Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin, The Examiner
2007-01-22 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday. Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com.

FDR’s presidential limo auctioned off in Phoenix

What’s this? A German defeats Franklin Delano Roosevelt? That’s not how we remember our history …

Well, out in Phoenix this past weekend, the 1942 Lincoln Custom Presidential Limousine built for and used by President Roosevelt (and, later, President Harry S Truman) did not fetch the highest bid at one of the nation’s most prestigious collector car auctions, held by RM Auctions, Inc.

The black-with-chrome car is custom armor plated and bulletproof, ordered by the U.S. government in response to the Pearl Harbor attacks and the need for heightened security. Further, since FDR’s polio made walks difficult, drives were a more common way of relaxing for the president, so a secure vehicle was required. The car was officially retired in 1949 and has been in private hands for the past 44 years. Fear not: This is not the armored car once owned by Chicago mobster Al Capone that Roosevelt used after Feds seized it. That one went for $621,000 at RM’s 2006 Arizona sale.

On Friday, the FDR armored limo went for $605,000 to an anonymous bidder at the annual Vintage Motor Cars in Arizona auction at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa. Interesting, however, was the fact that the auction’s highest bid — $2,805,000 — went to a 1937 Duesenberg Model SJ Cabriolet, originally commissioned by German artist Rudolph Bauer.

In fact, FDR’s car didn’t even come close to fetching the highest bids: Six cars sold at $1 million or more, and even a 1903 Ford Model A — considered the “world’s oldest Ford” and sold on Ford Motor Company’s first day of business in 1903 — bested FDR with a price of $693,000.

Panel selects MySpace finalists

The judges have made their call, and now it’s up to Web surfers to decide.

Former Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta, Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas Zuniga and National Review’s Jonah Goldberg chose four homemade videos as finalists in MySpace.com’s “My State of the Union” contest. Their choices:

» Katie from Bemidji, Minn., who claims “the future’s so dim, we need to dig out our headlamps.”

» Jesse Dollemore from Boise, Idaho, who says if you “fall somewhere in the middle [of the political spectrum] like me, the state of the union is very strong.”

» Bill Blackburn from Lexington, Ky., who opted against spoken words in favor of piano music, historical images and questions posed onscreen.

» Jackie Broyles and “Dunlap” from Murfreesboro, Tenn., two (seemingly) tongue-in-cheek rednecks. Dunlap laments incongruously that “they ain’t gonna let Peter Jackson do no more hobbits movies,” but “other than that the state of the union is good.”

The winner will be announced today.

‘Uncle Mo’ comes to D.C. for Pelosi’s daughter’s new movie

Apparently, it takes a lot to get musician Moby to leave New York City and travel down to D.C.

“D.C. is such a strange place,” Moby told us Thursday at the downtown Ritz-Carlton hotel. “There’s only one industry here, one industry where no one makes things.”

Still, Moby found a good reason to come to Washington last week: the premiere of Alexandra Pelosi’s (yes, daughter of Nancy) new film, “Friends of God: A Road Trip With Alexandra Pelosi.”

The film examines evangelical Christians as a cultural and political force and will debut on HBO Thursday.

Not surprisingly, Moby — whom Alexandra calls “Uncle Mo” — is not a fan of evangelical Christians: “An evangelical Christian is someone who says they’re a vegetarian and eats at Burger King every day.”

Mama Pelosi was also in the crowd, seen cuddling Alexandra’s new baby, Paul Michael Vos.

Notes from Washington’s Saturday night

National Italian American Foundation Executive Director John Salamone was awarded the Lido Civic Club’s Man of the Year Award at the club’s Past Presidents’ Night at the Capitol Hilton. The night featured such VIPs as Justice Antonin Scalia, Sam Donaldson and Jack Valenti. But politics were not a crowd favorite: By the time guests began to eat, a silent auction item for a tour of Capitol Hill had only garnered a $185 bid, far short of its $300 value.

Over at the National Press Club, the organization’s 100th president, the Buffalo News’ Jerry Zremski, was inaugurated with a Black Tie and Snow Boots Ball. Political humorist Mark Russell performed as attendees wined and dined on western New York fare.

Cheney’s Got Beef

Vice President Dick Cheney should be eating only heart-friendly foods, but when he stopped by Restaurant Local last week, he couldn’t resist a 16-ounce steak (medium rare, thank you) as he dined with his wife, Lynne, former Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady and his wife, Katherine. Perhaps it was the guilt that made him also order the spinach salad and asparagus.

Media Mix

Philippe Cousteau is president of EarthEcho International, a Washington-based environmental nonprofit. Sunday night marked the premiere of “Ocean’s Deadliest,” a documentary he hosted on Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel. It was a project he began last year with his friend Steve Irwin, the late Crocodile Hunter.

Q: What’s the first Web site you check in the morning?

EarthEcho’s Web site

Q: What book are you reading right now?

“Zorba the Greek”

Q: What’s the last movie you saw?

“The Pursuit of Happyness”

Q: What’s your favorite TV show?

Reruns of “M*A*S*H” (I only get to watch TV late at night, if ever)

Q: What are you listening to?

Gene Ammons (jazz)