All-nighters for political fighters

Washingtonians didn’t get much sleep Tuesday night, as almost everyone stayed up late to watch the election results roll in. Yeas & Nays checked everybody’s eyelids Wednesday and can break down the zzzz’s as such:

DNC Chair Howard Dean said that he got so little sleep on Tuesday that “I actually fell asleep in my office [Wednesday] for the first time in years.”

RNC Chair Ken Mehlman only got 2 1/2 hours of snoozing Tuesday night, but he made up for it with nine hours Wednesday evening.

For Maryland U.S. Senate candidate Michael Steele, Monday night was the real doozy: He only slept for 45 minutes.

Chuck Todd of “The Hotline” stayed up all night and didn’t go to bed until 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

DCCC Chair Rahm Emanuel slept for just two hours Tuesday night.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., got only a few hours of sleep on Tuesday and was awoken bright and early Wednesday by a congratulatory phone call from President Bush. She awoke startled, thinking that the phone call may have been her daughter, Alexandra, who is expecting her first child any day now.

David Snepp, press secretary for U.S. Senator George Allen, R-Va., said that it was Wednesday evening, not Tuesday, that was the most difficult.

“I got called from the BBC at 3 a.m. in the morning wanting to know what time his concession would be. That left me awake for the rest of the night with calls from reporters starting before dawn,” he said.

Fox News Channel’s Brit Hume only got four hours of sleep. “I went to bed about 12:30, but could not sleep,” Hume told us. “Too much adrenaline still pumping, though I was exhausted. ...”

Over at MSNBC, Chris Matthews barely got three hours of zzzz’s and CNN’s Wolf Blitzer said he “fell asleep at 4 a.m. and woke up at 6:45 a.m. Solid sleep.”

Election guru Charlie Cook only got two hours on election night. He was happy to get eight hours of sleep on Wednesday evening, but was slightly miffed about having his sleep interrupted by a call from BBC Radio in London at midnight.

“Very, very unhappy,” Cook said.

Next up: ‘Trading Spaces, Congress Edition’

Who knew that one of the hottest topics in the 2006 midterm elections would be ... drapes?

The whole thing started before the election, when Republicans charged Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., with prematurely “measuring the drapes” in anticipation of a Democratic victory.

Then, after her predictions bore out on Election Day, President Bush said during his Wednesday news conference that, “in my first act of bipartisan outreach since the election, I shared with her the names of some Republican interior decorators who can help her pick out the new drapes in her new offices.’”

Later Wednesday, at the Argentine Embassy, the Institute for Education’s Kathy Kemper had to regrettably inform the crowd gathered to honor D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams that White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten would be unable to fulfill his commitment to attend because, in the words of Bolten, “the president told me to work with Speaker-elect Pelosi. We need to decide on the fabric and design of her new office drapes.”

Of course, the always-secretive White House wouldn’t actually divulge their own drape secrets. White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore told Yeas & Nays, “Although we don’t publically disclose contact information of the White House interior decorator, we can state that we’ve been satisfied with their service for over five years.”

So what does Speaker-to-be Pelosi think about her future drapes? “I don’t think she’s thought of that,” said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill. “She’s more interested in addressing the urgent needs of the American people.”

Oh, how drab. ...

Congress’ green jacket is passed

Add to the Republicans’ coming disadvantages on the House floor and in committee rooms a growing difficulty on the greens.

The best golfer in Congress, identified last year by Golf Digest as Rep. Chris Chocola, R-Ind. (pictured), went down to defeat on Tuesday. His 0.5 handicap was tops in the House or Senate.

The top two golfers in Congress are now — GASP! — Democrats.

As of last year, Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., carried a 1.8 handicap and Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., held a 2.2.

The top Republican is now New Jersey’s Mike Ferguson, with a 4.3 handicap, followed by Ohioan John Boehner, with a 4.8 and Tennessee’s Zach Wamp, with a 4.9.

The GOP will need them, too. Democrats won their first-ever victory this year in September’s annual party vs. party golf tournament at Columbia Country Club.

Buchanan: How I got conned by Ali G

With America enamored with the exploits of Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” movie, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan on Thursday took his audience inside how he was duped by “Ali G,” Cohen’s other alter ego on HBO.

Speaking at Carol Joynt’s “Q&A Café” at Nathan’s of Georgetown, he said that in 2004, his wife, Shelly, got an official-looking letter postmarked from Great Britain requesting an interview on the American primary process.

After the crew arrived and began to set up in his den, Buchanan said the producer handed him two $100 bills and told him that “our host is a different kind of host. This is a rap singer.”

“I said, ‘I’ve done all kinds of things. Bring it on,’ ” recalled Buchanan.

He endured the mock interview for an hour, deftly handling questions about the missing “BLTs” in Iraq. But it wasn’t until after Ali G closed the interview by asking Buchanan to rap that he said he “went into the kitchen and said, ‘Shelly, I don’t know that this is all that it appears to be.’ ”

Nevertheless, later that year at the Republican convention in New York, he said he kept running into kids yelling, “Hey Pat, Ali G!”

When asked whether his own presidential ambitions would ever rise again, he flatly replied, “No. The American people have spoken to that issue pretty clearly. Charlie Brown’s not going to try to kick the football again.”

‘Unforgettable’ evening for jewelry lovers

A good cause and a little bling brought R&B songstress Natalie Cole to the McLean home of tech consultant Dr. Indu Singh and his wife, Sadhna, Thursday night.

High-end jeweler Bailey Banks & Biddle turned the grand opening of its new store in Tysons Corner into a benefit for the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, and as an extra enticement for its VIP guests, the luxury store asked Cole to perform.

After a ribbon-cutting, the big spenders were bused to the Singhs’ stone mansion (the couple are big supporters of Wolf Trap) and ushered into a massive tent in the backyard.

Following dinner, Cole took to the stage and belted out tunes like Aretha Franklin’s “Day Dreaming ” from Cole’s new album of covers.