So he's got a Jag...well, now he's got a Jag that supports Obama

We learned this morning that Karl Rove's Jaguar - while parked on West Executive Ave. near the White House during his trip to New Orleans - was pranked by some fun-loving colleagues who covered it with plastic wrap, toy bald eagles and put an "I (heart) OBAMA" bumper sticker on the windshield. According to Politico, the coworkers say they did it because "they will miss his puckish humor in meetings."

For a silly little video, click here...

– Politico

'The brightest most fluorescent color possible'

Carole Bayer Sager over at Huffington Post had a funny little piece about Hillary at the recent debates. She's spot on - unfortunately because in the spotlight what we usually see is a very scary sight - but what really are the options for men? Here are some excerpts:

Have you noticed that after each Democratic debate, Hillary's numbers rise in the national polls?

The reason is simple.

She enters center stage, in the brightest most fluorescent color possible on the color wheel. She is aglow in bright coral, bright orange, bright yellow; while surrounded left and right by a chorus of dull looking men in seemingly identical dark suits all appearing indistinguishable from one another. What an entrance. ...

She also answers in a softer tone; her manner is less aggressive, more appealing. But she's winning over some of her critics primarily because the male frontrunners simply just don't shine. ... Thanks to the televised debates, the American people got to see Hillary Clinton on stage, her blonde hair shiny, eye makeup, rouge and lipstick in place, standing next to a chorus of men in black -- glistening.

It may be serious business, but it's still show business.

To read the entire article, click here...

– AP Photo/Cheryl Senter

Update

Sorry I've been a little aloof. Work's actually been busier than expected for recess - silly ol' Sen. Craig getting himself into all sorts of mischief. Anyway, I'll try to be better (though I know I promise that all too often...)

By the way, did you hear that Jenna was actually proposed to at Acadia National Park in Maine - that's where I was that day! How come I didn't hear about it until a couple days later? There was no secret service men lurking around that I saw. I guess my high-alert blogging senses were lax because of vacation.

By the way, channeling the Che Guevara t-shirt look, you too can have Barack Obama on your chest. Launching several new wares on his campaign site Monday, for just a few dollars you can don the 100 percent cotton duds.

Wasn't Obama on the cover of this one just a couple months ago?

Thanks for the tip. Another great pol making the cover of the magstands - I guess we're moving even further into the year of political celebrity. At least this one doesn't look too Photoshopped.

As FishbowlDC asks: Who will win this month's magazine candidate-off?

Any thoughts on which cover is better? (Though we all know they both seem a tad ridiculous...)

– Photo courtesy of FishbowlDC reader

On the Campaign Trail: Best Photos of the Week

Fred Thompson holds a baby pig at the Iowa State Fair.

- AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

Barack Obama and his daughter Sasha ride bumper cars at the Iowa State Fair.

- AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

Grace Dodd, daughter of Chris Dodd, covers his mouth as they walk off stage after the Democratic presidential debate Sunday.

- AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

Could that kid be any more scared as Dennis Kucinich and his wife, Elizabeth, take pictures with supporters outside of the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester, N.H.

- AP Photo/Cheryl Senter

John McCain greets veterans after speaking at the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in Kansas City, Mo.

- AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Rudy Giuliani shows off his stuffed monkey during a campaign stop at Dodge's general Store in New Boston, N.H.

- AP Photo/Jim Cole

Barack Obama stands with his daughters Sasha, left, and Malia, right, before speaking to potential supporters.

- AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

John Edwards waves to supporters as his campaign bus leaves his Iowa campaign headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa.

- AP Photo/Kevin Sanders

And saving the best for last (NOTE: Not a political statement), Giuliani gets a touch of make-up as he prepares for an interview on "The O'Reilly Factor."

- AP Photos/Bebeto Matthews

Tired debate attire

Moderator: So, Sen. Edwards, what do you think about Hillary's outfit for this debate?

Edwards: Well, let me start out by saying that I just think Bill is great. He did wonderful things for this country. But could that jacket get any longer? Or mousier? And what is that thing over there? It looks like it's throwing up ribbon. But, yes, I think the Clinton presidency was a good one.

– AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

When too much may really be too much

Now here's a true supporter. (Now, just get her some support - you know what I mean...)

– AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

Hot doggy!

