Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin, The Examiner
2007-02-19 08:00:00.0
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Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday. Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com .

Sen. Obama bests Hillary in the Old Dominion

Virginia may be for lovers, but Virginians don’t necessarily love Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Consider: Last week, Gov. Tim Kaine endorsed Clinton’s opponent for the Democratic Party’s 2008 presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama, and Virginia Democratic Party chair Richard Cranwell announced his support for another Hillary opponent: John Edwards.

Then, at the Virginia Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner held Saturday evening at the Richmond Convention Center, it was Obama’s campaign table outside the main ballroom — and not Hillary’s — that attracted the most passers-by. In fact, Obama’s table was so popular that there was enough down time for those manning the Clinton, Edwards and Wesley Clark tables that they even congregated to chit-chat. (“That Obama is so hot right now,” we imagine them mumbling to each other.)

To make matters worse, Clinton supporters were shooed away as they covered light posts outside the Convention Center (inside, Obama delivered the keynote address). An official-looking event organizer wearing a tuxedo and a headset informed the three Clinton supporters that they were violating a city ordinance by putting up the signs and that the police were on their way. The supporters scattered, but the signs were still on the posts as Democrats left the dinner around 11 p.m.

Okay, so Obama may have stolen the night from Hillary at this event, but would Virginia voters accept Hillary as vice president? No, they’d much prefer former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner to fill that spot. As Warner walked through the Convention Center’s reception area, a chant of “VP! VP! VP!” broke out among more than 100 attendees.

Mos Def plays Obama’s tune

You’ll recall comments made recently by Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., which landed him in some hot water. A few weeks ago, he said that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” That controversy seems to have blown over but it resurfaced Friday night in Brooklyn, N.Y., of all places.

Musician and actor Mos Def, a Brooklyn native, took to the stage Friday night for the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Brooklyn Next festival, which showcases local artists. No stranger to comments made recently by Biden, Mos Def (real name: Dante Terrell Smith) and his 15 piece orchestra (and DJ) all wore T-shirts with the words “So Fresh, So Clean” around Obama’s picture.

We wonder what another presidential aspirant — Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. — thinks about losing the support of one of her fellow New Yorkers?

Bill would give Washington his due this weekend

If you’ve got the day off work today, congratulations. But Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., wants to make sure you’re observing the holiday for the right reasons.

The conservative stalwart has introduced, for the fourth Congress in a row, a bill that would require all federal agencies to refer to Monday’s holiday by its legal name, George Washington’s Birthday.

Noting that there has never been a “Presidents Day” federal holiday, Bartlett said, “The big lie of Presidents Day stems from the 1968 law which shifted the observance of most federal holidays to Mondays.”

“A generic Presidents Day diminishes the accomplishments of America’s greatest presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, while rewarding the mediocrity of others,” he added.

Bartlett’s H.R. 75 also calls on the president to issue a proclamation each year recognizing the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on Feb. 12.

Washington’s 275th birthday is Thursday.

Gingrich might announce bid on Contract anniversary

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called the early presidential nomination process “stupid” on Friday and said he won’t announce any presidential intentions of his own until at least late September, which could coincide with the 13-year anniversary of the Contract with America (unlucky “13” anyone?).

“I think the current process of spending an entire year running in order to spend an entire year running in order to get sworn in January 2009 is stupid,” Gingrich said at the National Press Club. “We live in an age of

iPods, cell phones with cameras, BlackBerries, laptop computers, blogs, television, 24-hour radio. You should be able to have a national campaign make a serious decision for president in nine weeks.”

He added the only reason to start two years out is to benefit the armies of political consultants hired by the candidates.

Gingrich appeared with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. to promote their latest books, “Winning the Future” and “Positively American: Winning Back the Middle Class Majority One Family at a Time,” respectively.

At the outset of the Q&A session, Gingrich was asked if he had any “secret” friends (an allusion to the Baileys, the mythical family that permeates Schumer’s book).

Gingrich said he does not, although his aunt and other departed relatives do bear weight in his life.

Schumer, post news conference, joked to Gingrich that they had so much fun, the pair ought to take their show on the road.

AOL users show Bill’s big shadow

Whoever said that ethics are important in politics?

In an unscientific AOL poll conducted late last week, AOL users overwhelmingly found Bill Clinton to be more likable than his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton (91 to 9 percent, with nearly 120,000 votes cast) despite the fact that they also found Bill to be the more unethical of the two (55 percent said Hillary was more ethical, with Bill getting only 45 percent of the vote).

But clearly, voters think that Bill’s other admirable qualities make up for his lack of ethics. Voters gave him the edge over his wife on intelligence (62 to 38 percent), public speaking (92 to 8 percent) and leadership (90 to 10 percent).

Joe Rogalsky contributed to this page.