Joe's got jokes.
Article round-up for the Gridiron Club dinner held last night, an off-record annual event.
HuffPo:
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama didn't have time to join a roast of prominent officials by the journalists who cover them, cracks Vice President Joe Biden, because Obama is getting ready for Easter.
"Axelrod really wanted me to do this on teleprompter -- but I told him I'm much better when I wing it," Biden said. "I know these evenings run long, so I'm going to be brief. Talk about the audacity of hope. President Obama does send his greetings, though. He can't be here tonight -- because he's busy getting ready for Easter. He thinks it's about him."
No, that's not the reason, counters California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "He's just not that into you."
"Here you were expecting 'Yes we can,'" Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said during the festivities at a downtown hotel ballroom. "And instead what did you get? 'Hasta la vista, baby.'"
"Now let's see: we have a Republican speaker who was born in Austria, and tonight's Democratic speaker was born in Canada," Biden observed. "Folks, this is Lou Dobbs' worst nightmare."
Obama may not be the messiah or even stuck-up, but he is the first president in decades to skip the Gridiron Club dinner during his first year in office. Instead, the president spent Saturday night at Camp David with his family, missing out on the 124th annual event in which journalists use jokes and songs to skewer politicians - a few of whom get to throw back some jabs of their own.
"I know that no president has missed his first Gridiron since Grover Cleveland," Biden added. "Of course, President Cleveland really did have better things to do on a Saturday night. When he was in the White House, he was married to a 21 year old woman."
Biden teased the press a bit too, saying, "I understand these are dark days for the newspaper business, but I hate it when people say that newspapers are obsolete. That's totally untrue. I know from firsthand experience. I recently got a puppy, and you can't housebreak a puppy on the Internet."
He also made fun of his predecessor. "You know, I never realized just how much power Dick Cheney had until my first day on the job. I walked into my office, and you know how the outgoing president always leaves the incoming president a note in his desk? I opened my drawer and Dick Cheney had left me Barack Obama's birth certificate."
And Biden even poked fun at himself. "I'd like to address some of the things I said: Like when I said that 'JOBS' is a three-letter word. I did say that. But I didn't mean it literally. It's like how, right now, most people think AIG is a four-letter word," he said. "Or when I announced our stimulus package website, I was asked how you get to it: All I said was I didn't know the website number. What I really meant to say was, 'Ted Stevens didn't tell me what tube the website is in.'"
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said that former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, "really set back the cause of hot governors."
Then, with an eye on Pennsylvania's chief executive, Granholm added: "You know where I'm coming from, Ed Rendell."
The Democrat also took a shot at Schwarzenegger, asking which of his movies best prepared him to deal with the GOP: "True Lies" or "Kindergarten Cop"?
Much of the evening's dark humor focused on the financial crisis.
Biden said that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, in attendance for the event, is "always there when you need money, no questions asked."
In a send-up of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an impersonator sang "Imperial Girl" to the tune of Madonna's "Material Girl."
The journalists-turned-entertainers, wearing silly costumes and accompanied by the United States Marine Band, also took a few final swipes at the previous administration.
A spoof of former Vice President Dick Cheney set to the tune of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" made fun of Cheney's dominant role in George W. Bush's White House. The Cheney mimic sang, "I pulled the strings, he said the words ... he did it my way."
Politico:
Although newspaper revenues are in free fall, causing Washington bureaus to close at nearly the same pace as the Gridiron stage show’s weekend run, Biden told the fancy-dress audience of 600 guests at the Renaissance Washington hotel that newspapers still have a vital role to play.
“You can’t house break a puppy on the Internet,” he said, citing “Champ,” the Biden family’s newly acquired German Sheppard [sic].
For that matter, as Biden saw it, it wouldn’t hurt for Rahm Emanuel a fellow attendee whose foul mouthed reputation has followed him from Congress to the White House to master some house breaking skills as well.
The walls between his office and that of Obama’s chief of staff “are paper thin,” Biden noted, likening the experience to “listening to ‘Sesame Street’ where every day is brought to you by the letter ‘F.’”
In contrast to some other Democrats, Biden had nice things to say about Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who departed soon after Tribune Company columnist Doyle McManus portrayed him on stage.
