Democrats, Beware the Curse of D Street
Incoming Democrats: Alert! Do not, repeat, not, buy a home on the 100 block of D Street SE on Capitol Hill. It may be jinxed.
How else to explain how this solidly Republican enclave -- once home to as many as six GOP House members -- is no more? A few weeks ago, a "for sale" sign went up at the townhouse belonging to Porter Goss, a former House member from Florida who moved over to the CIA a couple of years ago. Then Rep. Mark Foley felt obliged to quit before the election and his district fell to the Democrats.
  An open house at the home of outgoing Rep. Chris Chocola (R-Ind.), on the 100 block of D Street SE, attracts interest. Given the block's recent history, however, aspiring politicos might want to look elsewhere. (By Jahi Chikwendiu -- The Washington Post) |
Sign Up for RSS FeedRep. Nancy L. Johnson (Conn.) lost on Nov. 7. Ditto her next-door neighbor, Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr. (Fla.). Two doors down, Rep. Chris Chocola (Ind.) met a similar fate. And across the street Rep. Jim Ryun (Kan.) lost his race.
Painters were spotted Friday touching up Chocola's place in preparation for an open house yesterday.
Democrats who insist on buying one of these fine homes -- even before local and federal health officials finish investigating whether these homes have "loser building" syndrome -- at least should lowball.
Talk about mean streets.
Republicans Need Not Apply
Speaking of Democrats moving into town, job seekers' resumes are flooding Democratic offices, vying for hundreds and hundreds of Hill jobs opening up. On the House side alone, there are perhaps 400 committee jobs flipping to the Dems, plus 150 or so positions on the personal staffs of the new Democratic members.
The picture on the Senate side is murkier, but the committee switches could net the Democrats about 150 jobs, and the six new Democratic members are likely to employ perhaps a couple of hundred folks on their personal staffs. And there'll be other Senate and House jobs to be had.
Meanwhile, as the Washington door revolves, hundreds of GOP resumes are floating down to K Street.
Invasion Critic May Head to Baghdad Post
Within the administration, career Foreign Service officer Ryan Crocker, an Arabist who is ambassador to Pakistan, is being talked about to head to beautiful downtown Baghdad if Zalmay Khalilzad goes to any of the jobs he's supposed to be offered.
Crocker, a former ambassador to Syria, Lebanon and Kuwait, was one of the few people at the legendary Coalition Provisional Authority who actually knew anything about Iraq. The State Department sent him over there as an aide to Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient L. Paul Bremer, though Crocker thought the invasion a truly bad idea for all the obvious regional and international reasons.
As noted in our colleague Karen DeYoung's book about Colin Powell, "Soldier," Crocker co-wrote a memo in December 2002 to then-Secretary of State Powell warning of disaster if the United States invaded Iraq. The memo, titled "The Perfect Storm," detailed all the things that were likely to explode if the United States took over Iraq -- sectarian violence, a power vacuum, and so on.
Set Out the Blue China
The Democratic wins will alter the social scene in many ways, from large to small to meaningless. Washington Life Magazine's September issue had a list of the "100 Most Invited" to various events.
President Bush and Laura Bush topped the list, followed by Vice President Cheney and Lynne Cheney, though neither of them are big on the local scene, the magazine reported. Third on the list were Sen. George Allen and his wife, Susan Allen.
Something tells us that's likely to have changed already.
Another Undecided Election Contest
Loop Fans have been asking when winners will be announced for the Loop Congressional Election Contest. Problem is that five of the House races are yet to be decided. So please be patient.
