Washington Whispers

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who once called the Republicans "brain-dead," today implored the GOP to follow his lead and reduce the hot rhetoric and come together on programs and policies both sides are close on.

"I've been dialing back on my rhetoric for the last couple of years and the reason is I think we do need to open doors," he said at a breakfast media roundtable. "We've got to return a tone of civility to this country so we can really work with people on stuff we care about, and that means abandoning the test of ideological purity and being able to cross over and work with people you disagree with in one area but you agree with in another area."

But Dean did not sound like he was expecting the Republican Party to concur, claiming that they are stuck with an old "scorched earth" approach to Democrats, which was started by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"The problem with the Republican Party is that they value ideology over what's good for the country," said Dean. "They haven't been willing to work with people to find reasonable middle ground. They've basically adopted a scorched earth policy."

He said the GOP practice of ignoring Democrats has reached the White House, which has taken the same approach with foreign governments, a move he said has been "terrible for our national image." He also defended his previous "brain-dead" comments, joking that it was a "clinical diagnosis." Dean is a medical doctor.

In assailing Republicans, especially conservatives, he said that there are good conservative ideas the Democrats can work on, but that the Republicans refuse to team with Democrats.

"What I deeply object to what the conservatives have done is be so high-bound idealogically that they absolutely refuse to work with anybody else to get anything done. There are reasonable, thoughtful solutions on both sides. And conservatives themselves have some reasonable, thoughtful ideas that I think are pretty good. But they have made it impossible to work with in any way because their value and their goal is to get rid of liberals and Democrats and that is a very stupid thing to do for the future of this country. Everybody has something to bring to the table," said Dean.

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Look out. Nancy Sinatra has her boots on again. The singer known for her 1966 hit "These Boots Are Made for Walking" is leading a parade of performers lobbying Congress today and Wednesday to get money for artists when their songs are aired on the radio. It's a campaign her dad, Frank, once led and that has struck pay dirt on the Internet and on satellite radio. The issue is a simple one: Sinatra and her gang want radio to pay performers when it plays one of their songs. The current and outdated law requires payment only to the songwriters and publishers. It's a fairness issue, she says.

"They're taking things from artists, musicians, sidemen, background singers—they are taking from them, but they are not paying them. That's not fair," she tells Whispers. It's really tough on old singers and one-hit wonders who performed other people's music. "A lot of them died penniless," she says. "It's all about fair play, basically. My dad started trying to get this done 30 or 40 years ago, and I'm picking up the ball now because it's not fair. We don't have a level playing field," she adds.

Broadcasters make a legitimate case: Playing a song is free publicity that promotes the sales of records and CDs; thus, performers already make money. But with oldies making up about 60 percent of the music on radio, listeners are just grooving to their memories and aren't buying old CDs, so performers are going broke, say the proponents of new legislation to pay them. Also, supporters of the bill say, terrestrial radio will simply be following satellite radio and Internet radio in paying performers, not just songwriters.

There's a hearing on the proposal Wednesday, and Sinatra is testifying. Several performers were with Sinatra today on the Hill, including members of the original rap band Sugar Hill Gang, famed for their tune "Rapper's Delight." If you're too old to know it, it's the Wedding Singer rap sung by the cute, old Ellen Dow.

Here's the list of performers and artists lobbying on the bill:

• Vince Trombetta
• Ron Sexton
• Terry Sweet
• Neil Stubenhaus
• Lovie Smith-Schenk (president of AFM Houston local)
• Alejo Poveda
• Kenny Skaggs
• Nancy Sinatra
• Bob Cranshaw
• Arturo O'Farrell
• John Lindberg
• David Spinozza
• Leonard DiCosimo
• Jimmy Owens
• Marian Leighton-Levy
• William Carter (Whodini)
• Jalil Hutchings (Whodini)
• Dan Navarro
• Kristine W
• Herta Suarez (AFTRA executive director of Miami local)
• Hadassa Candiani--aka Adassa
• Brian Priebe
• Linda Priebe
• Dan Workman
• Wil Gravatt
• Sugar Hill Gang (Michael Wright, Henry Williams, Carl Smith)
• Maysa

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ILLUSTRATION BY JOE CIARDIELLO FOR USN&WR

Now that we finally have the fall presidential campaign set up between Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain, the business of getting them up to speed on all the world's hot spots that Washington has its fingers in begins. Several agencies involved in foreign policy and the war on terrorism confirm to Whispers that plans are underway to begin classified briefings for the candidates and their national security teams right after both parties' late-summer nominating conventions. Why the rush? Since 9/11, the administration finds that the world's danger zones have grown, and President Bush wants his successor more prepared than any previous chief executive to take over U.S. diplomacy in January.

Leading the baton pass is the Department of Homeland Security, which has been working on a transition plan since last summer. CIA and State also plan to begin briefing the Obama and McCain teams, sharing details on trouble areas and U.S. enemies and what the feds are doing to combat them. And, says a new report to lawmakers and Bushies, that will get even more heavy duty after Election Day, when the victor's national security team will join with the president's top aides to review daily intelligence reports. And they'll even be invited into special exercises used to test responses to catastrophic events.

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Panic is starting to settle in for many of those traveling to the presidential nominating conventions just over two months away, Whispers hears. The problem: Hotels are booking fast. Organizers for the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul and the Democratic Convention in Denver say some hotel rooms close to the venues are being gobbled up by scalpers who are offering them for $800 a night or more. "And they want prepayment," says an organizer. Worse, fancy party rooms and ritzy hotel suites for media VIPs are hard to find.

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