“Tim Geithner is always there when you need money no questions asked,” Biden said.
“We’ve got a plan for a plan to make a plan to plan … a pla aan,” McManus sang.
California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, and Michigan Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who was born in Canada, also spoke after members of the exclusive journalists’ club, dressed in rakish costumes and bolstered by several ringers, mounted skits that lampooned both their political parties.
Although nominally off-the-record, Gridiron dinners have often been demanding auditions for aspiring politicians, including, previously, Obama. But Schwarzenegger’s and Granholm’s foreign births eliminate them as potential presidential candidates.
Biden congratulated Schwarzenegger “on a really great speech,” adding, “I can hardly wait for the English translation.”
For his part, Schwarzenegger alleged that Emanuel “is concerned that some ninth graders are cursing only at the fifth grade level.”
Noting that his marriage ceremony required him to take his wife, former newscaster and Kennedy scion Maria Shriver, “in sickness or in health,” he said, “And being a Democrat is her sickness.”
Granholm asked Schwarzenegger which of his movies had best prepared him to deal with a party now led by radio commentator Rush Limbaugh and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.
The choices, she said, are "True Lies" or "Kindergarten Cop."
Imagining a reverse version of "The Dating Game," a show on which she and Schwarzenegger once appeared - albeit separately -- Granholm turned to him and said: “Let's get started, Governor No. 1."
Then she interjected: “And believe me, that’s better than being called ‘Client No. 9.’”
Inside joke: Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign as New York’s governor, shortly after attending last year’s dinner, when court papers cited him as “Client 9” in a call girl ring.
In making light of the financial crisis, several of the journalists’ skits paid heed to the depressed state of their own industry. “Will Twitter for food,” a sign held by a chorus member read.
Dick Cooper, this year’s club president, opened the evening’s festivities by noting that “the newspaper industry and the Obama administration have one thing in common: They’re both deep into deficit spending.” He asked the assembled guests to “please stop by our bake sale in the lobby as you leave.”
Although Obama was absent, a coterie of White House aides showed up for the four-hour white tie dinner. In addition to Emanuel, the Democratic speaker at the 2006 dinner, press secretary Robert Gibbs and senior advisor Valerie Jarrett attended.
So did two other governors: Tim Kane [sic] (D Va.) and Bill Ritter Jr. (D-Colo.). Four senators also came: Susan Collins (R Maine), Ted Kaufman (D Del.), Amy Klobuchar (D Minn.) and Ben Nelson (D Neb.). They were joined by a group from the House led by Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D Md.), John Dingell, (D Mich.) and Chet Edwards (D Texas.) Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy sat on the dais. (Each year, the club invites all nine Supreme Court justices, but judicial etiquette dictates that only two may accept.)
The U.S. Marine Band, which played as the dinner began, has been associated with the club of 65 active journalists since the time that John Philip Sousa directed the musical activities of both organizations. Gen. James Conway, the Marine Corps’ commandant, came, along with an array of top military brass, all also seated at the dais in their be-medaled dress uniforms.
As the oldest organization of Washington journalists, the club has traditionally inducted newspaper bureau chiefs and columnists. Lately, however, it has opened its membership rolls (and stage roles) to non print media glitterati.
While on stage, one such newly minted inductee, Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, spoofed former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, her husband and a veteran guest. “Hell,” she quipped, “if I had understood what he was saying, we would have been married 12 years earlier.”
The Hill:
President Obama's absence didn't mar the Gridiron dinner Saturday night at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Washington, but it did put a damper on it.
"He's with his family; how can anyone complain when someone chooses to spend time with their family?" said Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama, who wore a long, flowing navy gown.
Before dinner she mingled in the hotel lobby with White House Social Secretary Desiree Rodgers [sic], who stood out in a bright multicolored dress.
"It's family first," said Rodgers, remarking on her boss's absence.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was quick with a response about his boss’s no-show. “Vice President Biden, as is his constitutional duty, performed admirably,” said Gibbs. “No jokes about bowling.”
Throughout the dinner’s courses were satirical skits and song. There were jokes about Biden’s hair; there were songs from a faux Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin.
Gibbs said the evening was wonderful. “All the speakers were funny and we made it out of here before 7 a.m.,” he remarked at approximately 12:30 a.m. after the dinner let out at around midnight.
