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AFL-CIO's Trumka Slams George McGovern
Tweet Share on Facebook September 3, 2009 Comment (1)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Ever since 1972 Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern hit the Employee Free Choice Act, or card check, in an ad earlier this year, Big Labor has been fuming. This week, it let off some steam. In a breakfast media roundtable, the likely new president of the AFL-CIO struck back. Richard Trumka, who's expected to be elected next week to replace outgoing boss John Sweeney, slammed McGovern as a foe of workers. "You know poor George got paid to do an ad. Now he ran as an antiwar candidate, and there have been three or four wars since he left the playing field that he had nothing to say about. And then he comes back on the playing field to make war against the workers. We found that very ironic," Trumka said to some gasps in the room of reporters.
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Poll: Tom Selleck Should Run for Congress
Tweet Share on Facebook September 2, 2009 Comment (8)By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
With liberal comedian Al Franken's election to the Senate, more stars could consider a second career in politics. But of the politically active celebs whom respondents to our latest Whispers poll would like to see throw their hats in the ring, the most popular choice was someone on the other side of the aisle, sort of. A self-described independent, actor Tom Selleck is pro-gun and was pro-John McCain. Forty-one percent of respondents said they'd choose the Magnum, P.I. star for a congressional run. Ben Affleck, a Barack Obama supporter, got support from 18 percent of those polled, and Ted Nugent and Angelina Jolie each garnered 16 percent. And while she's active in the Creative Coalition, 26-year-old actress Anne Hathaway must still need to prove her political chops. Only 9 percent of respondents wanted The Devil Wears Prada star to run for office. But that's OK. While she could go for a House seat, Hathaway's still too young to run for the Senate.
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Obama the Subject of History Courses
Tweet Share on Facebook September 2, 2009 Comment (3)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
He's been president for only seven months, but Barack Obama is already the subject of college history courses. And there's a common theme on campus. Just like in the election, the nation's first black president is transformational. Take sports: New York University's Emerging Issues in Sports and Society will look at how the success of black sports stars helped pave the way for Obama's election. Former Missouri Gov. Bob Holden, who was defeated in a bitter Democratic primary by Sen. Claire McCaskill in 2004, will coteach Topics in Politics: Obama Administration Year One at Webster University. "President Obama is really the transitional figure in terms of communication and in terms of our cultural diversity, so to study his administration—how he got there and his leadership skills—is going to be a very good forerunner of studying leadership in the future," Holden tells our Suzi Parker.
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GOP Pollsters: Democrats Won't Lose Big in Midterm Elections
Tweet Share on Facebook September 1, 2009 Comment (12)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Republican pollsters and campaign pros are tamping down excited talk by some that President Obama's woes will mean a huge pickup of House seats in the midterm elections next year. While some compare it to 1994, when concern over Bill Clinton's healthcare plan and other issues led to a historic 52-seat House Democratic loss, Republicans say the impact will be closer to 1982, when Ronald Reagan lost about 26 House seats. "This is much more like '82 than it is '94," says GOP pollster Bill McInturff. "This is a country that still wants the president to be successful."
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Malkin Cheers Mainstream Media, Disses Crist
Tweet Share on Facebook September 1, 2009 Comment (3)By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
She's the sharp-tongued "it" girl of the conservative blogosphere, but Michelle Malkin doesn't have it in for everybody—even the mainstream media. "I think they are finding their way," says the author of the new book Culture of Corruption. "Now, like everyone else, they have to figure out how to earn eyeballs and earn readers and earn listeners . . . which is to respond to the marketplace." Malkin, a former newspaper reporter, tells us she never wants to make a run for office and has advice for one who is: Republican Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, competing against conservative Marco Rubio in the GOP Senate primary. She wants Crist out, dubbing him "old guard" and "a loser."
