Gossip Roundup: Hot, Hot, Hot Edition
•Washingtonian dubs The Washington Post’sJim VandeHei"the hottest new member of the traveling press corps." (They fail to say how hot. YoungHoward Deanhot? Wes Clark Jr.hot? Please, clarify.) NYT-erTodd Purdum"dazzles" PostieMark Leibovich. Not that there's anything wrong with that. [ Washingtonian ]
•Dem political consultantBob Beckel"is not your usual faceless born-again." (They erase your sinsand your face?)Laura Bush'sstyle is "crystal and barbeque," and she enjoys "hosting small fried-chicken-and-deviled-egg parties for her husband." If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck: "That's all I'm going to say for now. Quack, quack,"Antonin Scaliadismissing the controversy over his hunting trips withDick Cheney. Atkinsreps met with theSecretary of Agriculture. People mispronounceTeresa Heinz Kerry's name. (It's "ta-RAY-sa.") At least they're safe in one respect: An Army doctor in Baghdad reveals that hecan't keep enough condoms in stock. [ US News ]
• Nader. Clinton Labor SecretaryRobert B. Reichcalls radical conservatives "radcons." (Ingenious!) Not to be outdone, Inside the Beltway coins "radlibs" (for radical liberals, get it?). South Carolina senate race hijinks. Rats have invaded a U.S. government office in Silver Spring. [ WT ]
•Conservative Rep.John Boozman (R-Ark.)was stunned to learn that someone haspurchased the "boozmanforcongress.com" domain name and turned it into a gay porn site, apparently an off-shoot of the porny "MilitaryGuy.com," Creamer observed: "This certainly is not the proper way to support our troops." Speak for yourself. RepresentativePat Toomey (R-Penn.)was in a photo spread marked "Looking Senatorial" in this month’s Men’s Health magazine. Other stories in the issue included "Sex Secrets! 25 Ways to Drive Her Wild." Sure: Insiders say there's a move to name the next aircraft carrier off the assembly line theUSS Britney Spears, and to change "the name of the military’s prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to theBritney Spears Detention Center, a switch that would serve double duty by delighting Britney’s fans while infuriating terrorists who consider celebrities to be little more than demons from Hell." [ Roll Call ]
•She learned all her best moves fromAl Gore: A source asked the 21-year-oldBarbara Bushif she was a Republican, "She made a funny face and rolled her eyes. . . She said, 'I really wouldn't label myself that.'" CBS's "48 Hours" is looking for footage of Barbie's more attractive moves -- table dancing during Fashion Week. (If anything can top Nipplegate. . . ) [ NYDN ]
• Kerry'sgarage band record.Alec Baldwin: angry black man. [ NYP and NYP ]
• Vernon Jordancracks up the swells at the Alfalfa Club dinner: "I only wish my daddy —Strom Thurmond— could see me tonight!"[ NYP ]