But some expressed disappointment that Obama did not attend.
"It's sad," said presidential historian Stephen Hess, who said he saw Obama at a 2004 Gridiron dinner and remembered him working the room better than former President Bill Clinton.
The dinner was rife with silver-haired men, such as the Washington Post’s David Broder and the younger Tom Brokaw of NBC.
Former White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Obama's absence was noteworthy. "For some people it might seem silly, but Washington is a town of traditions," Perino said. "It seemed like a deflating moment. If you can do Jay Leno but not this one, I'm sure people were disappointed."
But Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) quickly came to the president's defense, saying, "the president decided to spend time with his family; who's going to question that?"
But he couldn’t hide his enthusiasm for Biden's keynote speech, calling it his "coming-out party."
The senator remarked, "I think he's a debutante. With his sense of humor I have no worries."
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) walked in alongside Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and his wife, Debbie. Collins wore a Michelle Obama-esque sleeveless white gown. "I think people respect that he wants to be with his children," she said. "I'm sure people are disappointed, but they understand."
Midway through the dinner, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton and Erik Smith, who was the creative director for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, took a break and retreated to the hotel bar. Burton said there was no scotch downstairs at the dinner. He ordered a Crown Royal on the rocks; Smith opted for a Tanqueray and tonic.
The Obama economic team appeared to be all over the map in their reactions to the dinner. Most of them hurried out of the dinner early, but Larry Summers, Obama’s chief economic adviser, couldn’t seem to escape and was in deep discussion with various guests include NBC’s Washington Bureau Chief Mark Whitaker.
“It was terrific!” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner with a smile.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, however, seemed nonplussed by it, saying stoically, “Same as usual.”
Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Budget and Management, seemed more enthused by the dinner. “Absolutely,” he said, when asked if he’d enjoyed himself at the dinner.
But who is funnier, Obama or Biden?
“I’m not getting into that,” Orszag said, laughing.
Summers was jovial in his assessment of the dinner. “Good food, good dinner and it stimulated the economy,” he said.
The guest list read like a who's who of Washington and beyond, including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who walked through the hotel lobby while receiving cheers and clapping from the crowd that comprised mostly tourists staying at the hotel.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, were the picture-perfect couple - the governor in white tie and Maria in a long, strapless fuchsia gown. “Maria! Maria!” he called after her at the night's end when she walked toward a different hotel exit. She soon joined him and together the couple bid their goodbyes to the crowd.
Many attendees remarked on what a great hit Schwarzenegger’s speech was. At the onset, the actor-governor joked, “I’d like to thank the Academy…” - at which point he threw his faux speech on a table and began with another.
Other guests included former White House spokesman Mike McCurry, Democratic consultant Joe Trippi, former Capitol Hill flack and Mitt Romney presidential campaign spokesman Kevin Madden, former ABC newsman Sam Donaldson, Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift, Charlie Cook of The Cook Report, Tammy Haddad, CBS’s Bob Schieffer, Democratic strategist Tad Devine, British Ambassador Nigel Sheinwald, Bloomberg’s Al Hunt and wife Judy Woodruff of PBS, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and wife Andrea Mitchell from MSNBC, Fox News’s Chris Wallace, PBS’s Jim Lehrer, and ABC’s Charlie Gibson and Jake Tapper.
The congressional lineup included Reps. Jon Lewis (D-Ga.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
As the flow of guests rolled up the escalator from the dinner well at about midnight and beyond, many attempted to stifle yawns as they made their way out of the hotel.
“Too long as usual,” said Brokaw.
ETA:
• Video of most of the Cabinet arriving, dressed to the nines.
• Scroll down for lyrics to the satirical musical skits that were performed.
ETA AGAIN - Damn, I forgot these two zingers from Biden:
• "We are now two months into the Obama-Biden administration and the President and I have become extremely close. To give you an idea of how close we are, he told me that next year -- maybe, just maybe -- he’s going to give me his blackberry email address."
• "I now realize that we have to be extra careful when we annunciate [sic] new policy ideas to make sure they don’t look like they’re personally motivated. For example, the other day there were a whole bunch of stories about the President’s hair going gray; the next day there’s a story about a Vice President who’s trying to grow new hair, and then the day after that, the two of us come out in favor of stem cell research. That looked bad."
