes ago from web
…
johnculberson They want to require prior approval of all posts to any
public social media/internet/www site by any member of Congress!!! 13
minutes ago from web
…
johnculberson Dem “Supreme Soviet” leadership of House would have to
approve every Twitter before I could post it!!! 14 minutes ago from
web

Will Culberson defeat the Big Red Machine?  Stay tuned and find out - or follow him on twitter @ http://twitter.com/johnculberson

Dumbest Background Quote of the 110th Congress

The Hill: Energy Bill Out of Gas

“‘Right now, our strategy on gas prices is “Drive small cars and wait for the wind,’ said a Democratic aide.”

Why would anyone ever say something so profoundly stupid?

John Stanton Eats Fireworks for Breakfast

John Stanton - reporter, rock star, radio host, 100% American bad ass.

How to Get On-Air

FamousDC readers know we’re big fans of Patrick Gavin and Nora McAlvanah. You can imagine our surprise to read an article that has advice from both of them. Luckily for all of us….they nailed it (with an Extreme quote).

Campaigns and Elections: How to get on the air - all the time

“What can you say that no one else has said and can you say it smartly?” asks Howard Mortman, who works at New Media Strategies, an Arlington, Va.-based marketing firm. Too many people rush to accept appearances outside their area of expertise, then stare blankly at the camera or say something mundane. And in TV, it’s one strike and you’re out.
…
If you do have unique insights but no outlet just yet, try creating your own. Nothing could be more fundamental, easy and inexpensive as starting your own blog. Mortman has had success with his own blog, ExtremeMortman.com, which has been linked to from several popular aggregating websites and blogs.

Please enjoy your FamousDC head’s up before D. All hits us with another moon bounce email alert.

Do His Thumbs Hurt?

From today’s Playbook

Mike Allen: Playbook yesterday sent our 100,000th e-mail since Politico launched 18 months ago.

Which intern has to count those?

No Wonder Obama Likes Wes Clark

General Wesley Clark might need his talking points revamped, but as this video proves, he’s a pioneer when it comes to the terrorist fist bump.

Yup, Wes Clark Just Went There

While appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation yesterday, General Wesley Clark said of Sen. John McCain:

“I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”  [Wowsers]

As if that wasn’t enough, he went on to say that McCain had never held “executive responsibility” or led troops in wartime.

When asked if he was aware of the military qualifications “option B” had, Wes, who’s goes to bed praying that Obama picks him for Veep, regurgitated this line:

Obama is “running on the strength of his character and good judgment…”

Glad to see the General logged onto BarackObama.com to get his updated talking points.

If you’re wondering if the GOP snapped back, yup, they did.

RNC’s Brian Rogers:  “If Barack Obama’s campaign wants to question John McCain’s military service, that’s their right. But let’s please drop the pretense that Barack Obama stands for a new type of politics. The reality is he’s proving to be a typical politician who is willing to say anything to get elected, including allowing his campaign surrogates to demean and attack John McCain’s military service record.”

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