Gabrielle Union will be attending the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure in D.C. next month, Yeas & Nays has learned. The actress has a personal connection to Komen’s cause — a close friend of hers died from breast cancer in 2010. She has worked with the organization in the past, traveling to Ghana in 2008 as a Komen Global Ambassador. The race takes place on June 2.
No word on Union’s running ability, but she looked pretty athletic in “Bring It On.”
For the fourth year in a row, married political strategists James Carville and Mary Matalin will bring Washington to New Orleans a week after Election Day for a conference held in conjunction with the Bipartisan Policy Center.
To get people excited, earlier this week the couple hosted an off-the-record conference kick-off party at their Alexandria townhouse. The party attracted a number of names including Democratic operative Kiki McLean, Democratic strategist Steve McMahon, AOL founder Steve Case, former Sen. Pete Domenici, former Sen. Chuck Robb, Republican operative Maria Cino and the National Journal's Ron Brownstein.
We followed up with Bipartisan Policy Center head Jason Grumet on Wednesday to find out what the couple, and the center, have in store for their guests who travel to Louisiana. "The essential part of this exercise is to bring together proud, pragmatic, partisans to talk about the politics of the possible," Grumet told Yeas & Nays. "Coming off what we know will be a bitterly contested election with lots of aggressive rhetoric from all sides, we want to come together to accelerate the process of politicking to governing."
Besides all the wonky talk, the trip to NOLA will be fun too, with the BPC planning to crown "the world's greatest political strategist" (with a trophy!) and there will be a party at the Carville-Matalin's home. "What's terrific about working with James and Mary —there is nothing soft headed or quaint or accommodating about either of them," Grumet said. "They are two of the [most] edgy, passionate and constructive people, who speak from a very full voice from different ideologies."
BPC's Annual Political Summit in New Orleans will take place November 14-16.
After Katie Couric starts her new show, "Katie", on NBC Sept. 10, she wants to sit down and talk with none other than Sarah Palin. At least that's what she told reporters during a stop in Orlando on Tuesday. "She has an open invitation to come talk to me," Couric said. "I'm not sure she'd be interested, but she'd certainly be welcome. She's a fascinating figure not only on the political scene but in popular culture." Relations between Couric and Palin have been sour ever since the former Alaska governor accused Couric of "gotcha journalism" in 2008, after an interview with Couric aired on CBS depicting Palin as uninformed and unprepared for federal office.
As a think tank, the Heritage Foundation produces plenty of charts and graphs, but charts and graphs aren't always interesting. Enter: Pinterest, the totally trendy, visually stimulating, social media site that's used by the likes of Ann Romney, Martha Stewart and Ryan Seacrest.
Four or five months ago Erika Andersen, a senior digital communications associate at Heritage, decided after signing up for the site for personal use, that she would start pinning for Heritage as well. "I'll just start an account and see what happens," Andersen told Yeas & Nays. Now the D.C.-based conservative organization has nearly 1,000 followers. "I think we have more followers than most organizations like us," Andersen continued. Heritage's Pinterest contains charts and graphs, but also fun stuff too. The "On the Taxpayer's Dime" board features pictures of the NPR building and first lady Michelle Obama skiing. (Liberals everywhere just let out a groan). Other boards showcase pictures of conservative men and women, patriotic scenes, and the president and vice president making funny faces.
"We get a good response," Andersen concluded.
First lady Michelle Obama's first book "American Grown" comes out next Tuesday, complete with a FLOTUS book tour and a branded social media campaign. But beyond a Facebook page and a video put out by her publisher, there's at least one fake Twitter account, a phony website and there were at least two "squatter" Facebook pages associated with the White House Kitchen Garden book, which have since been taken down. The web pages and accounts are obviously fake, riddled with grammatical errors and dubious links, while the real Facebook page list fun facts about the garden and shows off old-time photos of the White House.
After the publication of "American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America," was delayed twice, the first lady will finally kick off her book blitz next week in New York City. She'll be interviewed for "Good Morning America," "The View" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Tuesday and interviewed for "Live! with Kelly" on Wednesday, according to the White House.
"The president booked himself! ... He didn't call, but the White House called us. …We got the call about the president of the United States wants to do maybe a bit because his initiative is to not raise taxes on student loans. And he was going to different colleges and so I said … 'I'd love to go to the college, but would he be up for doing a whole show - can I interview him?' And they go, 'I don't know, we'll call you right back.' So then they called us back and they go, 'I think he's in.'"
