Inside the Beltway

LA-DI-DAH MOMENT

Is it just a fancy dress rehearsal for the big fat White House Correspondents’ Dinner a mere 47 days from now? Oh-h-h-h no. The big fat Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner is rivaling that storied event in sheer numbers: 2,000 “correspondents” will assemble in swanky duds on Wednesday night at the Washington Convention Center to fete, well, their correspondence — and tuck in to such delicate fare as ravioli garnished with lobster and crayfish.

“We’re going to pull out the stops and have a good time,” organizing chairman and PBS producer Linda Scott tells Inside the Beltway.

Among the glittering denizens of the coveted head table: Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Republican Sens. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Rep. James E. Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat; White House press secretary Robert Gibbs — but not President Obama, who will be at home hosting his own St. Patrick’s Day party, complete with a bowl of shamrocks from Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen and a performance by the Bronx-based Keltic Dreams, billed as a “multi-cultural Irish dance group” by the Irish press.

“We’re 90 percent sure that Rahm Emanuel is going to show up for our dinner — but we’re not completely sure. He’s still got a lot of health care reform to deal with right now,” Ms. Scott adds.

AND MAYBE VODKA

“Maybe an Irish coffee can warm the situation.”

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin’s advice to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s upcoming visit to Russia.

CNN’S CONSERVATIVE STAR

In five days, CNN debuts a new conservative voice: RedState.com editor Erick Erickson joins the network as a contributor, says Sam Feist, the network’s political director. Mr. Erickson will appear weeknights on “John King, USA”, which launches Monday, and on other CNN offerings.

“Oh, this should make Fox News real happy,” quipped one media observer.

Mr. Erickson, a former attorney, political strategist and current member of the Macon, Ga., City Council, says he’ll hold down the fort in the Peach State.

“My family and I are staying in Macon. Living in what some people call flyover country gives me a perspective I think most people in Washington don’t have,” he tells Inside the Beltway. “Likewise, because of RedState, I hear from thousands of people every day, in every state.”

“He will add an important voice to CNN’s ideologically diverse group of political contributors.” agrees Mr. Feist. “He is an agenda-setter whose words are closely watched in Washington. And as a person who still lives in small-town America, Erick is in touch with the very people John King hopes to reach.”

WHAT GOES ON

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