Inside the Beltway

PRESI-POTTY

Well, surely it will win the coveted toilet title. Among the 10 finalists chosen for the 2011 America’s Best Restroom Contest is the Presidential Luxury Restroom Trailer, currently situated in Chantilly and the epitome of commode elegance from the porta-potty geniuses at Don’s Johns.

“This regal restroom trailer was actually set up for President Obama during the 2009 inauguration,” notes the official description from Cintas Corp., the industrial supplier conducting the competition.

“It features granite counters and shelves, black marbleized walls, wood panel doors and a hardwood-designed floor. Climate-controlled heat and air conditioning also guarantees to keep guests in maximum comfort during their visit. The dual audio system not only plays soothing music inside, but those waiting outside can keep up with the event on an exterior-mounted flat screen television.”

Well, then. Sounds like a sterling destination. But the luxury toilet trailer has plenty of competition for the title — like a frescoed bathroom in a California winery and a Las Vegas casino that uses graffiti-emblazoned concrete panels from the Berlin Wall for the backsplashes on their urinals. Vote for the winner at www.bestrestroom.com through Sept. 19; results will be announced in the fall.

DEBT SPEAK

“Ridiculous, disgusting, stupid, frustrating, poor, terrible, disappointing, childish, messy, joke, pathetic, confusing, crazy, bad, idiotic, disaster, sucks, sad, bull[expletive], chaotic, disgrace, lousy, political, stinks, outrageous.”

(The top 25 words freely cited by respondents to describe the debt ceiling impasse, from a Pew Research Center/Washington Post poll released Monday)

THE MIGHTY RIGHTIES

“Americans’ political ideology at the midyear point of 2011 looks similar to 2009 and 2010, with 41 percent self-identifying as conservative, 36 percent as moderate and 21 percent as liberal,” says Gallup Poll analyst Lydia Saad, when comparing broad statistics gleaned from 10 polls taken during the first six months of the year.

“If this pattern continues, 2011 will be the third straight year that conservatives significantly outnumber moderates, the next largest ideological bloc,” she says, noting that “hard right” Republicans outnumber “hard left” Democrats.

“A much higher proportion of Republicans call themselves ‘very conservative’ or ‘conservative’ [71 percent] than Democrats call themselves ‘very liberal’ or ‘liberal’ [38 percent]. Democrats are as likely to call themselves moderates as liberals,” Ms. Saad says.

THE GREAT REAGAN DEBATE

It was originally scheduled for May 1 but was canceled because the 2012 Republican presidential field was just too darn skimpy. But look out. The Reagan Centennial GOP Presidential Primary Debate is back on again, and with much ado. The debate will be staged on Sept. 7 at the striking, dramatic and fairly amazing Air Force One Pavilion of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

Broadcast on Fox News, backed up by the Wall Street Journal, of course? Well, er, no. MSNBC has the exclusive honors this time, partnered with Politico.

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