USNews.com: Inside Washington: Paul Bedard: : Why 'Macaca' Is a Good Word

November 07, 2006

Why 'Macaca' Is a Good Word

At the risk of angering everybody happy to see another election season fizzle out, here's an idea for a new constitutional amendment: Hold midterm elections every year. That's right, instead of electing the House and a third of the Senate every two years, split it up so we have elections every year. And here's why: It will greatly help to weed out all the dopey presidential candidates who make stupid comments on the campaign trail. And it will also show some of those White House hopefuls who think that they can get away with just a little travel and fundraising just how hard it is to run for president.

Just consider how it worked this year. Of the nearly two dozen candidates thinking of running for president in 2008, one dropped out and two were effectively scrubbed from the list. Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner pulled out, citing the hardship of campaigning, though many think something else drove him from the spotlight. Then Virginia Republican Sen. George Allen tripped over the "macaca" slur and his Jewish roots. Bye-bye, said the national pundits.

And finally, how about Sen. John Kerry's suggestion that troops aren't so bright? At that rate, if we had yearly elections, we could trim the presidential candidates down to a handful by the Iowa caucus in 2008.

Posted at 12:51 PM by PaulBedard

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WHAT IS THIS?

Have you ever wondered what reporters do with all the stuff they collect but never write about? Well wonder no more. The bosses here pay me a good chunk of change and haven't ever choked on my Amex bill so it seems only proper to dump out my notebook every week. It won't be just news we didn't use. The blog will sometimes write about the process of getting stories-like why we choose Charlie Palmer's (quiet, spacious) for source lunches on Capitol Hill over Bistro Bis (crowded and noisy). Or why it's hard to get reporters at U.S. News to answer their phones on Fridays (it's our deadline, silly.) We'll even include pictures of our travels. Don't hesitate to applaud or criticize. We might just run your comments. Go ahead and email me at pbedard@usnews.com.

HISTORICAL STUFF

In Washington Whispers One Year Ago: Sen. Edward M. Kennedy can be one of the Senate's blustering best, but we found him in a candid moment last week when he sized up his speech this week at the AFL-CIO convention in Chicago. "You're gonna miss a great speech there," he said with a chuckle. "Same one I've given for 40 years. It's going to be breathtaking."

Five years ago: Vice President Dick Cheney knows how to keep reporters happy. Flying home on Air Force Two from an energy policy town hall meeting in Pittsburgh, his press corps asked stewards for beer. Breaking with practice, the jet was dry. Scribes whined to Cheney who found two bottles of vino, red and white, to give the pampered pressies.