Entries for March 18, 2007

JOE CIARDIELLO FOR USN&WR

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee isn't the only fatty who hit the treadmill and dieted—he lost 110 pounds and several chins—to get ready for a 2008 presidential run. Now we can add New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to the list. "When I made the decision to run for president, I realized it was time to get serious about losing weight and exercising more," he says. "The campaign lifestyle can wreak havoc on your diet and your waistline." Once a lean kid athlete, Richardson chubbed up during his days as a lawmaker and cabinet official in Washington and as United Nations ambassador in New York, where he was known for his big appetite, long cigars, and sips of wine. But that was 30 pounds ago.

After trying virtually every fad diet, he's now on a doctor-prescribed, nutritionist-supervised diet familiar to thousands: He replaces two meals with special shakes, actually eating only one real meal a day. He snacks on veggies or an energy bar. And he works out with a trainer. "He loves to eat," says spokesman Pahl Shipley, "so it has been difficult." Richardson says he still wants to shed 10 pounds, but his staff isn't so happy with that news. "I've got even more energy and stamina," he says, but he also admits, "I get cranky." Still, says Richardson, the only Hispanic in the 2008 race, "I'll tell you what. My horse is happy about my diet."

The number of groups pushing to draft Condoleezza Rice for president has reached about 20 so far, and now one—ThinkCondi.net—is trying to get everybody on the same page. "We want to take it to the next stage," says ThinkCondi Chairman Richard Holt. And that means moving from the Internet to the key primary and caucus states to set up organizations and get the secretary of state's name on the Republican primary ballots, especially in early-primary states like New Hampshire and South Carolina. Oddly, they haven't asked Rice, but Holt doesn't think that's key yet. "We want to take this to her with results. We're sure she'll get in then and this will take off."

For media outlets breathlessly selling the story about how Bill Clinton would play the first lady role should his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, become president, well, just hang on a minute. We hear from key Clintonistas that there's an alternative to having Bubba around all the time, stealing the limelight. It's having Chelsea Clinton, the all-grown-up daughter, take over the East Wing. The scenario: Chelsea would move to the White House to handle social functions because the former president would be too busy with his surrogate work for his wife and his ongoing efforts for his foundation, which he'd probably move to Washington. And to keep out of Hillary's hair, he'd step up his already busy travel schedule out of Washington and the country.

Some random tidbits: Scott McClellan, the former White House spokesman, is shopping a book proposal around and hopes to land a deal this month. He tells us that it will be a "candid look at the president, the press, and defining events." Also writing a book: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, on his roots in Searchlight, Nev.—"13 brothels and no churches"—and how he got to Washington. And what about this news from former Sen. Fred Thompson, the Law & Order star who's thinking about a presidential bid: He's planning more fundraisers for convicted perjurer Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Friends say it will help him show conservatives that he not only believes in the Bush team but is not a fair-weather friend.

Every military thriller writer wants to be compared to Tom Clancy, but to be called better? That's what Aiden Rocke is hearing about his first work, Rogue Threat, and the upcoming sequel, Hidden Threat. Military writers say his books, filled with terrorist tales, are very realistic. So how does he make them so authentic? Rocke is a pseudonym for the real author: a member of the Army brass who has fought in Afghanistan. "The primary heroes," he tells us, "are amalgamations of role models I've observed from private to general." We can't tell you Rocke's real name or, you know, we'd have to kill you. Let's just say he doesn't want his hobby to interfere with his day job, though he does give a percentage of profits from book sales to the Army emergency relief campaign.

Here's one group not crying over the speeded-up presidential primary process: the U.S. Secret Service. Instead of protecting more than a dozen candidates during the early months of the primary season, the agents might have just two candidates to oversee by the middle of February. Why? A quickened primary process could cull the list of nominees that early. Agency officials say they had expected to have a crowd of candidates to protect through April, so this change could save them millions.

Nobody loves the baby boomers more than the baby boomers, so it shouldn't be a surprise that one of the generation's notables, White House spokesman Tony Snow, takes a center-stage role in PBS's two-hour special, The Boomer Century 1946–2046, on March 28. It will show three pics of Snow: as a kid, playing his rock flute, and dressed up as the prez's spokesman. He comes across well—not too boomer-boosterish—though he says, "What you have with baby boomers is a kind of sense of excitement about life that distinguishes us a little bit from other generations." One example: trying several jobs. The newsman and radio host turned spokesman says, "I've been through about six different careers and I'll go through one or two more before I'm done." Then there's his rock band. "If I didn't have that band, I'd be playing the room and disturbing my wife and neighbors."

"St. Patrick's Day is an occasion that unites two distinct groups of Americans: those who are of Irish descent, and those who wish they were."

"Now I wake up in the morning and say, 'Who do I hate today?'"

"I prove the fact that there's no literacy test to run for office."

"It should be S-h-a-i-k-h or S-h-e-i-k-h, but not S-h-a-y-k-h."

Sources: the White House, Washington Examiner (3)

—Matt Davies, The Journal News

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