Inside the Beltway

WAXING AND WANING

Back waxes, fancy hairdos - hey, such is the stuff of politics sometimes. Marco Rubio will have none of such talk on the campaign trail, however. The conservative challenger to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist - both running for the Senate seat in the Sunshine State - will not respond in kind to Mr. Crist’s recent accusations that his opponent spent $130 on a cosmetic back wax. Why, Mr. Rubio could have suggested that the governor has a penchant for Aqua Velva and Nair - but no. Mr. Rubio is taking the high road.

“You know that Charlie Crist will use every dime in his multimillion-dollar attack machine to drag Marco down. Crist is a worried and bitter man at this point, and Marco is a man who is balancing his life as a serious candidate, a husband and a father of four,” Alex Burgos, Mr. Rubio’s spokesman, tells Inside the Beltway. “Consequently, Crist ends up giving disastrous, bizarre interviews.”

The interview in question was on Fox News; Mr. Crist told host Greta Van Susteren that Mr. Rubio had sullied his status as a fiscal conservative by wielding a “Republican Party credit card” to finance a $130 hair cut - or “maybe a back wax,” the waggish governor said.

Mr. Rubio’s camp did the math to discover that in the 11-minute interview, Mr. Crist spent a full two minutes on back-waxing.

“Charlie Crist is a desperate politician whose record of supporting the failed $787 billion stimulus, bailouts and tax increases is being rejected by Floridians,” Mr. Burgos says. “He is the sitting governor of the fourth-largest state who has fallen so far and so fast that he’s now reduced himself to making up stories about his opponent’s grooming habits.”

IN TOWN TODAY

And now, the other Hollywood: The USO presents a special congressional screening of Jake Rademacher’s critically acclaimed 2009 documentary “Brothers at War” on Wednesday at the National Museum of American History. The event will be hosted by Cindy McCain, Medal of Honor recipient Buddy Bucha and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey.

“It’s extraordinary to screen this film, for this audience - and that it has been embraced as much as it has been by the public,” Mr. Rademacher tells the Beltway.

The filmmaker’s two younger brothers - both in the Army with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan - are the stars of the production, now available on DVD.

The audience will include, among many others, Republican Reps. John A. Boehner of Ohio, Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan and Jeff Miller of Florida; and Rep. John D. Dingell, Michigan Democrat.

ROVE ARRIVES

Karl Rove’s new book “Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight” just hit the bookstands, debuting at No. 1 on Amazon in the political and social sciences categories, and ranked No. 3 in overall sales.

“And we have 10 signed copies of the book to give away,” advises Rob Jesmer, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

To be eligible to win, just text “Rove” to 54608 on your mobile phone, and you will be automatically entered, Mr. Jesmer says, with winners notified in the very near future.

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