Politics and pop culture mix at Washington dinner

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-04-27-whitehousecorrespondents_N.htm

Politics and pop culture mix at Washington dinner

By Cindy Clark, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Bush went out with a patriotic flair Saturday at his last White House Correspondents’ Dinner, closing his remarks by directing the U.S. Marine Band in a medley of marches.

Before that, though, he did have a jab or two for his potential successors.

“I have to say I’m kind of surprised we don’t have more presidential candidates here tonight. Like, any. Sen. (John) McCain’s not here, he probably wanted to distance himself from me a little bit,” joked Bush about the presumptive Republican nominee.

“The two Democratic candidates aren’t here either,” he continued. “Sen. (Hillary) Clinton couldn’t get to the building because of sniper fire, and Sen. (Barack) Obama’s at church.”



Among stars in attendance: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Marcia Cross, Jenny McCarthy, Colin Firth, Pamela Anderson, Martha Stewart and the Jonas Brothers.

Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz posed for photos with fans, but the newly engaged couple, in the midst of swirling pregnancy rumors, weren’t up for chatting with reporters.

Washington heavyweights were represented, as well, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

“I love the mix of crowds here,” said Bush. “Pamela Anderson and Mitt Romney in the same room. Isn’t that one of the signs of the apocalypse?”

Comedian Craig Ferguson, of CBS’s Late Late Show, was the featured entertainment, drawing big laughs, especially after Rich Little’s safe performance in 2007 and Stephen Colbert’s uncomfortably edgy one in 2006. The Scottish Ferguson, a newly naturalized U.S. citizen, made much of being “American by choice.”

The event marked first-time visits to the nation’s capital for many of the guests, including Anderson, Grey’s Anatomy’s Eric Dane and The Hill’s Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, who did show, despite reports that Pratt’s demands had managed to get them uninvited. “Don’t believe everything you read,” said Montag.

Their Hills co-star Lauren Conrad was also on hand, and said she hadn’t been to Washington since an eighth-grade field trip.

Montag and Pratt have big plans for their own reality show after their run on The Hills is over. “We love MTV,” Pratt said.

Anderson, who arrived earlier in the week to lobby for animal rights with PETA, joked: “I thought this was the ‘White Trash Correspondents’ Dinner.’ ” The actress, in a slinky low-cut gown with a long skirt slit to her hip, left the dinner early to visit the famous steps from The Exorcist in Georgetown. She managed to pack in more sightseeing during her visit, including a tour of the White House and a paddleboat ride around the Tidal Basin — in heels, of course.

“I can do anything in high heels,” she said, before leaving to catch a 1 a.m. flight home to California. “I have to take my son to his game in the morning.”

At the Bloomberg News after-party at the Costa Rican Embassy, Montag and Pratt made the rounds with celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, who was rooting for Clinton. Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick dropped in. “We finish filming on Wednesday,” he said of the CW show based in New York, where the actor shares an apartment with co-star Chace Crawford. “We have the same sense of humor. … It’s the basis of a good friendship.”

Over at the Capitol File fete at the Newseum, Wentz (without his fiancee) DJ’d, Dane checked out the scotch selection and Rosario Dawson danced the night away.

Dane enjoyed his first trip to Washington: “I had a great time tonight. … I would happily come back next year.”