Inside the Beltway

National malls

Earlier this week, we drew your attention to a newspaper ad placed in the New York Times — showing the Statue of Liberty, with the tag line, “Very Inspiring. Now, where’s the mall?” — urging consumers to visit one of 13 shopping malls in metropolitan New York.

It was one of a series of ads placed by Simon Property Group Inc. that used familiar landmarks, not just in New York, but also in Boston, Philadelphia and here in Washington. As we reported, an apologetic Simon group since dropped the ad campaign, saying it “meant no disrespect to this national icon of freedom.”

Still, Simon might not have been too far off base, as Inside the Beltway reader Joseph Conway writes to inform us.

“The Simon Properties ad about the Statue of Liberty reminded me of a time I was standing on the edge of Independence Mall in Philadelphia,” Mr. Conway says. “A woman walked up to me and said she was looking for Independence Mall. I said this was it.

“She looked around and said, ‘Where are the stores?’”

Still counting

One question repeatedly asked around Washington: Where has Terry McAuliffe been hiding?

Of late, the embattled chairman of the Democratic National Committee has been focusing his attention on two states — Washington, where Democratic gubernatorial candidate Christine Gregoire’s plea for a costly recount has been answered by party headquarters (42 votes separate her and her Republican opponent), and Ohio.

“We will make sure that every vote in Ohio is counted,” Mr. McAuliffe insisted yesterday. “But we aren’t stopping there.”

The chairman, in a missive to this column, says his Washington headquarters also will conduct a thorough investigation into the “conduct” of those running the 2004 general election in Ohio. Among questions he wants answered:

• Why did so many people have to wait in line in certain Ohio precincts and not others? (Actually, what state or locale doesn’t experience long lines at some precincts and virtually none in others?)

• Why weren’t there enough voting machines in some counties?

• Why were so many Ohioans forced to cast provisional ballots?

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