House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) hosted his annual “Boehner Beach Party” fundraiser Thursday at Cantina Marina and despite intermittent downpours, the bash lived up to its reputation as a must-attend event for young Republicans.
Nantucket red shorts and Hawaiian shirts were the dress code for gents; sundresses for the ladies; flip-flops for everyone. Cadillac margaritas flowed from the open bar, and a tropical buffet was piled with fried shrimp, chicken wings and plantain chips.
Downstairs, the more than 400 mostly 30-something partygoers weaved through a packed room, stopping briefly to talk shop, catch up and exchange stories from the grand old “majority” days.
Boehner made his appearance halfway through the evening dressed in a white linen shirt. Ever the genial host, he made the rounds and had a few of his trademark smokes, but left the bulk of the merrymaking to his guests.
{mosads}Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), Lee Terry (R-Neb.), Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), Pete Roskam (R-Ill.) and Sam Graves (R-Mo.) were all spotted in the crowd, which included heaps of current and former Boehner staffers, lobbyists and GOP revelers.
High point of the party: Shuster breaking it down on the dance floor to the ’70s classic “I Will Survive.”
In the crowd: John DeStefano and Ken Spain of the National Republican Congressional Committee; Clark Lytle & Geduldig’s Sam Geduldig; Republican National Committee new-media deputy director George Alafoginis; former Mitt Romney campaign press secretary and Glover Park Group executive Kevin Madden; and GOP lobbyists/Cantina Marina proprietors Bruce Gates and Henry Gandy.
Barton knows who needs a barber
The role of “haircut policeman” in Congress has been long played by Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), but on Thursday Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) moved onto the leader’s turf.
At a GOP news conference on healthcare, the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee took his colleagues to task for their shaggy mops.
“Before we take questions,” he said, “I stood here and watched all our members. The only two that don’t need a haircut are Mr. Steve Scalise [R-La.] and Mr. [Lee] Terry [R-Neb.].”
“Just got one. Thank you,” replied an unidentified conference member, according to a review of the transcript.
Barton was undeterred. “Everybody else needs to go get — and myself included — need to get a haircut.”
Potential visitors to Rayburn barbershop House Cuts this week include Republican Reps. Roy Blunt (Mo.), Nathan Deal (Ga.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Cliff Stearns (Fla.), John Shadegg (Ariz.), Phil Gingrey (Ga.), John Sullivan (Okla.), Michael Burgess (Texas) and Steve Buyer (Ind.).
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) told ITK years ago that he never has to assess when he needs a trim, noting that Boehner (who has described himself as “obsessed” with hair) lets him know.
Abercrombie’s online aloha
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) would like to be your Facebook friend and your Twitter tweep, and the 71-year-old lawmaker has a novelty business card to prove it.
The owner of the bushiest whiskers in Congress has been distributing a shiny blue card to friends with the words “Let’s be friends … ” written on one side and a list of all the ways to cyber-link to him (and his active campaign for governor of Hawaii) on the other. These include Facebook, Twitter and his own gubernatorial campaign website.
The cards state, “Paid for and authorized by Abercrombie for Congress.”
King’s Sport: Poker?
There has long been debate over whether bowling is a sport. Thanks to Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), let the debate over poker as a sport begin.
{mosads}At a recent Poker Players Alliance charity tournament benefiting the USO, the Empire State lawmaker explained to a reporter for pocketfives.com that “anyone can play poker, no matter what their economic level is. It’s the sport of the workingman or the workingwoman.”
At the same event, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) lauded “the amount of money that poker players give to charity every year” and offered a directive to those who don’t take poker seriously enough: “They need to watch … the tournaments on television and understand that these are very talented people.”
And if you do watch (as ITK does on rare occasion), you may see talent, but not exactly the types that would be referred to as “athletes.”