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They Still Love Hillary in Denver
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 Comment (2)
DENVER—A day after Sen. Hillary Clinton called on her delegates to back Sen. Barack Obama, there were still many signs around Denver and the Democratic National Convention that her fans were not going away quietly. As I walked around the downtown area, along the 16th Street Mall and close to the Pepsi Center, there were pockets of supporters still calling for her to fight tonight during the state roll call vote. The largest group of Hillary backers, pictured above, set up camp just three blocks from the Pepsi Center and about as close as anybody can get without a special pass. And along 16th Street, there were smaller groups, like the two women pictured, Elizabeth McPherson of Texas, on the left, and Maureen Morrison Long from Oregon on the right.
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Denver Celebs: Anne Hathaway, Annette Bening
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 Comment
Whispers had another difficult day at the Democratic National Convention - hanging out with Annette Bening, Anne Hathaway, Tim Daly, and Arianna Huffington. It was for the debut of 14 Women, a new flick about the 14 women serving in the Senate. It features the sometimes incredible journey the women took to get to the Senate and is meant to inspire young girls to take up public service. "This is a film about empowering young girls to understand that there really is no limit to achieving what they want," said one of the featured senators, Barbara Boxer. The breakfast party was packed and filled with even more celebs, but we couldn't get close enough to take a picture of Susan Sarandon. We did get shots of Bening talking with HuffPost boss Huffington, Bening talking about the movie she narrated and in part won a Spotlight Award from the Creative Coalition for, The Devil Wears Prada star Hathaway, and Daly. Oh, and that's my prized press pass.
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Democrats Miss Chance to Poke at Republicans Heading to St. Paul
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 Comment (1)It seems as if the Democratic convention planners missed out on a chance for a little fun. Chris Coleman, the popular Democratic mayor of his native St. Paul, which next week will host the Republican National Convention, has been roaming the halls of the Pepsi Center this week as a guest - checking out how the Mile High City has handled its party, and hanging out with his own state delegation, which includes his brother, Pat. But when our Liz Halloran asked why he wasn't among the parade of podium speakers, Coleman - no relation to Minnesota's GOP Sen. Norm Coleman - said he wasn't offered a slot. Seems it should have been a no-brainer, no? Coleman, 46, is considered a rising star - the former public defender and prosecutor has been mentioned as a potential future candidate for governor. "I guess they have no idea how funny I am," Coleman deadpanned. "I could have delivered five points for sure." (His more politic aside: "The party has a deep and impressive bench.") Coleman, who endorsed Hillary Clinton, says he's confident his city is ready for its week in the spotlight. Suggestions for visitors? Try the local brew, Summit Pale Ale, "the best beer in America," he testifies. Don't miss the beautiful state Capitol, the Cathedral of St. Paul, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's haunts on stately Summit Avenue. And venture across the Mississippi River to Minneapolis to see the stunning new Guthrie Theater and Walker Art Center. So noted, mayor. See you in St. Paul.
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Brad Meltzer Says Obama is a 'Great Hope' and McCain is a 'Dragon Slayer'
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 CommentHis well-researched Washington novels have made him a New York Times bestselling author. And now Brad Meltzer is moving into the world of political prognostication. Out September 2 with his latest, The Book of Lies, which weaves together the origin of Superman and the biblical tale of Cain and Abel, Meltzer draws on his superhero expertise to size up the election. "We are a country starving for heroes," he says. He calls Sen. Barack Obama the "great hope who will save us all." Sen. John McCain is the dragon slayer "who took on the bad guys with his bare fists." So, who wins? "Depends who has more kryptonite," Meltzer smirks.
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Food Fight at the Democratic Convention
Tweet Share on Facebook August 26, 2008 Comment (1)
Kudos to most of the media caretakers at the Democratic National Convention who are watching over their very hard working staffs in hot press tents. Here at U.S. News, we share a room with our sister publication the New York Daily News, where our able staff today brought in some yummy chicken and beef fajitas to go with a tub of pretzels and vat of red swizzlers. Here's our web czarina Morgan Felchner dishing up some of those fajitas. Over at Bloomberg, reporters have unlimited supplies of fruit and chips. In the TV tents, guests and staff are met with lavish spreads. But sometimes even sister publications get treated differently.
Take the Boston Globe and New York Times, both owned by the Times and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. For some reason, competition I guess, the Globe and Times share space next to each other but are separated by a flimsy blue curtain. In the Globe area there are coffee pots and some treats. But when it came to dinner time Monday night, their neighbors at the Times received steam platters full of chow. And to make matters worse in the upper class-lower class relationship between the two papers, the Times chow was placed along the curtains that make up the wall with the Globe.
