Dems get first-ever win in party vs. party golf tourney

Does what happens on the golf course portend what happens at the ballot box? Congressional Democrats are hoping so, after their first-ever victory Monday at the Roll Call Cup, an annual, Ryder Cup-style match between the parties.

Republicans have defeated Democrats, often convincingly, in the first four years of the event. But this week’s event, held at Columbia Country Club in Bethesda, saw Democrats march away with an 8-1/2-point to 3-1/2-point victory.

“It is unusual,” said Dan Tate, a lobbyist for Capitol Solutions whose clients include the PGA Tour and who has served as an “informal organizer” since the event’s inception. “The GOP on paper has a much stronger team.”

“What happened was because of the various Sept. 11 memorials and ceremonies a number of players on the Republican side dropped out. The Republicans would suggest that their three best players did not play.”

Chief among them: Rep. Chris Chocola, R-Ind., whom Golf Digest last year identified as the top congressional golfer, thanks to his impressive 0.5 handicap. Chocola, locked in a tight race, stayed home to campaign in Indiana.

Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-N.J., who both sport handicaps under five, were also no-shows for the GOP.

That left the Dems with most of the big guns, including Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., a 1.8 handicap in the Golf Digest survey, and Joe Baca, D-Calif., a 2.2 handicap.

But, says Tate, the Democrats’ “second- and third-echelon players have really raised their games.”

Over five years, the event has raised about $600,000 in corporate sponsorships for the First Tee program, said Tate.

Burns says he’ll tackle 9/11, Bush, but not yet

Ken Burns, America’s most respected documentary filmmaker, said Monday that he plans to take on the topic of the Sept. 11 attacks and perhaps even the Bush presidency, but not for quite some time.

“I’ll definitely do it, I’m sure of it,” he said on “The Kalb Report,” which was broadcast live from the National Press Club.

But he said he may need “25 or 30 years” to make accurate historical conclusions about the events. “The judgments I make will benefit from the triangulation of the passage of time,” he said.

He said a feature on President Bush would be fascinating, because “people on both sides of the equation have misjudged him.”

Burns also discussed the budding controversy with the Federal Communications Commission over his upcoming World War II film, “The War.” The FCC has said the copious cursing by the doughboys in Burns’ film could violate prime-time broadcast decency standards.

“The president has used these words and been caught on tape on the nightly news,” said Burns, “so it’s not as if people haven’t heard these words.”

Playing With Your Money

With Republicans looking at a potential Democratic romp in the House of Representatives in November, the GOP is trying to get every dollar it can get in order to spend its candidates to victory. But, as any fundraiser knows, it’s always easier to yank money out of people’s pockets when they’re having fun. For the athletically inclined, you could have spent $2,500 per PAC or $1,000 per individual to go fishing Tuesday with House members in the First Annual House Conservatives Fund Potomac Fishing Tournament. Or spend anywhere between $1,000 (“Framers”) and $45,000 (“BOMPers”) for the privilege of going bowling today with NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds to support “BOMP: Bowling for our Majority Program.”

And Green Bay Packers fans can travel to Lambeau Field in Wisconsin for Sunday’s fundraiser for John Gard, who is competing for Wisconsin’s 8th District.

No word yet on a hunting trip with Vice President Cheney.

Fenty holds a party in the parking lot

Adrian Fenty was not only the front-runner going into Tuesday night’s mayoral election, he also had more money in the bank than any of his rivals. So why did he plan to hold his victory party in a tent in the parking lot outside his campaign headquarters at 809 Florida Ave. NW?

Discretion and caution, it seems. One source within the Fenty camp said that any staff inquiries into the nature of the after party were immediately rebuffed by Fenty, who told them to remain focused on the election.

Meanwhile, Linda Cropp’s campaign rented out two rooms at the Capitol Hilton at 16th and K.

Speakeasy

“In politics, when you mess up, everyone gets to watch it.”

– Sen. George Allen, R-Va., speaking Tuesday to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Luncheon at the Hyatt Regency

“You have to understand that the virulence of the press and a portion of the French elites against the United States reflects a certain envy of your brilliant success.”

– French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, in a speech hosted by the French American Foundation

By the numbers

5: Percentage of Americans who do not “recall exactly where they were or what they were doing when they first heard the news of the Sept. 11 attacks.”

192: Number of days in advance that The George Washington University announced former Vice President Al Gore’s March 18, 2007, visit to GW’s Law School.