Washington Whispers
A Cross-Country Schlep, Every Week
In today's world of commuter nightmares, consider this one for the record book. When Sen. Patty Murray goes home every Friday to Whidbey Island, Wash., it takes 10 hours to cover 2,500 miles in a Planes, Trains and Automobiles string of transports. On a good day. And for what? Well, the three-term Democrat just named to the No. 4 leadership post in the new majority isn't one of those who trade their home turf for Georgetown cocktail parties. She likes to hang with her peeps. "I can take the temperature of the country at any time just by going to the grocery store," she says. "If everybody's doing OK, they just say, 'Hi.' If things are going on, it takes me an hour and a half or two just to get through." In fact, it was during her visits to the Freeland Payless that she sensed the strong pro-Democratic mood that would junk the GOP Congress.
So, about her travels: Fridays start at 5:30 a.m. with a trip to Dulles Airport, where she grabs a United nonstop to Seattle with lots of other lawmakers. For 5½ hours, "depending on wind," she works. From the airport, she and her hubby drive two hours to the Mukilteo Ferry and wait in line for the 25-minute sail to Whidbey. She gets no special treatment. "If somebody cuts in front of that ferry line, you're dead." Then it's another 40 minutes home. A hassle? "I do this so much I don't think about it," she says. "It's just a day."
It's Not Maple Syrup Dean's Out Selling
His loudmouthed inside-the-beltway boors are still booing Democratic boss Howard Dean, despite the party's strong election showing, but they're eating him up like sweet Vermont maple syrup in Canada and overseas. Party bigs say the former Vermont guv is headed to Europe to cheer on liberal parties in England, Spain, and Portugal. His keynote address this month to Canada's beleaguered Liberal Party, fans say, was just a warm-up. Dean's message: Show folks like England's Laborites how to remake their top-down outfits into grassroots organizations just as he did at the Democratic National Committee. "A lot of these parties are where the Democrats were a few years ago," says an insider, "when there were people in the party who said, 'We have to be more like Republicans,'and others who said, 'We have to stand up for what we believe in.'"
Dems in? Lobbyists Win-No Problem!
The switch in Congress and promises by Democrats to swamp the administration with investigations and subpoenas are boosting K Street's bottom line. Lobbying and PR firms report up to a 25 percent surge in spending by worried firms, especially those in the defense, drug, and energy worlds expecting to catch the majority of flack from Capitol Hill.
It's 'Rewrite' for the Bible of Politics
Our colleague and columnist Michael Barone is back to rewriting the Bible–er, the bible of politics that is. As the chief author of The Almanac of American Politics, Barone updates after every federal election. But with the Democrats taking control of the House and Senate and with about 30 new faces in Congress, this looks to be a pretty big job. So what are Barone's git'r done secrets? First, he figures what to expand or cut. "Obviously," he says, "I'm not going to use a lot of the material on House Speaker Denny Hastert that was in the previous Almanac." Next, he gets detailed voting info. "I find that close examination of the election returns tells me a lot that most observers miss." To make sure he's balanced, Barone shuns labels. "I have tried to avoid using the word reform in describing any proposal, since it can be taken as showing approval for it." Now he has to redo the introduction, which famously declared America a 49 percent-to-49 percent nation. His new view: The country is still divided. "The political future," quoth the sage, "is very much up for grabs. Both parties have the possibility of getting enough support to go above the 51 percent ceilings." And that could happen, he adds, if a presidential candidate liked by both sides emerges in 2008.
A Guy With a Whole Lot of Questions
Here's one thing the Department of Homeland Security can expect when Democrats take control of the Congress this January: Questions, and lots of 'em, from Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat taking the reins of the House Homeland Security Committee. At one point this year, Thompson had 100 requests for info pending at DHS. "It just seems like the guy's never satisfied," says an agency insider. Thompson shrugs. "I like that," he tells us. "It makes me feel like we're having an impact." Why so many letters? "If the department was proactive in communicating with us," he sniffs, "we probably wouldn't need to write so many."
For TV, a Mile-High Summer Nightmare
Here's another reason the Big Apple is looking as if it will beat Denver to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention. TV networks–yes, they still run the show–are whining about how hard it will be to drag crews and gear to the Mile High City after wrapping up coverage of the Summer Olympics in Beijing and then pivot to the GOP convention in Minneapolis. Their preference is NYC, their backyard. We won't have to wait long: Insiders say an announcement is due this month.
Bush Legacy? Uh, Let's Wait on That
Now here's a real shocker. The Bushies aren't eager to start talking legacy about their prez yet. "Really," says one, "he's not obsessed with his legacy." Aides describe President Bush as the polar opposite of former President Bill Clinton, who was reportedly focused on his legacy the minute he was re-elected in 1996. We know how that went. Bush's doesn't look pretty either, but insiders say he's taking the long view and for proof note how his recent reading list included three George Washington bios. "His legacy won't be written for 50 years," shrugs an ally, "and, anyway, there's nothing we can do about it now."
With Dan Gilgoff and Angie C. Marek
This story appears in the December 11, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.