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Yeas and Nays: Thursday, Oct. 26
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Photo illustration by Jeremy Monken Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday. Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com . Sen. Obama Is Do-Main ManIn politics, it’s never too early to prepare and, from the looks of things, someone is clearly preparing for a presidential run by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in 2008. With politics increasingly being carried out online, securing as many relevant domain names as possible has become an essential way to both promote the candidate to Internet users and simultaneously prevent opponents from making negative Web sites. (Remember that WhiteHouse.com started off as a pornography site, and GeorgeAllenForPrez.com is a parody site about the Virginia senator.) Domain names also get registered by forward-looking entrepreneurs hoping to get rich by selling the ownership rights to interested political campaigns. If Obama is worried that all of his best Web site names are already taken, he could simply purchase our personal favorite domain name, which is still available: IWannaObama.com. Of course, maybe the junior senator from Illinois really is simply focused on being the best senator for his state and securing his reelection in 2010. Both Obama2010.com and BarackObama2010 are also already taken. Sites already taken: obama2008.com obama2008.org obama2008.net barack2008.com barack2008.org presidentobama.org presidentobama.com presidentobama.net obamaforpresident.org obamaforpresident.com obamaforpresident.net barackforpresident.net barackforpresident.com barackforpresident.org barackobama.org barackobama.net draftobama.net draftobama.com draftobama.org obama08.org obama08.com obama08.net barack08.com barack08.net barack08.org barackobamaforpresident.com barackobamaforpresident.net barackobamaforpresident.org barackobamaforprez.com barackobamaforprez.org barackobama08.com barackobama08.org barackobama08.net barackobama2008.com barackobama2008.net barackobama2008.org presidentbarackobama.com presidentbarackobama.net Cambridge on the PotomacThe air was so thick with privilege at the D.C. mansion of David and Katherine Bradley on Tuesday night, you could have used white gloves to wipe it all away. (The gloves would have also come in handy for pawing the pair of $350,000 Maybach luxury sedans and the $195,000 Mercedes SL 65 parked out front.) The hook was the D.C. launch of Bradley’s latest publishing venture, 02138, the magazine that looks “at news and culture through the Harvard lens.” “It lifts any brand to be in this home,” cooed publisher Meredith Kopit to the Crimson alums assembled. She added that the guests, who included Aspen Institute president Walter Isaacson and Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist, represented 325 years spent at the university. “What about the crashers?” piped up National Journal’s Stuart Taylor. “Probably 326 with them,” deadpanned Kopit. Zinger to the little people in the room. Among them Yeas & Nays, who had our name tag unceremoniously ripped off by a haughty alumnus when it was discovered our degree came from another school. Schumer lays it on thickSen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is a sound bite factory to begin with. But when he appears with his campaign rival, Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., as he did Wednesday at the National Press Club, watch out. The president “says we’re not going to cut and run in Iraq, but they’re all cutting and running from Bush,” he said. “You don’t see a four-letter word in their ads: B-U-S-H. There’s also a 10-letter word you don’t see in their ads: ‘Republican.’” He added that for the GOP, “It’s as if they’re in a little room where all the doors are locked. The foreign-policy door is locked ... and now because of the Mark Foley scandal, the values door is locked.” “For us, bringing out Democratic [voters] is going to be like carrying water downhill. For Republicans, it’s going to be like carrying water uphill.” Dodd Is iTuned In With ConstituentsPoliticians are always eager to look cool amongst the younger set, and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., is no exception. On his Web site, ChrisDodd.com, he’s encouraging constituents to let him know what should be on his iPod, which he has oh-so-cleverly renamed his “DoddPod.” “I love to use my iPod to listen to music, books on tape and podcasts,” Dodd writes. “Now I’m asking you to be part of the fun and the conversation. I hope you’ll take a moment to suggest a song, a podcast or submit your own MP3 message.” Dodd even allows readers to peruse his iPod playlist from weeks past; we discovered that he’s been rocking out to The Beatles, Bob Seger, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Aerosmith, Genesis and Garth Brooks. What, no love for Farmington, Conn., resident 50 Cent, senator? Think TankQuestion: What’s going to be the big surprise story we’ll see before the Nov. 7 election? “Saddam Hussein will get a ‘not guilty’ verdict from Judge Ito.” – Norm Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute “The bin Laden tape that boosts the GOP before every election — the only question is whether Osama will be wearing a ‘Pelosi for Speaker’ pin.” – Alexander Dryer, The New Yorker “Barack Obama’s Jewish grandfather.” – Howard Mortman, New Media Strategies |
