By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts
Sunday, January 7, 2007
We asked readers to vote online for the best Washington gossip of 2006. (Regrettably ineligible: the too-hot-for-Page-C3 stuff like Dick Cheney's hunting accident and Patrick Kennedy's midnight drive that vaulted straight to A1.) Here's how they ranked -- and whether we think those VIPs will remain top gossip fodder in the New Year.
Rep. Cynthia McKinney ( attacks a CapHill police officer in new-hairdo/mistaken-identity debacle) -- 34.6 percent
Chances in '07? Poor: She lost her seat after the fracas.
Mary Cheney (veep's gay daughter pregnant, will raise child with life partner) -- 21.3 percent
Chances in '07? Excellent: Especially if they get more money for the pics than Shiloh's or Suri's.
Jessica Simpson ( flips out during KenCen tribute to Dolly Parton) -- 9.6 percent
Chances in '07? Good: Once a star gets a taste of a Capitol Hill scrum, she can't stay away.
Borat (beguiles D.C. reporters with gimmick news conference at Kazakh Embassy) -- 6.3 percent
Chances in '07? Poor: We're not falling for that shtick again! Unless he comes back as Ali G.
Jenna Bush (ditches D.C. teaching job for Panama internship, and other stories) -- 6.2 percent
Chances in '07? Hard call: Could dominate the local gossip charts till '09 if she wanted but squandered it by moving away.
K-Fed (Britney's ex enters wrestling ring to announce"My name is not K-Fed") -- 6.2 percent
Chances in '07? Poor: In two months, nobody will recognize him.
Laura Bush (wears the same $8K dress to the KenCen as three other women) -- 4.6 percent
Chances in '07? Poor: Unless we catch her with a cigarette, the lady's gossip-proof.
TomKat (do the hokeypokey at Six Flags with Dan Snyder) -- 4.0 percent
Chances in '07? Excellent: Snyder's giving him a couple million a year in their movie deal -- he's gotta come back!
Hilary Duff (calls b'friend Joel Madden's Waldorf home "ghetto," fires hot D.C. native drummer) -- 2.2 percent
Chances in '07? Poor: She and Joel split. Likely to be replaced in D.C. gossip by Benji Madden's starlet fiancee Sophie Monk.
Karl Rove and Madeleine Albright (face off in court, as both end up on the same jury) -- 2.1 percent
Chances in '07? Oh, come on: What are the odds of those two pairing up again?
DMX (claims a Md. woman who bore his child "raped" him after a night of drinking; she sues for defamation) -- 1.8 percent
Chances in '07? Good, if it goes to trial: That testimony's gonna be hot.
Allen Iverson (his Rolls gets ticketed while he's deposed over claim his posse beat up D.C. club patron) -- 0.8 percent
Chances in '07? Poor: That man is not coming back to D.C. anytime soon.
Diddy (brings a posse of 40 to Lima nightclub, bottle-flinging fight breaks out) -- 0.3 percent
Chances in '07? Excellent: See Page D1 today!
SORRY, YOU'RE NOT ON THE LISTOne in an occasional series of dispatches from parties you should have crashed.
Occasion: Honoring Melanne Verveer and Vital Voices Global Partnership.
Hosts: Kuwaiti Ambassador Salem al-Sabah and his wife, Rima.
Feel-good reason for attending: Empowering women politically and economically around the world.
Self-serving reason for attending: Great place to schmooze up "I'm still thinking about it" presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Chuck Hagel, and brand-new Mayor Adrian Fenty.
Estrogen power: Former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, the State Department's Paula Dobriansky and Dina Powell, homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, blogger Arianna Huffington.
Best bipartisan moment: Anita McBride, chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush, paying tribute to Verveer, former chief of staff to Clinton.
Speeches: Earnest.
Menu: Truffle and mushroom tower, lamb chops, risotto, chocolate souffle.
Off note: Broadway ingenue Natalie Toro belting "I Am Woman." Been there, done that -- about 30 years ago. Earplugs, anyone?
Girlie swag: Vital Voices logo scarf by Diane von Furstenberg, fancy Neiman Marcus 2007 datebook.
READERS TELL US . . .Tons of mail about our item Wednesday that Rep. Keith Ellison planned to take his oath of office on the Koran once owned by Thomas Jefferson. Readers were divided into the yeas ("If Congressman Ellison swears on something that he believes in, then he will adhere to the values of that he holds dear"), the nays ("Your article suggests that Jefferson interest in Koran was as a result of the appreciation for Islam, when in fact it was to understand a dangerous enemy" and "This guy better enjoy his term because he won't be re-elected") and the helpful ("Why don't they swear in using a copy of the US Constitution? In that way they are not using their office to endorse their religion"). Our personal fave: "That article shoulda been on the front page." Amen to that, brother -- in the nondenominational, nonjudgmental, self-promotional sense of the term.
Spot a new rep doing something else gossip-worthy? Send your tips to reliablesource@washpost.com.
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