Some Globe staffers peeked in and one, seeing that the Times got food but his team, shouted in Reaganesque fashion: "Mr.Sulzberger, tear down this curtain."
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In The End, Hillary's Supporters Join Obama
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Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (left) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow
DENVER—It's Hillary Clinton's big night and finally, finally, her ardent supporters appear to be coming around to joining Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign. None are more faithful to the New York senator than Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, but even she is now sporting a button reading: "Hillary Supporter For Obama." She says: "It's about the issues...it's not about her." She appeared at a breakfast in the posh Brown Palace Hotel in downtown with Obama backer Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow who described how many Hillary supporters she's been in contact with that have started to make the switch. Wasserman Schultz, while clearly sounding like the strong Hillary backer that she is, says that having a Democrat in the White House will improve the chances that key women's issues before the Supreme Court, such as pay equity and abortion rights, will be supported. "At the end of the day, whether they slowly get there or get there quickly, Hillary Clinton supporters know that we can't give away the Supreme Court," she says. Stabenow also says too much has been made of the Clinton-Obama rift and she suggested that the news media has dug too deep to find offended Clinton backers. "She has done more as a candidate for a rival in the primaries up to now than anybody," Stabenow says. -
McCain-Pawlenty Looking Better Than McCain-Romney
Tweet Share on Facebook August 26, 2008 Comment (91)DENVER—As Sen. John McCain comes to an end in his search for a running mate, there are new indications today that he is looking at Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and not foe-turned-pal Mitt Romney. Sources close to Romney tell us that his camp has not had vice presidential talks and dealings for a while, leading them to believe that the other running mate topping McCain's list has edged him out. Of concern is the likelihood that the Democrats would dub a McCain-Romney ticket the richest ever. In fact, at a breakfast today, when I asked Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow if the Romney name would help in the industrial state once governed by his dad, she turned the question to Romney's wealth. She even added up the number of houses Romney and McCain have, coming to a total of 12. Though "the Romney name is well known" in Michigan, she says, the economic elitism label the Democrats would hit the ticket with would roll over Romney's brand name.
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Bush: The Presidency Was a 'Cool Time'
Tweet Share on Facebook August 26, 2008 Comment (20)At the end, President Bush appears to be enjoying his job more and letting his hair down. A case in point is a private fundraiser he attended July 29 in Cleveland for congressional Republicans. Our insider reports that the prez gave a breezy 40-minute tour of his time in office, calling it a "cool experience for Laura and I." He touched on many issues like his historic war on AIDS, especially in Africa, explaining that he pushed it in part because hopeless people have the potential to become terrorists. And he's willing to do whatever it takes—serious or tongue in cheek— to elect Sen. John McCain president. "If they asked him to endorse Barack Obama, he would do that," says our tipster of Bush's comments that go even further than his earlier joke about opposing McCain if it would help.
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Colorful Pictures of Convention Goers: Kara Kennedy, Party Hats, and Garbage Ladies
Tweet Share on Facebook August 25, 2008 Comment (2)
Today's convention pictures feature our fave: Teddy Kennedy's daughter Kara caught buying a $25 Obama T-shirt. We caught her before the night's tribute to her dad and as she shopped at the Obama kiosk inside the Pepsi Center run by Margo Mertaugh (on the right). Other features include some great hats, the special Donkey Donut shot, Katie Couric, the CNN gang, and the recycle ladies, Cle Symons on the left and Florence Jester on the right.
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Kids Dig Obama, But McCain Can Gain
Tweet Share on Facebook August 25, 2008 Comment (6)DENVER—Sure, Sen. Barack Obama is cleaning up on the youth vote, but a new Harvard University Institute of Politics study finds that Sen. John McCain is close enough on some issues - terrorism, the war and immigration reform — that he can chip away at the block the Democrats are depending on to win the White House. "The youth vote should not be taken for granted by the Obama campaign or written off by the McCain campaign," says John Della Volpe, the Institute's polling director. The school just delivered their latest poll to Whispers and it has Obama beating McCain 55 percent to 32 percent among voters 18-24. It's a little bigger than the actual 2004 vote, when Sen. John Kerry beat President George Bush among younger voters 52 percent to 39 percent. But while nobody thinks McCain will best Obama among kids, there is reason for him to be hopeful of winning enough votes among 18-24-year-olds to diminish Obama's Election Day haul. The poll, for example, finds that a majority of McCain's youth voters are excited about his candidacy. That's a far cry from the Obama figure of 83 percent, but something Della Volpe noted as a positive for McCain. Also, he said that when so-called millennial voters were asked to give advice to the candidates, the responses were very similar and focused on the economy.
