Politico

At a luncheon today unveiling The Atlantic’s redesign, Shenan perenniel fave and Atlantic national correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg sat down with the New York Times’ David Brooks to discuss “How Success Happens,” the neurology and sociology behind successful people, and the "P" word: politics.

So what does David Brooks think about McCain’s brand of politics? “I call it pre-Christian and not because he’s older than Jesus,” said Brooks.

As for Joe Biden? “I love Joe Biden,” added Brooks. “Joe Biden drives himself sane by talking.”

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Attention, all reps: If your district is not in foreclosure straits, step forward. Not so fast, Reps. Dennis Cardoza, Mary Bono Mack, Jon Porter, Joe Baca, Connie Mack, Jerry Lewis, Howard McKeon, Ken Calvert, Shelley Berkley, Jerry McNerney and Doris Matsui. Yours are the top 11 districts, in order from very worst to just plain bad, with the most foreclosures. The next 28 days are going to be superfun for you.

Interesting facts, in no particular order:

1. There’s an even split between Republican and Democratic districts.
2. Seven of the 11 are in California.
3. All these guys — except for Connie Mack — voted “aye” for the Foreclosure Act.
4. And … Mary Bono Mack and her husband, Connie Mack, are on this list together. They are devoted. 

This information comes to us via HotPads.com — which has nothing to do with the confusing and now defunct HotSoup.com. HotPads is an enterprising way to search for a home — for rental or purchase — with the added perk of being a map-based site. Also you can post stuff on it yourself — it’s kind of like Craigslist that way. But, importantly, today they unveil their Election ’08 edition, in which you can discover the site’s mashup of its foreclosure data listings with the congressional districts and voting records of every congressman across the country, says founder Doug Pope. He’s excited about this, as, well, it’s info that no one else has.

The districts with the lowest foreclosure rates? Those of Reps. Peter Welch, Jerry Moran, Gene Taylor, Charles Boustany, Bill Shuster, Tom Latham, Charlie Rangel, Bud Cramer, Rodney Alexander and Tim Walz. Of those, Shuster, Latham and Alexander voted “nay” for the Foreclosure Act. And it’s also a dead split between D’s and R’s on this list.

The dead split basically means the foreclosure rate average per party doesn’t differ that much, either.

Dems: 0.470 percent; GOP-ers: 0.506 percent.

But don’t forget to slap Welch on the back for having the district with the fewest foreclosures.

John Cougar Crankypants

YouthAIDS held its annual gala Friday at the Ritz in Tysons Corner, bringing Sharon Osbourne, Sir Bob Geldof, John Mellencamp, Anna Kournikova, Ashley Judd and John Oliver to these parts.
But apparently not everyone was overwhelmed with good spirits. Take, for example, Mellencamp, who was there to perform a few tunes as a finale. The gala ran long, of course, and Mellencamp was slated to go on and perform after Geldof spoke.

Well, as these things go, Geldof ran over his allotted time limit by, say, 35 minutes.

This did not make Mellencamp very pleased. He became increasingly frustrated and eventually threatened not to go on, said an eyewitness who had overheard the singer demand, “Can we just get Sharon Osbourne to go up there and get him off the stage?”

According to the eyewitness: “This shouting match results in Mellencamp storming off to his room and says he’ll need three minutes before he takes the stage.” Which became problematic because Geldof, at that point, was receiving his standing O.

The end result? “The director screams for Mellencamp,” said our spy. “After the standing O dies down, Sharon Osbourne had to go on stage … for about three minutes until she introduced Mellencamp, who was, she said, ‘very gracious with his time.’” Ooh, she’s good.

Marshall Stowell, deputy director of YouthAIDS, told Shenanigans: “Sir Bob Geldof gave an impassioned speech, and Mellencamp delivered a fantastic acoustic performance. … Everyone was there for a great cause, and there were no green-room tantrums.”

YouTube Viewers: John NoCain

Uh oh, John McCain. Your YouTube popularity is basically nil.

The Maverick’s average video rating “has been steadily declining over time, taking a dramatic downturn since the beginning of September,” said David Burch of TubeMogul, which tracks online videos. The timing is interesting, noted Burch, “perhaps coinciding with his uptick of visceral attack ads and selection of Sarah Palin.”

By the Numbers, 2001 Edition
671
The number of hits that come up for “Barack Obama,” using Google circa 2001

4,420
The number of results for “Obama,” using Google 2001
0

The number of hits that come up when you type in “Sarah Palin”
36,300

The number of results that pop up when “Palin” is entered, almost all of them for Monty Python’s Michael Palin

Vote for Jess!

Cosmopolitan magazine has dubbed Western Skies Strategies’ cowboy lobbyist Jess Peterson, who represents the United States Cattlemen’s Association, one of the Hot Bachelors 2008. In order for him to win, you’ve gotta vote for him here.

Here’s the 27-year-old in brief: Likes red. Yes to makeup. Drawn to girls “who do their own thing.” Big horse rider.

So where can you find him in town? Porter’s, Stetson’s or Sign of the Whale.

He primarily dates D.C. gals, but, he said, “they have to have a Montana or a country connection. They have to know their way around a ranch and a shopping mall, and you can find that in D.C.”