- Jimmy Fallon, in an interview on The Today Show with Matt Lauer Tuesday morning — where he compared some of his favorite guests from "Late Night." He said that President Obama's staff contacted the show to book an appearance after Fallon's playground rumble with first lady Michelle Obama.
A video of outgoing South Carolina AFL-CIO president Donna Dewitt smacking around a pinata with Gov. Nikki Haley's face on it made the rounds Tuesday afternoon, and the governor isn't impressed.
Haley spokesperson Rob Godfrey told Yeas & Nays that "there is no place for that in civil public discourse." He added this dig at union leadership: "That video no more represents the people of South Carolina than union bosses represent our workers."
The relationship between the governor's office and organized labor hasn't exactly been rosy, and Dewitt's retirement party pinata isn't likely to warm things up. A national AFL-CIO leader's email to state officials sought to get the video removed from YouTube, though it was up long enough to catch the eye of the governor, who tweeted, "Wow. I wonder if the unions think this kind of thing will make people take them seriously."
For those not yet sick of Bristol Palin, prepare yourself. Her reality show, "Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp," is on the way, starting to air in June on Lifetime. The "docuseries" — as it's being touted — follows Bristol's move from Alaska to Los Angeles back to Alaska and details what it's like being a single parent without much help from "Tripp's father." Baby daddy Levi Johnston — who's currently expecting his second children with another mother — is not named in the release for the show.
Palin has stayed in the news since her mother Sarah Palin's 2008 vice presidential alongside Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., by appearing on "Dancing with the Stars," writing a memoir titled "Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far" and penning a blog, which she recently got a lot of attention for when she came out against President Obama's position change on same-sex marriage.
"Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp" debuts June 19 at 10 p.m.
One devoted volunteer for Utah Senate candidate Dan Liljenquist continues to starve himself in hopes of pressuring incumbent Orrin Hatch to agree to a televised debate. Unfortunately none of the parties involved want McKay Christensen to do this.
Christensen, a 43-year-old Utah warehouse manager, stopped eating three days ago as a statement against Hatch’s refusal to commit to debating his opponent beyond one radio interview. The tactic has not endeared him to the Liljenquist campaign.
“That was his idea,” Liljenquist told Yeas & Nays by phone. “He’s on his own.” The candidate did add that he knows Christensen and that “he is a great guy, but we certainly didn’t encourage him to go on a hunger strike.”
The Hatch campaign has stated that the strike will not influence Hatch to participate in more debates.
Christensen doesn’t mind that Liljenquist has publicly disavowed his hunger strike. “I kind of knew that he would have to do it,” he said, “because it’s a pretty unorthodox move.” He says the two have talked. “He was very concerned about my health,” Christensen said. “I said we’ve got a plan in place.”
Eleven pounds down, Christensen isn’t interested in destroying Hatch (“Everyone says what a nice guy Senator Hatch is, and I agree,” he said) but encouraging a more fair process.
“I understand he’s a 36-year six-term senator, and he’s got a lot of money,” he said. “But it’s a lot like baseball. The New York Yankees have all the money, but when the Oakland A’s come to play, the Oakland A’s still get nine guys on the field. The debate is a normal process. The citizens of Utah need to see who they’re sending back for the next six years.”
With the primary about 30 days away — not to mention his anniversary and daughter’s graduation on the horizon — Christensen is hoping to get a call any day now saying Hatch has agreed to a televised debate. “I’ve got a bunch of other things I’d rather be doing that this,” he said, “but I feel strongly about this.”
Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., takes a fashion risk daily by pairing her outfits with a matching hat, but according to the folks over at Cloture Club, she's one of the best dressed members of Congress. "She deserves much credit for her willingness to step out of the box with all of her wild wardrobe decisions," the website says of Wilson. Cloture Club, a website that covers the goings on of Capitol Hill, gave fashion hat tips to the top five best dressed men and women of Capitol Hill. Wilson is joined by Reps. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., Terri Sewell, D-Ala., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. Speaker of the House John Boehner made the men's list, which was filled with only Republicans. Also among them, Reps. David Dreier, R-Calif., Allen West, R-Fla., Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., and Mike Turner, R-Ohio.
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