Power changed hands in Washington
on April 20th even though
elections were nineteen months
away. Appointed party brokers
Sandra Sobieraj Westfell, Tammy
Haddad, Judith Czelusniak, Christopher
Hitchens and John and Cristina McLaughlin controlled “the lists” for pre and after parties for
the White House Correspondents’ Association
Dinner weekend. If your name wasn’t on them,
the art of pretending was a good skill to have.
The Pregame
The triple day party marathon kicked in at the
People magazine bash on Friday night at Indebleu’s
Tanatra Lounge hosted by managing editor
Larry Hackett and Washington correspondent
Sandra Sobieraj Westfall. The most overheard
phrase of the night? “Hey, isn’t that … ?” That, of |
course, included comedian Rich Little, warming
up for his Saturday night dinner gig by engaging
TV personality Rita Cosby, who was engaging
Project Runway’s Tim Gunn, who was engaging
former FBI director Louis Freeh, who was …
You get the picture: it was an engaging party.
Guests left with a significant goody bag, hoping
the new charity tax laws won’t soon kick in.
The casting call resumed twelve hours later
at the home of MSNBC’s Tammy Haddad for her annual brunch, co-hosted by husband
Ted Greenberg, David Adler, Hilary Rosen,
Beth Viola, Loretta Ucelli, Alex Castellanos
and Kathryn Lehman. The reality show began
at noon, starring Greta van Susteren, Miss
America Lauren Nelson, Howie Kurtz, Chris
Matthews, Arianna Huffington, and novelist Warren Adler of War of the Roses fame. Missing |
in action? No one we could think of. Even mini
“listers” accompanied their parents, including the
two David’s, Corn and Gregory. Party downside:
The hefty lawn bill that surely followed and those
still looking for their cars.
The No-Doze crowd shuffled into the
Hilton around 6 p.m., killing time between the
National Journal (outside upstairs) and Newsweek
(downstairs) pre-parties, the annual “look who’s
here” events. Still starring Henry Kissinger but sharing the spotlight were Jane Fonda,
David Geffen, Lally Weymouth, Rep. Henry
Waxman, Paul Wolfowitz and presidential
maybe Fred Thompson.
The Main Event
Dinner entertainment was billed as
impressionist Rich Little, but the best |