The winner gets $10,000. “I don’t need anything major out of the deal,” Peterson told us, laughing, “but being a spokesperson for Wrangler would be great.”

Luke Hatzis: The Envy Of Men Everywhere

“A lot of people think there’s something going on between us, but I’m a happily married woman.”

— Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly to Capitol Hill staffer — and growing international superstar — Luke Hatzis, the gatekeeper, or “door guy,” to the GOP House Conference meetings

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The SNL Biden/Palin debate skit may be all the rage but what about the bailout skit with all the Housie names?

Oh, and one esteemed senator: Mary Landrieu. Which is being taken as a good sign. Deputy Chief of Staff Adam Sharp told Shenan: "We’re putting it on our iPods right between ‘Money for Nothing’ and ‘It’s The End of the World as We Know It.’"*

The skit below:

*Leonard Bernstein!

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The Schief  (CBS News’ Bob Schieffer) hangs out with - but does not hold hands with - half of Darius Rucker and Brad Paisley in Nashville last night.

The Schief’s band, Honky Tonk Confidential, debuted at the Grand Ole Opry. We do not lie.

2008 Copyright of Grand Ole Opry, photographs by Hollophotographics

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Now this is the cutest Byrd picture we’ve ever seen.             

Sen. Robert C. Byrd puts his arm around SRC Chair Lamar Alexander, in Alexander’s homestate - Tennessee - this weekend while the two take in some beloved bluegrass.

Alexander also presented Byrd with the "Grand Master Fiddler" award.

Byrd’s response? "Yeah, man!"

Video here in case you care:

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The New York Post wonders aloud "Is Joe Hidin’ Facial Work?"

"Yes, absolutely, and I would bet my next paycheck on this assessment," said Dr. Oleh Slupchynskyj, of the Aesthetic Institute.

It appears that he had some sort ‘Lateral Brow/Eyelid Lift,’ " he told The Post.

"Whether it be a string lift or a formal surgical lift, [it's] hard to say. But I would bet on some kind of lateral brow lift with strings or non-invasive technique."

Dr. Slupchynskyj also said that he thought that Biden had come to the debate prepared with some Botox injections.

"He definitely had Botox in the forehead region," the doctor concluded from the photos.

In other Biden News, there’s some brouhaha over whether or not Katie’s - the restaurant Biden called out during the debate - actually exists. That would kinda be a no. It seems Katie’s has been gone for 20 years. Republicans now say it’s "the Restaurant to Nowhere." (h/t: Delaware Online.)

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Who was not in a rush to get back "home" like the rest of the House crew who practically toppled over one another running for Reagan National airport Friday afternoon after Bailout Vote #2?

Why, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, it seems,  who was spotted brunching at the Tabard Inn Saturday with four friends.  Yes, he’s still single.

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And people think the Senate’s dull…..ish.

The night of the Senate Bailout vote, Bernie Sanders took the floor - kind of reminiscent of the preacher in Pollyanna with his doom, doom, doom denunication. Apparently, Sanders isn’t a big fan of helping the rich and hurting the middle class, which is how he saw the bailout.

Anyway, as reported by The Progressive:

“In the midst of all of this, we have a bailout package which says to the middle class that you are being asked to place at risk $700 billion, which is $2,200 for every man, woman, and child in this country. You’re being asked to do that in order to undo the damage caused by this excessive Wall Street greed. In other words, the "Masters of the Universe," those brilliant Wall Street insiders who have made more money than the average American can even dream of, have brought our financial system to the brink of collapse. Now, as the American and world financial systems teeter on the edge of a meltdown, these multimillionaires are demanding that the middle class, which has already suffered under Bush’s disastrous economic policies, pick up the pieces that they broke. That is wrong, and that is something that I will not support.”

It just so happened that soon after Sanders concluded Sen. Nelson visited with Suzanne Scott, who was in DC with her husband, Walter Scott, often referred to as the 2nd richest man in Omaha (former Peter Kiewit CEO). He’s also a boyhood friend of The Oracle of Omaha.

Suzanne Scott had heard Sanders’ speech and it horrified her, she told Nelson.

Soon the fun-loving Nelson was on the Senate floor and went up to Leader Reid.

Nelson told Reid he wasn’t sure what impact Sanders’ fire and brimstone had had on the debate—(the Dem caucus all love Sanders even if they disagree with him–) but he had scared to death the wife of the second richest man in Omaha!

(Nelson did a nice imitation of Reid, shoulders hunched, head down, chuckling.)

Nelson moved on and told the story to another Dem. colleague, prompting a bigger laugh.

The, he searched out Sanders. He teased him, saying his speech was a big success. He had scared the wife of the second richest man in Omaha to death.

Sanders loved it!"

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Morning! As we hunt and gather some gossip, take a look at possibly the best screen grab ever . Altogether now with your best Rick Astley red-haired voice:  Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and…desert you. 

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"Well, I had a feeling when I took the part that something like that would happen, that Sarah Palin would run and her teen would be pregnant, and so I’m glad that it finally was fulfilled."

–Actor Michael Cera’s ("Juno," "Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist") response to the usual question about the eerie similarities between his breakout role as a teenage father in "Juno" and Bristol Palin’s teenage pregnancy, in the Harvard Crimson.

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