Wonkette

Deborah Pryce used to be “the most powerful Republican woman in Congress,” but now she’s not even the most famous Deborah in Washington. So, after a bitter and drawn-out contested reelection, she’s giving up the ghost and retiring from Congress, just like Dennis Hastert. What a sad, boring August it’s been! Goodbye, Deborah! You were never very crazy, and therefore of no interest to us whatsoever, but for some reason after you stepped down from your leadership role you basically turned into a Democrat, so it’s probably best that you step down and be replaced by someone who doesn’t love abortion so much. And with Bob Ney, Mark Foley, and Jack Abramoff all gone, she can’t have too many friends left in town.

8-term Ohio Rep. Deborah Pryce to retire [Yahoo]

* Heard on the Hill: Rep. Linda Sánchez judged a “best package” contest at Cobalt last week… Sex-starved middle-aged Washington women swooned over Richard Gere at the Old Ebbitt Grill… HoH columnist Mary Ann Akers is moving to Washingtonpost.com. [Roll Call]
* Reliable Source: Reliable Source readers vote Cynthia McKinney’s Cap Police beatdown the best Washington Gossip of ‘06. [WP]
* Yeas and Nays: Congressional offices all pretending they’re not betting like fiends on today’s Florida/OSU game, though Deborah Pryce and Adam Putnam have some sort of “betting for little kids” candy-vs.-pie thing going on… 300 old people protested AEI… Nancy Pelosi washes own hair at Salon! [Examiner]
* Washington Whispers: Former Post-ites turned Politico anchors John Harris and Jim VandHei smoke lots and lots of weed while discussing future of journalism… Arnold Schwarzenegger is eying Barbara Boxer’s seat, if you know what we mean. [USN&WR]

The celebrated 2006 midterm elections, already beloved for featuring more man-on-page action and bitch-choking than any other election since the Era of Good Feelings, are finally drawing to a totally anti-climactic end. Deborah Pryce (R-OH) has defeated some loser. The recount will be certified on Friday, and then we can all get back to Vilsack Fever. MORE »

Representative Jean Schmidt’s previous public meltdowns have been so comical that it saddens us to see her reduced to mere plagiarism, the hallmark of boring, unimportant people like bloggers, academics, and music writers. Who can forget… MORE »

• Names & Faces: Al Gore on An Inconvenient Truth: “The production schedule was so grueling, I told the producers they should have called it ‘Kill Al Volume 1.’” [Life via WP]

• Heard on the Hill: Rep. Katherine Harris’s latest shoeless incident also involved a car wreck… A television ad for Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH) misspelled Pryce’s name. [Roll Call]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Sen. Ted Kennedy says that Al Gore is keeping his options open with respect to a presidential bid, describes Sen. Hillary Clinton as “an extremely significant contender,” and expresses pride in his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI). [NYDN]
• Liz Smith: Did Roger Ailes have advance notice of the attack on Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi? [NYP]
• Washington Whispers: Journalist Robert Draper is working on a biography of George W. Bush, due out next year… Dave Matthews likes to read the Nation, which “seems kind of moderate” to him. [USNWR]

• Reliable Source: Laura, Barbara, and Margaret Bush as well as Nancy Reagan and Annette de le Renta all had their hair done at Nuri Yurt. . . Stephen Colbert spotted at a Cosi. . . Michael Brown is selling his house. [WP]
• Under the Dome: Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) wrote and performed a song about Samuel Alito with Paul Shaffer: “The most beautiful sound I