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Washington's Dreariest Ritual
J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo
Yes, Obama killed at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. But he didn't manage to improve the mise-en-scene of the D.C. bash, in which politicos mingled uneasily with Demi Moore, Howard Stringer got stiffed, and the food once again tasted terrible.
The first time I went to the White House Correspondents' Dinner, I went into labor. Bill Clinton will do that to a girl.
Last night was less dramatic but more fun.
OK, so it is still the dingiest, most depressing venue in Washington. There is absolutely nothing glamorous about the basement ballroom of the D.C. Hilton, even with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes wafting past your table. The low-ceilinged, brown-carpeted mega space has a curiously Soviet feel to it. Think Politburo meets K Street without the benefit of vodka. The food is still borderline inedible. I've never understood the rationale behind putting fish and steak on the same plate, and there wasn't even any dessert, which is usually the only good bit of the meal. We were told we'd nobly donated that to the scholarship fund.
Click to View Our Gallery of the Dinner
The odd mix of Hollywood and Potomac still has an oil-and-water quality. Nowhere else in the country would the crowd surrounding Sen. Amy Klobuchar dwarf that around Demi Moore. D.C. political types elbowed their way past L.A.'s glitterati to grab five seconds with junior White House staffers. And where else would ambassadors outrank Oscar-winners?
I had the pleasure of accompanying Sir Howard Stringer, CEO and chairman of Sony, and of watching as Washington's minor media providers brushed past the man running the biggest media company in the world. It is, as he pointed with humor, a funny, old one-shop town.
Highlights of Obama's speech. Full video at C-SPAN.org.
We keep hearing that our new neighbors in the White House have changed all that. That the Obamas have finally made the capital cool. And while the Vanity Fair afterparty in the elegant pseudo chateau of the French Ambassador provided a welcome antidote to the grim Hilton, the evening didn't persuade me that D.C. is now the hip city we were promised.
But in a way I'm glad. It's fun having all these celebs in town for the weekend. But the curious charm of Washington is precisely its earnestness.
So even though, every year I go to the WHCD with an element of work-on-a-weekend resentment, I would miss that strange spectacle of worlds colliding.
And at least this year I wasn't pregnant.
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Katty Kay covers U.S. politics for the British Broadcasting Corporation. She is Washington correspondent for BBC World News America and has lived in D.C. for the past 12 years. She is the author, with Claire Shipman, of the upcoming book Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success.
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Katty Kay is the Washington Correspondent for BBC World News America. She is the author, along with Claire Shipman, of Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success. Kay has covered Washington since 1996 and is a contributor on "Meet the Press", "Larry King Live", "The Chris Matthews Show" and a regular guest host for Diane Rehm on NPR.
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Katty Kay is the Washington Correspondent for BBC World News America. She is the author, along with Claire Shipman, of Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success. Kay has covered Washington since 1996 and is a contributor on "Meet the Press", "Larry King Live", "The Chris Matthews Show" and a regular guest host for Diane Rehm on NPR.
Claire Shipman is the senior national correspondent for ABC News' Good Morning America and a regular on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Previously, Shipman was the White House correspondent for NBC news and a reporter for CNN in Moscow, where she earned multiple awards for her coverage of the demise of the Soviet Union. She currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two children.
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Katty Kay is the Washington Correspondent for BBC World News America. She is the author, along with Claire Shipman, of Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success. Kay has covered Washington since 1996 and is a contributor on "Meet the Press", "Larry King Live", "The Chris Matthews Show" and a regular guest host for Diane Rehm on NPR.
Claire Shipman is the senior national correspondent for ABC News' Good Morning America and a regular on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Previously, Shipman was the White House correspondent for NBC news and a reporter for CNN in Moscow, where she earned multiple awards for her coverage of the demise of the Soviet Union. She currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two children.
satyricaldude
God it must suck to be among America's most powerful and influential people to laugh and enjoy yourself. :(
debbieqd
I'm sure your mother once told you, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all." You should have listened to her.
larivas
More importantly my mother also said, "Don't take things so seriously..."
penscott
How does one get invited to this dinner? Is Katie Holmes considered a correspondent? Are any of the other Hollywood types? What percent of the attendees are White House Correspondents, or reporters of any kind, as opposed to politicians, comedians, actors, and big contributors to the party in power? Does the dinner even have an identifiable purpose?
