Only the Strong for The Tour de Bush
It used to be fun to be a presidential playmate. Just ask Harry S. Truman 's poker partners, JFK 's sailing mates, or Bill Clinton 's golf gang. You can almost smell the cigar smoke and hear the clinking of ice cubes in crystal glasses. Well, that's not how it is when President Bush gathers his crew to play.
Like his father before him, who used to play "speed golf" and a funky combo racquetball and volleyball called "Wallyball," Dubya likes to exercise hard with his friends, and his latest sport is mountain biking. But he's gotten so good at it that he's singling out his strongest buddies for invites to Camp David. White House correspondent Kenneth T. Walsh , author of a new book on Camp David and other presidential retreats, tells us, "Bush is looking for the physically fit." No doubt, since Walsh says the prez has crafted a course of steep hills around Camp David to ride his Trek in 90-minute races, sometimes leaving his friends in his dust. Not everybody has to ride, though: Bush still likes to do jigsaw puzzles.
Compare that with Clinton's less stressful Camp David routine. In Walsh's From Mount Vernon to Crawford: A History of the Presidents and Their Retreats, we learn that Bubba liked to shoot skeet, jog, ride horses, channel surf, and play cards, sometimes until sunup. And when the first lady joined him, Walsh discovered, she took up her "secret passion": bowling.
Family Hour With Loyal Idol Fans
The secret's out: Washington's high and mighty love Fox's American Idol, just like the rest of us. But few have their bets covered the way Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and her family do. Hours before contestant Scott Savol was dumped last week, Spellings's press secretary gave us the Ed boss's picks for victor. She likes Vonzell Solomon . Her hubby picks Anthony Fedorov . Twelve-year-old Grace likes Carrie Underwood, and 18-year-old Mary likes the fan fave, Bo Bice . All four remain in the contest. "She loves Idol ," her aide said of Spellings; "watches it with her kids." Spellings even had a chance to meet popular ex-contestant Constantine Maroulis recently and found it "thrilling."
He's Navy, But He's Happy for a Marine
He's the most famous military man in the Senate, so what Sen. John McCain , Arizona Republican, thinks of the new Joint Chiefs chairman matters a lot. Now recall that McCain is a former Navy captain. So what does he make of Gen. Peter Pace , the first-ever marine named to the job? "I think it's good," he says of the current Joint Chiefs vice chairman. "It indicates that we have now integrated the service to a degree where a marine can compete on a level playing field with officers from the other services." Still, he adds, "my candidate would have been [Marine Gen.] Jim Jones [NATO commander]. But Pace is fine."
The Bush Boys: No Break in 2008?
Outsiders think it's silly to even consider that another Bush--this time Florida Gov. Jeb Bush --should try to follow his brother into the White House. But many White House insiders think Jeb is the best bet to carry on Dubya's agenda and beat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton . Could he win? While some GOP bigwigs think voters want a break from the Bush family, Bushies think the guv is so different in style and substance from his older brother that he'd get a fair shot in the primaries.
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