"Make Inauguration Reservations Meeting."
Or so one upcoming meeting is posted on Sen. Barack Obama's official presidential campaign Web site, being called by one obviously confident supporter of the Illinois senator who lives in the Washington area.
The person is correct. Whether Democrat or Republican, presidential inaugural-goers are urged to make lodging reservations sooner rather than later, as rooms fill up quickly.
Brad's back
Washington Democratic operative Brad Woodhouse is taking a leave of absence until November from Americans United for ChanceChange, where he is president, at the request of the Barack Obama presidential campaign.
Starting today, he will run the national communications effort at the Democratic National Committee for the general election.
The new Gipper?
Obama is the "New Reagan."
So insists the headline above an opinion piece sent to Inside the Beltway by Diane Winston, professor of journalism at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and holder of the Knight Chair in Media and Religion.
"Just a generation ago, Americans were up against an unwinnable war, an unpopular president and a faltering economy. Prices were up, wages were down and a shortage of oil — due as much to the manipulations of domestic producers as to an Arab oil embargo — had created a crisis of confidence.
"Neither Gerald Ford, an amiable Republican, nor Jimmy Carter, a managerial Democrat, could provide a national vision that healed and inspired," she writes.
"Reagan's actual successes can be debated, but the perception of his presidency, among a majority of Americans, is that he restored the United States to its former glory … [He] capitalized on a cultural moment of change and uncertainty by providing a vision of continuity, a message of hope, and an assurance that the best was yet to come…
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"[Barack] Obama may not have an answer to every woe, but he holds the promise of a new morning."
Conception irony
While the economy and national security are two key issues in this year's race for the White House, Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins is not letting Democrat Barack Obama forget what he had to say recently about the sanctity of life.
Indeed, the FRC has launched a new television ad aimed at statements made by the Illinois senator about fatherhood.
"While Senator Barack Obama's comments on Father's Day imploring men to take responsibility for their children are commendable, he appears to be unaware of the irony in his statement that 'we need fathers to recognize that responsibility doesn't just end at conception,'" says Mr. Perkins.
"I would like to ask Senator Obama: if my responsibility as a father began at conception, isn't that when the lives of my children began?"
The FRC president observes that Mr. Obama voted for several laws supporting abortion, both while in the U.S. Senate and the Illinois legislature.
"He is the co-sponsor of the Federal Freedom of Choice Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that will legalize partial-birth abortion and overturn virtually all federal and state limitations on abortion," he says. "Senator Obama understands that a father's responsibility does not end at conception, but does he understand that it begins there as well?"
E-Vampire
Inside the Beltway usually turns to Paul JJ Payack, president of the Global Language Monitor, to tell us the key concerns Americans are expressing in advance of elections. Now he tells us that the English language is soon to reach its one-millionth word.
"Never before in the history of the world has a single language held as dominant a position as English does today," he says. "Over a billion people can now read this sentence — think about that for a minute. With a mind-boggling 25 percent of the world speaking English, that's a lot of sources for new words to be added to this global language."
By the way, the newest English word is a noun: e-Vampire. It refers to electronic equipment that consumes energy while in standby mode.
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