On a Wintry Night, the Press And the Politicians Get Cozy

"Who's your congressman?" you asked her.

A beat later, she replied, "I live in a couple of places simultaneously."

Arianna Huffington waited in the coat line, at one point dropping $1 and $5 bills from her purse as she greeted Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) with a kiss on the left cheek. "I was in Davos," she told him. "One of those capitalist gatherings." They laughed.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) whisked on by, followed by "Hardball" host Chris Matthews, then Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, an endless parade of the who's-who of the K Street-Capitol Hill-Washington-press-corps set.

The foundation dates back to 1919, when a handful of journalists formed the Women's National Press Club. They weren't welcome to the all-male National Press and Gridiron clubs. The foundation's annual dinner began in 1944, a kind of a welcoming party to the sociopolitical circuit for freshmen members of Congress.

As always, honors were handed out last night. The David Lynch Memorial Reporting Award went to David Lightman of the Hartford Courant and John E. Mulligan of the Providence Journal. A new scholarship, funded by the New York Times and the foundation, was announced, named after slain Timesman David Rosenbaum.

But no honor meant more than the lifetime achievement award bestowed on veteran White House correspondent Thomas.

"On behalf of the House of Representatives, we salute Helen Thomas," said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. "You could have gotten [this award] over and over again, Helen."

"One of the greatest reporters in the history of the republic," Kennedy called her.

Thomas is definitely a perfectionist. Two hours before her speech, she was hunched over on the stage of the VIP room, a red pen in hand, rereading her remarks. ("To the members of Congress, I say, do the right thing. Pass laws that are fair to everyone. . . . To the media, I say, let's follow the truth wherever it leads us, and let the chips fall where they may . . .")

She's been attending these dinners since the late '40s. She was president of the Women's National Press Club in 1959.

"I've picked the greatest profession in the world," Thomas said. "There is nothing more indispensable to a democracy than a free press."

Spoken like an old pro, still idealistic after all these years.