External
The Hollywoodian types are invited by the networks or cable companies
http://www.whitehousecorrespondentsweekendinsider.com/wh-briefing-room/w hos-coming-to-dinner-2009-whcd/
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
penscott
Yes.
Ritarita
penscott-
You're a damn
Nit picker.
Get a problem.
JackJack
It will be a quote the will follow Barack Obama, making fun of HIS Air Force One terror flying over NYC;
"my kids are grounded for taking a joy ride in Air Force One."
And who could forget that memorable quote about Rahm; "he doesn't usually use the word "mother" without...."
sueNaustin
Jack, it is Sunday. Give it a rest.
Ritarita
Besides Jack-
Your over the top
Racist comments
Negate anything you
Post about
The President.
xbainx
That's right his plane. When Obama does something right, it really wasn't him. When he does something wrong, all of a sudden he controls everything. I hate Republicans.
Carole65
Gee, where have I heard that before......... I think George Bush was the President and he was accused of doing everything wrong. Did you then hate the Democrats???
jlmoriarty
Oh my dear, how so very tedious. And on a weekend. Oh my, oh my. " ..the evening didn't persuade me that D.C. is now the hip city we were promised." Ah, there's the rub. You were looking for 'hip'. Why of course you sweet young thing. Just not like the old days. Now you must rub elbows with LA sluts whilst chatting with CEOs. Oh, how so very boooring.
Bring your own sandwich next time and spare us this British-level journalism.
Banjo1
A Soviet feel to the occasion? I think she's referring to the one-party style of thinking that prevails whenever this crowd gets together. The MSM celebrating Dear Leader. What a farce.
JohnHedtke
And not in any way whatsoever like the lickspittle celebrations of the last 8 years at all by a crowd of greedy sycophants willing to tolerate anything. Thank you for making that distinction clear for us, Banjo1; we do appreciate it.
jglass54
She was referring to the banquet room as Soviet in style, Banjo1, but thank you for twisting her words to meet your right-wing agenda as always.
camfield
Criticize the president, criticize the author of the article, criticize the fact that these people take an evening off to relax and enjoy themselves. Criticize imaginary things. Geesh!
More power to all concerned. I only wish I could attend such an event during the Obama years. I think I would have stayed home if invited during the Bush years.
vidadas
The dinner was a dreary event. Were you forced to attend? We'll be looking for you to stay home next year. If not, you really don't have any right to complain. Obviously you too were compelled to rub shoulders with politicians and celebrity. A bit hypocritical?
JohnHedtke
Some of these things, as exciting as the people themselves may be, really are kinda dreary. It's a pity, but there it is. Mediocre food has a lot to do with it, format can affect it, even the decor (as was suggested).
exploora
I am sure the private jokes, are ten times more funny.
I wonder what they say about the time Bill allegedly was on the phone, while allegedly getting a thrilled by someone possibly on their knees under the table.
JohnHedtke
They said "Damn, why can't I have someone do that to ~me~? What's he got that I haven't got??" :)
Bojo10
It's been along time since we, The United States and other Nations can laugh with our President. In stead of laughing at our President
lotty56
I am so relieved that Obama is ready. I've been really concerned. " He's as ready as it will ever get." And Ms. Wanda Sykes is too! If you get a chance watch her with Chris Rock's Putty Tang. Of course Black people as a rule are ready with great intuitive instincts, creativity. They've always made the best comedians long before Richard Pryor. That's what we have known for years now. So just imagine the intellect it takes to be this way. Obama was at his best last night. Natural. I bet he slept well!
fx772k1
Oh my, how dare anyone ignore Howard Stringer!!! This is the man who left CBS at the bottom of the ratings (and without the NFL) when he left in 1995. He demands respect!!!
sufidave
Conjunction junction, what's my function? Obviously a question this journalist doesn't know the answer to. And she's English. But she's more interested in celebs. So rules of language usage be damned.
swanie
Ms. Kay: you are the ONLY correspondent on The Chris Matthews Show that displays a sense of what is going on, and I look forward to hearing your comments (from a British perspective) on the topics discussed.
But, do me a favor, please tell the moderator to STOP interrupting the commenter all the time.
.
indieinva
Katty, your name suits you well....
If this article is any indication, you swim in the shallow end of the pool much too often.
Thank you.
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