Shopping for Some Christmas Credit
House Speaker Dennis Hastert is a last-minute shopper. But this Christmas won't end with a mad dash to the mall for impersonal gift cards. That's because he's getting help from a shopaholic: Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. And it's all in a day's work. As part of a broad GOP effort to herald the booming economy and beat up the Grinches in the press and a Democratic Party more focused on job and benefit cuts, the duo is teaming up to hit stores and cheer on shoppers. We hear that they'll debut this week in Hastert's Chicagoland district at fashionable Westfield Fox Valley. Gutierrez will be there to brag about the economy. "I do my part to keep our economy strong by shopping early and shopping often," he tells us. He's looking for MP3 players for his kids that, of course, won't allow illegal downloads. Hastert, a former high school wrestling coach, plans to visit Champs to buy Chicago Bears goodies. "The economy looks merry this Christmas," he tells us, "and the folks at the Fox Valley Mall tell me that there's some good deals for those last-minute shoppers like myself."
Hastert's partnership with Gutierrez, who has made similar trips to Macy's and Home Depot, reveals a secret: Gutierrez, the onetime Kellogg's salesman, is now the Bush administration's top point person on the economy. "He's a salesman at heart," says an aide, "and he continues to sell today."
Ailing Reaganite Hanging Tough
We hear that old Reagan hand Lyn Nofziger is fighting cancer with his usual good humor and guts. "Still hanging in there," he E-mailed us. And at 81, that doesn't just mean playing shuffleboard. He pens a regular "Musings" column for his blog and was among the first to sneer about the missing Christmas theme in the Bush White House holiday card. Nofziger ended chemotherapy last week. "Finish up chemo," he writes us, "then wait to see whether it's done the job. Plan on living a while longer."
Alito Backlash in the Works
The GOP team working with the White House to win confirmation of conservative Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito is putting out a warning to Alito's Democratic critics: Question his ethics and character at your own peril. In their sights: Sens. Edward Kennedy and Joe Biden. "We're absolutely prepared to have an ethics debate with Teddy Kennedy," says one insider who mentioned the "C" word: Chappaquiddick. "Questioning Alito's credibility and character will be hit back hard," said one of the Alito supporters.
Shamrocks for the Press Corps
This month's winter meeting of the media's Gridiron Club is making news in political circles, but not just because it featured the debut of its first big-shot TV member--NBC's Tim Russert --or a funny speech by Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, a likely presidential candidate. No, the press insiders are buzzing about the hilarious speech by South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham and the praise lavished on the press by Irish Ambassador Noel Fahey. We hear that Graham, suggested as vice presidential material, had 'em on the floor with jokes like the one poking fun at former Sen. Strom Thurmond, who at age 66 married a 22-year-old former Miss South Carolina. "I'm fulfilling the seat that was held by Strom Thurmond," tipsters quoted Graham saying, "which means my wife will be born next year." Fahey, meanwhile, feted Gridiron members at a reception, then lauded their "fair and balanced" coverage of the "highest standards": better, he added, than the coverage back home.
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