HuffPo:
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama didn't have time to join a roast of prominent officials by the journalists who cover them, cracks Vice President Joe Biden, because Obama is getting ready for Easter.
"Axelrod really wanted me to do this on teleprompter -- but I told him I'm much better when I wing it," Biden said. "I know these evenings run long, so I'm going to be brief. Talk about the audacity of hope. President Obama does send his greetings, though. He can't be here tonight -- because he's busy getting ready for Easter. He thinks it's about him."
No, that's not the reason, counters California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "He's just not that into you."
"Here you were expecting 'Yes we can,'" Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said during the festivities at a downtown hotel ballroom. "And instead what did you get? 'Hasta la vista, baby.'"
"Now let's see: we have a Republican speaker who was born in Austria, and tonight's Democratic speaker was born in Canada," Biden observed. "Folks, this is Lou Dobbs' worst nightmare."
Obama may not be the messiah or even stuck-up, but he is the first president in decades to skip the Gridiron Club dinner during his first year in office. Instead, the president spent Saturday night at Camp David with his family, missing out on the 124th annual event in which journalists use jokes and songs to skewer politicians - a few of whom get to throw back some jabs of their own.
"I know that no president has missed his first Gridiron since Grover Cleveland," Biden added. "Of course, President Cleveland really did have better things to do on a Saturday night. When he was in the White House, he was married to a 21 year old woman."
Biden teased the press a bit too, saying, "I understand these are dark days for the newspaper business, but I hate it when people say that newspapers are obsolete. That's totally untrue. I know from firsthand experience. I recently got a puppy, and you can't housebreak a puppy on the Internet."
He also made fun of his predecessor. "You know, I never realized just how much power Dick Cheney had until my first day on the job. I walked into my office, and you know how the outgoing president always leaves the incoming president a note in his desk? I opened my drawer and Dick Cheney had left me Barack Obama's birth certificate."
And Biden even poked fun at himself. "I'd like to address some of the things I said: Like when I said that 'JOBS' is a three-letter word. I did say that. But I didn't mean it literally. It's like how, right now, most people think AIG is a four-letter word," he said. "Or when I announced our stimulus package website, I was asked how you get to it: All I said was I didn't know the website number. What I really meant to say was, 'Ted Stevens didn't tell me what tube the website is in.'"
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said that former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, "really set back the cause of hot governors."
Then, with an eye on Pennsylvania's chief executive, Granholm added: "You know where I'm coming from, Ed Rendell."
The Democrat also took a shot at Schwarzenegger, asking which of his movies best prepared him to deal with the GOP: "True Lies" or "Kindergarten Cop"?
Much of the evening's dark humor focused on the financial crisis.
Biden said that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, in attendance for the event, is "always there when you need money, no questions asked."
In a send-up of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an impersonator sang "Imperial Girl" to the tune of Madonna's "Material Girl."
The journalists-turned-entertainers, wearing silly costumes and accompanied by the United States Marine Band, also took a few final swipes at the previous administration.
A spoof of former Vice President Dick Cheney set to the tune of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" made fun of Cheney's dominant role in George W. Bush's White House. The Cheney mimic sang, "I pulled the strings, he said the words ... he did it my way."
Politico:
Although newspaper revenues are in free fall, causing Washington bureaus to close at nearly the same pace as the Gridiron stage show’s weekend run, Biden told the fancy-dress audience of 600 guests at the Renaissance Washington hotel that newspapers still have a vital role to play.
“You can’t house break a puppy on the Internet,” he said, citing “Champ,” the Biden family’s newly acquired German Sheppard [sic].
For that matter, as Biden saw it, it wouldn’t hurt for Rahm Emanuel a fellow attendee whose foul mouthed reputation has followed him from Congress to the White House to master some house breaking skills as well.
The walls between his office and that of Obama’s chief of staff “are paper thin,” Biden noted, likening the experience to “listening to ‘Sesame Street’ where every day is brought to you by the letter ‘F.’”
In contrast to some other Democrats, Biden had nice things to say about Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who departed soon after Tribune Company columnist Doyle McManus portrayed him on stage.
“Tim Geithner is always there when you need money no questions asked,” Biden said.
