While millions descend on Washington for the historic Inauguration of Barack Obama on Jan. 20, some Republicans see it as an occasion to get out of town.
Out of power on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue and mostly out of favor on K Street, many emasculated elephants in the GOP herd will begin the Age of Obama with what amounts to an extended holiday vacation. Instead of fighting the quadrennial cold and what are expected to be record-setting crowds, they're heading out to greener pastures, with better temperatures, less hassle and more agreeable company.
“What better way to mark the Obama Inauguration (and his millions of adoring fans that will be in D.C.) than to get out of town to fabulous Las Vegas!” Charlie Spies, a Republican lawyer and former CFO to Mitt Romney’s campaign wrote in a blast e-mail to GOP friends. “We hope you can join us for dinner and a fun evening on Monday, Jan. 19, to celebrate the last few hours of our Republican president in the White House.”
Spies and his wife Lisa, a Republican fundraiser, have gotten about 15 takers so far for this last supper or, as they billed it in the e-mail, their own “Inaugural in Exile.”
They’re far from alone. Others will usher in the new era from the slopes, the islands, the NFL playoffs and even on a serendipitously timed honeymoon. Full Democratic control of Washington may be a bitter pill, but it’s easier to get down from a lodge, beach, 50-yard-line or, especially, honeymoon suite.
One Bush administration official who is heading to the Italian Alps explained the logic with precision in an e-mail: “1. I am out of a job on Jan 20 at noon, no better time to take a vacation. 2. I like skiing, and have not seen my whole family in almost a year, no better time to get home and ski for a week. 3. Why bunker up and be in this town for that week, when we all know that [the crowds] will be worse than [the] Cherry Blossom [Festival] or Memorial Day?”
Good capitalists that they are, some of these Republicans are among the Washingtonians looking to rent out their homes to well-heeled Democrats who will pony up for a place to stay.
One GOP aide to a well-known conservative despised by Democrats is hoping to head up to New York City and make a few bucks in the process — but is taking a page from Reagan’s “trust but verify” mantra.
“I want to rent my place out but don’t put my name next to that in case I do — don’t want people knowing they are staying in a [REDACTED] staffer’s place and trash[ing] the joint.”
Hmmm! You think they're paranoid or that that many people really hate them?
Read the rest HERE.
And so it goes.
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I hope we are documenting and archiving this behavior somewhere that it can be retrieved for future use and for the sake of legitimate historians.
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