I'm back and had a wonderful mini-recess. (Looks like Penn. Gov. Ed Rendell did too.)

We'll be back in full swing in the next couple days.

– AP Photo/Patriot-News,
Sean Simmers

The blissful engagement

I figured I'd interupt my vacation a bit to actually find out what's going on in the world, and I find out Jenna Bush (clearly the more stylish twin) and Henry Hager got engaged!

Some info on the couple (according to AP):

• Henry Hager proposed marriage to Jenna on Wednesday in Maine. She said yes.

  
  

• Back in February 2005, Laura Bush was asked about the guy her daughter Jenna was seeing. "This is not a serious boyfriend - I hate to have to be the one to say it on television," said the first lady. "But he's a very nice young man."

  
  

• Following tradition, Henry first asked the president for permission to marry his daughter.

  
  

• Laura and George were engaged just six weeks before they tied the knot in 1977.

  
  

• Henry, a student at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, has a sterling Republican pedigree. His dad, John, is a former lieutenant governor of Virginia and now heads the state's Republican Party.

  
  
  

• They met while working on the president's 2004 reelection campaign and have been dating ever since. They have been spotted together everywhere in the past two years, most publicly at the White House dinner for Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla in November 2005. Soon after, Jenna was telling friends he was The One.

  
  

• The courtship was serious enough that in May 2006, Jenna apparently thought he was ready to tie the knot. The two were dining at Asia Nora when waiters brought champagne to the table - with a mysterious note taped to her glass. Jenna read it and burst out laughing. "I thought you were proposing!" she hollered loud enough for everyone to hear. "I nearly (soiled) my pants!"

  
  

I, too, am going on my own little recess for the next week, so you most likely wont see any new posts (though I will have my laptop, but I'm trying to actually take a vacation). So, instead of being cruel and everytime you check this site seeing Chertoff's mug, I thought I'd leave you with an image of picturesque Washington in the haze of a heat wave. Have a good week and try to stay cool!

– AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Bunnies and parakeets, oh my

Michael Chertoff wore a bunny (and gopher?) necktie, similar to John Kerry's parakeets and palms tie, at a news conference at Washington's Reagan National Airport yesterday and it just rubs me the wrong way. The likely Vineyard Vines choice seems completely inappropriate to wear to work at a secretary-level, especially when talking about flight-safety procedures at a press conference you called. The yellow is a good color for him, though, as it balances out his skin tone and (maybe?) softens his facial structure.

– AP Photo/Dennis Cook

Prince of Darkness keeps his cool

The Yeas & Neas boys, who are going on their own little recess for a couple weeks, got a fun dressing tidbit out of author/journo Bob Novak:

"It’s mind over matter,” Bob Novak said when the journalist was asked how he can bear to wear those three-piece suits in the middle of summer. ... [He] blamed it on the demands of his TV appearances.

“It looked better on television to see a vest than a big old belly,” he said. “The camera people told me those seersuckers weren’t good for TV” because of all the lines.

He also said there’s a certain type of respect that results from wearing a dark, three-piece suit on a 100-degree day, especially when you’re not breaking a sweat. People look at you and say, “That guy knows something.” ...

To read the entire item (basically what I have), click here...

You can see the sorrow, right!

Dianne Feinstein's outfit is so much the better option in a time of mourning than Laura's completely ill-conceived outfit she wore to the bridge-collapse site.

The California Senator and former San Francisco mayor, speaking yesterday at a memorial service for former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh, looks perfect for the situation at hand. It fits, it's classy but not overstated, it's black, and did I mention, it fits. And this neckline is what all the Congresswomen should be looking to wear - low enough so you can see the collar bone and it doesn't look like your shift is choking you, but high enough not to bring about any speculation of cleavage.

– AP Photo/David Gonzales

Best-dressed whoha (or however you spell it)

OK, so we all know Barak Obama's been making every best-dressed list, and I don't always agress with those lists, but I do have to say, I LOVE this tie. It is young and playful, but totally professional, and he always chooses his signature color: baby blue. (Which is really the best hue to suit him, as well.)






And as a side note, just exemplifying how this tie stands above and beyond all the other candidates' attire at the AFL-CIO forum this week, here is Chris Dodd's atrocity.

– AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

What's the opposite of plunging?