“We’ve got a plan for a plan to make a plan to plan … a pla aan,” McManus sang.
California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, and Michigan Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who was born in Canada, also spoke after members of the exclusive journalists’ club, dressed in rakish costumes and bolstered by several ringers, mounted skits that lampooned both their political parties.
Although nominally off-the-record, Gridiron dinners have often been demanding auditions for aspiring politicians, including, previously, Obama. But Schwarzenegger’s and Granholm’s foreign births eliminate them as potential presidential candidates.
Biden congratulated Schwarzenegger “on a really great speech,” adding, “I can hardly wait for the English translation.”
For his part, Schwarzenegger alleged that Emanuel “is concerned that some ninth graders are cursing only at the fifth grade level.”
Noting that his marriage ceremony required him to take his wife, former newscaster and Kennedy scion Maria Shriver, “in sickness or in health,” he said, “And being a Democrat is her sickness.”
Granholm asked Schwarzenegger which of his movies had best prepared him to deal with a party now led by radio commentator Rush Limbaugh and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.
The choices, she said, are "True Lies" or "Kindergarten Cop."
Imagining a reverse version of "The Dating Game," a show on which she and Schwarzenegger once appeared - albeit separately -- Granholm turned to him and said: “Let's get started, Governor No. 1."
Then she interjected: “And believe me, that’s better than being called ‘Client No. 9.’”
Inside joke: Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign as New York’s governor, shortly after attending last year’s dinner, when court papers cited him as “Client 9” in a call girl ring.
In making light of the financial crisis, several of the journalists’ skits paid heed to the depressed state of their own industry. “Will Twitter for food,” a sign held by a chorus member read.
Dick Cooper, this year’s club president, opened the evening’s festivities by noting that “the newspaper industry and the Obama administration have one thing in common: They’re both deep into deficit spending.” He asked the assembled guests to “please stop by our bake sale in the lobby as you leave.”
Although Obama was absent, a coterie of White House aides showed up for the four-hour white tie dinner. In addition to Emanuel, the Democratic speaker at the 2006 dinner, press secretary Robert Gibbs and senior advisor Valerie Jarrett attended.
So did two other governors: Tim Kane [sic] (D Va.) and Bill Ritter Jr. (D-Colo.). Four senators also came: Susan Collins (R Maine), Ted Kaufman (D Del.), Amy Klobuchar (D Minn.) and Ben Nelson (D Neb.). They were joined by a group from the House led by Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D Md.), John Dingell, (D Mich.) and Chet Edwards (D Texas.) Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy sat on the dais. (Each year, the club invites all nine Supreme Court justices, but judicial etiquette dictates that only two may accept.)
The U.S. Marine Band, which played as the dinner began, has been associated with the club of 65 active journalists since the time that John Philip Sousa directed the musical activities of both organizations. Gen. James Conway, the Marine Corps’ commandant, came, along with an array of top military brass, all also seated at the dais in their be-medaled dress uniforms.
As the oldest organization of Washington journalists, the club has traditionally inducted newspaper bureau chiefs and columnists. Lately, however, it has opened its membership rolls (and stage roles) to non print media glitterati.
While on stage, one such newly minted inductee, Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, spoofed former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, her husband and a veteran guest. “Hell,” she quipped, “if I had understood what he was saying, we would have been married 12 years earlier.”
The Hill:
President Obama's absence didn't mar the Gridiron dinner Saturday night at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Washington, but it did put a damper on it.
"He's with his family; how can anyone complain when someone chooses to spend time with their family?" said Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama, who wore a long, flowing navy gown.
Before dinner she mingled in the hotel lobby with White House Social Secretary Desiree Rodgers [sic], who stood out in a bright multicolored dress.
"It's family first," said Rodgers, remarking on her boss's absence.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was quick with a response about his boss’s no-show. “Vice President Biden, as is his constitutional duty, performed admirably,” said Gibbs. “No jokes about bowling.”
Throughout the dinner’s courses were satirical skits and song. There were jokes about Biden’s hair; there were songs from a faux Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin.
Gibbs said the evening was wonderful. “All the speakers were funny and we made it out of here before 7 a.m.,” he remarked at approximately 12:30 a.m. after the dinner let out at around midnight.
But some expressed disappointment that Obama did not attend.
