GREEN & GLOVER: Love for Lincoln

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By Stephanie Green and Elizabeth Glover

Not even one of the most notorious events in American history comes between Sen. Robert F. Bennett, Utah Republican, and his appetite.

"We like to eat first," he told G2 between bites Tuesday night at Ford's Theatre, site of the Lincoln assassination, where we asked him if he and his wife, Joyce, had been downstairs to check out the newly refurbished museum and its artifacts telling the story of the evening of April 14, 1865.

On that fateful night, President and Mrs. Lincoln were seated in the theater watching a production of "Our American Cousin" when Lincoln was shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathizer.

Closed for renovations since August 2007, the popular tourist attraction celebrated its new look with a party where politicos like Mr. Bennett turned up for a slice of history - and some goodies from the buffet table.

Mr. Bennett, normally dour and serious, was quick with the one-liners, despite his preoccupation with the mushroom crepes:

Have you been following the Sotomayor hearings?

"I've got my stand-in man on it. His name is Hatch," he replied, referring to his partner Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican.

How's the weather back in Utah this summer?

"Well, it's hot, but thanks to Al Gore and global warming, it's beginning to cool off."

Mr. Bennett's Senate colleague Tom Udall, New Mexico Democrat, was in a more reflective mood.