Could Hillary possibly overcompensate any more than she did with this outfit at the AFL-CIO forum? This neckline is practically choking the Democratic presidential hopeful. Go back to the V-neck, Hill, we weren't the ones who complained about the not-really-there cleavage, we actually kind of liked it.

– AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Obama, Sarkozy top Esquire’s best dressed list

Who says all politicians (and the journos that love them) dress poorly and frumpy?

Esquire’s September issue, on newsstands next week, features 25 “best dressed nominees,” and there are some names you wonkish types might recognize.

Sen. Barack Obama leads the field at No. 4, followed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy (No. 6) ((though I'd have to say he has hands-down the best-dressed family)), Afghan President Hamid Karzai (No. 10), NBC’s David Gregory (No. 13) and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (No. 21).

Or, at least, so says the Yeas & Nays' guys.

– Photos compiled from AP

District Sample Sale news

I wasn't going to mention the District Sample Sale for a couple weeks because, well, tickets don't even go on sale for a couple weeks and there is always so much hype around it anyway... Well, organizers announced they have signed up Thievery Corporation’s Eric Hilton to DJ for the VIP hour. I thought that was pretty interesting.

Also on the menu for the biannual madness this September is DJ Frederico Aubele, food from Nage and Renaissance M Street, a fashion bloggers corner and cocktails created by Liquid Muse.

More to come, probably closer to when tickets actually go on sale Aug. 23.

Meet Speaker and House

Yowza, we can see here that the Speaker has some tots on her. And not in a good way. This single, off-center button hits her in a very bad place, making her jacket pull and accentuating the ladies. Not a good look, Nancy. Bring back the Armani that we oh-so cherish.

– AP Photo/Ron Edmonds

You can see the sorrow, right?

How did Laura Bush express her sadness and deepest sorrow to the victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse? By wearing the most inappropriate, ill-fitting lavender pantsuit - with shades - I've ever seen.

Let's address the issues here:

1. The color to express sorrow would be black - or even navy, or brown, or tan, or, well, just about anything other than lilac. It's too pastel, and screams spring, for a situation of this magnitude.

   
   

2. She has several tailors at her beck-and-call - including Oscar himself - so why would she even own something that fit her this poorly? She looks like a little school child pulling on her long sleeves.

3. Even Jackie O., famous for wearing her sunglasses, knew better than to wear them when in mourning. Do you see anybody else in any of these photos (and countless hours of live news feed) wearing them? No. Why? Because they're not right for the situation at hand. Yet again.

4. And this is something that's been bugging me for a month or so now: What's up with that lipstick? She's been wearing this harsh shade that is all too offensive for her lighter-than-now milky white complexion, and I just don't understand why. She has small lips to begin with, so this dark hue just makes them look smaller. And it always looks like it was half-heartedly put on, with smears and uneven application. There's just no symmetry here.
   

– Photos collage created with images from AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
P.S. I love doing collages!

And a third time ...

I think she's doing this on purpose...

– AP Photo/Jeff Gentner

Quotable

"I always thought those were Jimmy Carter colors."

– Robert Novak, upon being presented with a Heritage Foundation necktie (lime green, kinda reminiscent of Carter's '76 posters, with a blue Liberty Bell motif), after the columnist's lunchtime speech yesterday at the conservative think tank to promote his new book, "The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington."

Help support your local economy

There's a lot going on around town this weekend - and it all involves shopping!

The Mid-City Sale (aka the Dog Days Sale) is Saturday and Sunday, and involves all of my favorite 14th St. and U St. shops bringing their goods outside and having great big sales (check out Pop!, and you have no excuse since you don't have to climb the stairs). And, this is perfectly timed to my favorite holiday: the D.C. Sales Tax Holiday.

Shop tax-free in D.C. this weekend through Aug. 12 and in Va. this weekend only. Stock up on shoes, clothes, accessories - but they have to be less than $100 a piece, so shop wisely. But please, please, for your own sanity, make sure to avoid malls with American Eagle, Hollister, Abercrombie and the such if you don't want to fight packs of wolves...

For more second-source info, check out what Project Beltway has to say about the events ...

And save some mulah for next weekend (Sat. 1-5; still part of the Sales Tax Holiday) when Matt & Nat designer Inder Bedi will be at CUSP Georgetown to show off his line of animal-friendly and fashion-forward handbags. There will be food, gifts and, as always at CUSP, lots of fun.