News From All Over

Midwestern radio, CNN at Christmas and the new magic number

BY JANET DONOVAN

The Yellow Brick Road Jim Bohannon took it and landed in Washington. First as backup for Larry King's radio show, then as successor. Since then, the velvetvoiced Midwestern talk show host from Missouri has been inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame and most recently received the Hackes Award from The Radio & Television News Directors Association during a luncheon at Maggiano's. Besides accolades that included excellence, intelligence, wit and professionalism, the consensus and emphasis was that "Jimbo" is a down-to-earth, regular nice guy.
So what's up with all this Midwestern nice-guy stuff of which we've been reminded of late? Sitting beneath a portrait of President Gerald Ford at a subsequent dinner at the Palm, he talked about that appeal following the president's funeral. "Midwesterners are nicer, slooooower, not as aggressive, not as ambitious. In the beginning I was offended by that and then I realized that I was really given a great leg up because people underestimate you. They set the bar so low that you can go: 'Hey, look at me. I'm brilliant. I can add two plus two.' If you excel at a very low standard by a large measure, you're a genius." Take that Calvin Coolidge (a quintessential easterner).
There are 124 Midwesterners in the Congress. Does that mean a kinder, gentler partisanship? The Jim Bohannon Show may be heard from 10 p.m. to midnight on CBS affiliates across the country.

Believe it or not It's true - Wolf Blitzer left the set of The Situation Room long enough to play at CNN's Christmas party at Teatro Goldoni. Whether he sat down for the sumptuous buffet prepared by Chef Fabrizio Aielli is anyone's guess because the marathon anchorman delivers the news from an upright position four hours a day. Now you see him, now you don't Democratic political operative James Carville made the rounds while trying to catch up with spouse Mary Matalin, Republican political operative. Now that the Dems have taken back Congress, will this mean a kinder, gentler Carville? Let's hope not - how else would we find politics amusing?
The CNN gang - Andrea Koppel, Jamie McIntyre, Candy Crowley and Suzanne Malveaux - traded news with Bill Press, Chris Berry, Harry Jaffe, Alicia Mundy, John McCaslin and Lynn Sweet. Sadly, the party was a month too soon for an Obama swimsuit poll.

Do the math From now on, 110 (as in the 110th Congress) is the magic number. Congress uses it, as does the Carmen Group. The D.C. lobbying firm famous for hip holiday parties used it on 1/10 by throwing their "Welcome Back to D.C. Party 110" at the Carnegie Library. It's also rumored that 1010 party goers showed up despite the President's speech, but thankfully no one actually counted.
"We knew 2007 would be a year of significant change," said CEO David Carmen. "With major developments in Congress, a new mayor, a new D.C. Council and more, we wanted to give our friends and the people we work with regularly an opportunity to come together and celebrate our unique D.C. context. People really got this and it turned out to be the right time to have a great time."
Guests included Robert Bobb, president of D.C. School Board; Rep. James Walsh; Council Member David Catania; John Hager, assistant secretary for education; Liberian Amb. Charles Minor; Lesotho Amb. Molelekeng Rapolaki; and Amb. Amadou Lamine Ba of Senegal.
The party also launched TCG's sponsorship of "I Have a Dream" Foundation Project 312. Alas, not everyone's good at math.

Overheard elsewhere That Montpelier, Vt.'s, claim to fame is that it has no McDonald's - compliments of Washingtonian's Garrett Graff at the surprise pre-wedding party for Washingtonpost.com columnist Mary Ann Akers and Newsweek's Michael Isikoff hosted by Jen Burton and Eric London. Also, that Mary Ann was having withdrawal symptoms from the news while planning her wedding and honeymoon - compliments of friends.

David Carmen, president of the Carmen Group, Roxanne Little of Project 312 and Robert Bobb, president of the D.C. school board on stage at the "Back to D.C." party	Radio host Jim Bohannon holds the Hackes Award, presented to him by the Radio & Television News Directors Association