Entries for February 01, 2007

Think you've got the stuff to beat back rumors about first twins Jenna and Barbara Bush or tales about first lady Laura Bush sneaking a smoke or two? Here's your chance. The first lady's able and gracious spokeswoman, Susan Whitson, tells us that she's leaving to start a family after nearly two years in the East Wing. "Being Mrs. Bush's press secretary has been the single best job I have had," she says. But not an easy one, that's for sure. Just consider the diversity of calls she gets from reporters: everything from questions about the once-partying twins to interview requests for first pup Barney. Whitson says she just recently decided to leave Washington and move permanently to Washington, Va., home of the famous Inn at Little Washington and where she and her hubby have a house.

"Yes, I am returning to the quiet life," she says. "My husband and I are moving out to little Washington full time and hope to start a family."

A former high school teacher who worked in the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign before joining the White House, she leaves with great memories: "I have been able to travel around the U.S. and all over the world to help Mrs. Bush promote very important issues, like education and global health," she says. "For most of us, we recognize that we should either commit to the end or give another person the opportunity to do our jobs for the remaining two years. For me, leaving was a very personal decision."

Hers was the third major personnel announcement from the East Wing this week. The first lady earlier announced the hiring of a new pastry chef and the departure of social secretary Lea Berman and the hiring of her replacement.

The changes have prompted rumors that insiders have found the job to be less thrilling and glamorous than they expected, in part because of the infrequent social events like state dinners the Bushes hold compared with previous administrations. But Whitson brushed those aside: "Not as glamorous? Wasn't what I expected?" she scoffed in an E-mail. "I will miss working at the White House and with Mrs. Bush very much."

She's leaving probably mid-March and is helping in the search for a replacement.

He's back. A conservative back-bencher who fired up a lackluster gop and grabbed victory in 1994, Newt Gingrich is being tapped by the newly out-of-power group to help map a return trip. "Unlike anyone else in the party," says a prominent gop insider, "Newt knows how to fight back." A potential 2008 presidential candidate, Gingrich has been meeting with Republicans at closed-door House gop retreats and suggesting ways to squash the Dems.

Initially, the former speaker urged a less in-your-face approach, advising Republicans to put it in idle and wait for the Democrats to "implode on their own," one gop lawmaker tells us. "Newt advised not to get out in front of them too fast, let them make some mistakes," says the lawmaker. Well, it hasn't happened fast enough, and now Gingrich is sounding the attack charge. At a second retreat of conservatives this month, he challenged them to bark loudly and often at Democrats and use parliamentary moves to thwart the opponents. His first order to conservative rabble-rousers: Take over the gop message. Next, he suggested tactics and rules to delay legislation and tricks to trap Democrats. Finally, drop a bomb the media will love. The gop did, slapping Speaker Nancy Pelosi's demand for an "Air Force Three" to fly her home to San Francisco. Says a leadership aide, "He brings up things that we didn't even know about."

With Dan Gilgoff, Linda Robinson, Angie C. Marek, and Suzi Parker