"It's sad," said presidential historian Stephen Hess, who said he saw Obama at a 2004 Gridiron dinner and remembered him working the room better than former President Bill Clinton.
The dinner was rife with silver-haired men, such as the Washington Post’s David Broder and the younger Tom Brokaw of NBC.
Former White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Obama's absence was noteworthy. "For some people it might seem silly, but Washington is a town of traditions," Perino said. "It seemed like a deflating moment. If you can do Jay Leno but not this one, I'm sure people were disappointed."
But Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) quickly came to the president's defense, saying, "the president decided to spend time with his family; who's going to question that?"
But he couldn’t hide his enthusiasm for Biden's keynote speech, calling it his "coming-out party."
The senator remarked, "I think he's a debutante. With his sense of humor I have no worries."
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) walked in alongside Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and his wife, Debbie. Collins wore a Michelle Obama-esque sleeveless white gown. "I think people respect that he wants to be with his children," she said. "I'm sure people are disappointed, but they understand."
Midway through the dinner, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton and Erik Smith, who was the creative director for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, took a break and retreated to the hotel bar. Burton said there was no scotch downstairs at the dinner. He ordered a Crown Royal on the rocks; Smith opted for a Tanqueray and tonic.
The Obama economic team appeared to be all over the map in their reactions to the dinner. Most of them hurried out of the dinner early, but Larry Summers, Obama’s chief economic adviser, couldn’t seem to escape and was in deep discussion with various guests include NBC’s Washington Bureau Chief Mark Whitaker.
“It was terrific!” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner with a smile.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, however, seemed nonplussed by it, saying stoically, “Same as usual.”
Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Budget and Management, seemed more enthused by the dinner. “Absolutely,” he said, when asked if he’d enjoyed himself at the dinner.
But who is funnier, Obama or Biden?
“I’m not getting into that,” Orszag said, laughing.
Summers was jovial in his assessment of the dinner. “Good food, good dinner and it stimulated the economy,” he said.
The guest list read like a who's who of Washington and beyond, including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who walked through the hotel lobby while receiving cheers and clapping from the crowd that comprised mostly tourists staying at the hotel.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, were the picture-perfect couple - the governor in white tie and Maria in a long, strapless fuchsia gown. “Maria! Maria!” he called after her at the night's end when she walked toward a different hotel exit. She soon joined him and together the couple bid their goodbyes to the crowd.
Many attendees remarked on what a great hit Schwarzenegger’s speech was. At the onset, the actor-governor joked, “I’d like to thank the Academy…” - at which point he threw his faux speech on a table and began with another.
Other guests included former White House spokesman Mike McCurry, Democratic consultant Joe Trippi, former Capitol Hill flack and Mitt Romney presidential campaign spokesman Kevin Madden, former ABC newsman Sam Donaldson, Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift, Charlie Cook of The Cook Report, Tammy Haddad, CBS’s Bob Schieffer, Democratic strategist Tad Devine, British Ambassador Nigel Sheinwald, Bloomberg’s Al Hunt and wife Judy Woodruff of PBS, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and wife Andrea Mitchell from MSNBC, Fox News’s Chris Wallace, PBS’s Jim Lehrer, and ABC’s Charlie Gibson and Jake Tapper.
The congressional lineup included Reps. Jon Lewis (D-Ga.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
As the flow of guests rolled up the escalator from the dinner well at about midnight and beyond, many attempted to stifle yawns as they made their way out of the hotel.
“Too long as usual,” said Brokaw.
ETA:
• Video of most of the Cabinet arriving, dressed to the nines.
• Scroll down for lyrics to the satirical musical skits that were performed.
ETA AGAIN - Damn, I forgot these two zingers from Biden:
• "We are now two months into the Obama-Biden administration and the President and I have become extremely close. To give you an idea of how close we are, he told me that next year -- maybe, just maybe -- he’s going to give me his blackberry email address."
• "I now realize that we have to be extra careful when we annunciate [sic] new policy ideas to make sure they don’t look like they’re personally motivated. For example, the other day there were a whole bunch of stories about the President’s hair going gray; the next day there’s a story about a Vice President who’s trying to grow new hair, and then the day after that, the two of us come out in favor of stem cell research. That looked bad."