Craigslist founder mulls over launching new Web site

If you don’t know Craig Newmark by name, you probably know his Web site: Craigslist.org. That’s the 450-plus-city online community where you can do everything from find a job to sell a car to vent about politics to search for that special someone.

But if Newmark has his way, there might be a new online venture that most certainly would be of interest to Washingtonians. At a private dinner in Manhattan over the weekend, Newmark expressed an interest in starting a Web site that would track the net worth of politicians while they’re in office. There are no concrete plans under way yet, but Newmark admitted that he’s done a lot of thinking about the idea recently.

One of the things that sparked Newmark’s interest in such a project was former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who has seen his own personal fortune grow from roughly $290,000 when he first joined Congress to more than $6 million, 20 years later.

“I just don’t see why these guys are amassing personal, private fortunes while in office,” Newmark said.

This wouldn’t be Newmark’s first participation in an online venture designed to increase transparency: On Friday, Newmark announced that he had accepted a full board membership at the Sunlight Foundation, which seeks to “reduce corruption, ensure greater transparency and accountability by government, and foster public trust in the vital institutions of democracy.”

But don’t expect Newmark to get jumping on this project right away, however: He’s having his gallbladder removed Wednesday.

Will auditorium name maim Kucinich?

It’s not always easy being Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio. Your showing in national presidential polls is smaller than the margin of error. Your “Department of Peace” proposal is fodder for the late-night comedy shows. And, the last time you ran for president, “Saturday Night Live” assigned a woman to imitate you.

Well, some things never change. On Sunday, Kucinich will participate in a debate on the war in Iraq to be held at the University of Connecticut along with 2006 Senate candidate Ned Lamont and UConn political science professor Craig Albert.

But looks like poor Dennis can’t escape the shadow of yet another second-tier presidential candidate: The debate will take place in the Dodd Center Auditorium, named after Sen. Chris Dodd’s father, Sen. Thomas Dodd.

Matchmaking with a high bar for entry

Tonight’s FriendSwap party at the 1223 nightclub on Connecticut Avenue promises to feature “the best little black book on the East Coast,” according to an organizer.

The evidence? Exclusivity, for one. The list of 300 singles for the invitation-only event is handpicked by the organizers and includes White House appointees, on-air reporters and Hill chiefs of staff — “the kind of people who would not go on public sites like Match.com,” founder Heather Dawn Thompson said.

Add to that a track record of success. Thompson says “two to three” marriages per year result from the event.

She said once the guest list is finalized, organizers read through surveys filled out by the participants, and they attempt to give each attendee two to six potential matches via e-mail. Then at the event, it’s “total insanity as people try to find each other.”

The event will raise funds for a teen center on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

The Fentys: Almost like the Kennedys

At last weeks celebration of Mayor Adrian Fenty and wife Michelle Fenty held for the cultural leadership of the nation's capital, George Vradenburg, chairman of the Phillips Collection (where the event was held), told the audience how much the Fentys reminded him of John and Jackie Kennedy. After all, the Fentys, like the Kennedys, are young, exciting, smart, energetic and have two adorable children.

Vradenburg saw only one difference: “JFK had a full head of hair.”

Norah O’Donnell’s baby shower a grand affair

Rima Al-Sabah, wife of the Kuwaiti ambassador, and Debbie Dingell, wife of Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., hosted a baby shower Saturday afternoon for MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell at Al-Sabah’s house.

Among the roughly 50 women in attendance were Edi Gutierrez (wife of Commerce Secretary Carlos), Marcia Jackson (wife of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso), Marriott International’s Kathleen Matthews, assistant to the president and Chief of Staff to the first lady Anita McBride, Meryl Chertoff (wife of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Cherthoff), Assistant Secretary of State Dina Powell, socialite Marlene Malek and Institute for Education’s Kathy Kemper. Norah’s mother, mother-in-law and college friends were also there for the celebration.

The gang later went out to — where else? — husband Geoff Tracy’s Bethesda restaurant, Lia’s.

O’Donnell, who’s expecting twins (a boy and a girl) in May, hasn’t finalized baby names yet, but a Yeas & Nays spy told us that all of the potential names are “incredibly Irish.” (O’Donnell said that one possibility is “Padraig.”)

Fun fact: O’Donnell and Tracy plan on hiring the same baby nurse used by both NBC’s David Gregory and attorney Dick Sauber.