Dubya Takes D.C.

It’s no secret that Silicon Valley Web sites at collapsing dot-com companies are going the way of the intergalactic graveyard, buried somewhere in deep, dark, cold outer space. But there’s no Internet cold snap as long as there’s a hot Web site connected to the incoming prez.

Hail to the chief at DubyaDubyaDubya.com.

Shucks y’all, it brings back memories of the campaign trail when George W. said that if his opponent was so smart, “how come all Internet addresses begin with W? Three Ws.”

“People really are just a click away from the president-elect,” says Natalie Rule, spokeswoman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee that has its own Web site (https://www.inauguration-2001.com) with four links related to the inauguration and a separate Web site for souvenirs at https://www.inauguralgiftshop.com that is growing hotter by the hour.

Even the media covering various events and festivities for the inauguration are required to register via the committee’s Web site.

Visitors to the Web site can check out the schedule four-day even, news tidbits, the people behind the scenes, a photography site (yes, pix are for sale), a link to the gift shop as well as one that launches today to photos of the various gowns Mrs. Bush and Lynne Cheney will wear to the swearing-in ceremonies and the many black-tie events.

“We may be seeing more presidential souvenirs sold online than ever before,” Rule says.

Among the hottest sellers are $50 license plates, $24.94 presidential cuff links and a $995 three-piece matched medallion set--bronze, silver and gold--of Dubya on the front and the presidential eagle on the back.

Ka-ching!--so far the souvenir site has rung up more than $400,000 since it went up last week, says Brian Harlin, who operates the site for the inaugural committee and predicts that business will triple in the next few days. A percentage of the profits will help fund the $30-million inauguration, says Harlin. The inaugural’s master vendor will set up gift shops along the parade route and all the officials balls.

For other souvenirs that are presidential related by way of Bush’s Lone Star State status, an L.A.-based Web site (https://www.style365.com) kicked off a Texas Style link on its home page designed just for inaugural week, says Terron Schaefer, co-founder of the 2-year-old company.

“Because of this whole transition in Washington from Arkansas style to Texas style, everyone is curious about Texas. What is Texas style?”

Saddles, chili, ball gowns, jewelry--everything with a Texas twist, including recipes for Frito pie--a ground beef with a corn chip crust--are a click away, he says.

These are the official inaugural sites:

* Presidential Inaugural Committee https://www.inauguration-2001.com; https://www.inauguralgiftshop.com.

* Armed Forces Inaugural Committee https://www.afic.army.mil

* Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies https://inaugural.senate.gov.

Double take: “Oh, Dubya, you shouldn’t say such things,” coos a statuesque model, to a George W. Bush look-alike whose hands are tightening around her bony hips.

“My secret service people just ditched me, baby,” says the impersonator, “and I’m gonna party tonight, sweet thing.”

Talk about party politics!

Bill Keith, 36, who moved here from Orlando, Fla. last summer, is only too happy to talk about how much he is in demand.

“I’ve got enough work right now--more than I can handle--that I could quit my day job,” says Keith, an audio-visual director for a local hotel.

Since signing on with “Cast of Thousands,” an entertainment company in McLean, Virginia, Keith, a.k.a. Dubya II, has been in demand.

On Wednesday night, Keith headlined “Dubya: The Faux Inaugural Ball” at Sole Restaurant in Georgetown that lampooned the first lady to be, Laura Bush with a “Laura Show” that sent models down a runway in sexy outfits meant more for the Bush twins and not their mama. And there to escort each model wearing a cheesy and cheap platinum blond wig was the faux president-elect.

Later, away from the crowd--in a dark alley by a dumpster behind the restaurant’s kitchen--the bogus Bush, who has been booked solid all week (including a private gig on Saturday) talked about his ascent in make-believe politics.

“At first, I didn’t see the resemblance, but I guess I see it now because people keep telling me that I look like the man,” says Keith. “I changed my hairstyle to match his. Mine used to be shorter, and I squint my eyes a lot and do this with my lips,” he says, mimicking the real Bush. “You have to channel George W. Bush to get him down.”

People ask him if he’s related to the real Bush and others have been completely fooled. ‘My family is just now beginning to see it,” says the single Keith, who is eager to met his Laura Bush look-alike.

“I haven’t worked with her yet, but I hear she’s a dead ringer,” he says as a party planner calls for him to go back inside. “I’m solo tonight,” he says in a Texas drawl as he leaves the alley, heads through the kitchen and busts through a swinging door. “I’m gonna go hang out with some of the chicks from the show.”

Just then a clatch of young women sipping margaritas approach him as if he was, how shall we say, Hef Bush. “Yee-haw, y’all!” he says and then whispers, “Yeah, I could do four years of this.”

What’s a poor Democrat to do on the Republicans’ big night? One option is to party it up at the Counter-Inaugural Gala being hosted by political advocacy group, Americans for Democratic Action.

“The theme is that liberals may be down, but we’re not out,” ADA spokesperson Mike Alpern said of the bash, which will be held Saturday at the Mayflower Hotel. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Rep. Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii), Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and other “friends in Congress” are among the invited guests, Alpern said. The party is open to the public for a $35 fee. There will be live music from blues/rock band the Oxymorons and hors d’oeuvres--but it’s a cash bar. (After all, these are the losers.)

Formed in 1947, the ADA claims to be “the nation’s oldest independent liberal political organization.” Founders included Eleanor Roosevelt, labor leader Walter Reuther, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and former Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

Privately: For Washington insiders, invites to the many private inaugural parties are the most precious for power networking. For companies such as General Motors Corp. and lobbying firms like Baker Botts LLP, there will be plenty of opportunity to snag a member of Congress or the Cabinet or, perhaps, Bush himself.

“It’s a time to figure out where relationships are and to renew relationships,” said Mike Gelb, executive vice president at Powell Tate, a Washington public relations company. GM is throwing a party at the Kennedy Center in honor of Andrew Card, the former CEO of the American Automobile Manufacturer’s Assn. who is now Bush’s chief of staff.

Ford Motor Co. is hosting a party at the Phillips Collection, an art museum, before the official inaugural balls on Saturday and a “salute” to Energy Secretary designee Spencer Abraham on Friday, said Vice President for Washington Affairs Janet Grissom.

Why Abraham? Grissom said he’s a friend of Ford President and CEO Jacques Nasser--and that all involved wanted to give a nod to appearances.

“He’s energy secretary, not transportation secretary,” she said.

Moving on: Vice President Gore and his family are moving to a half-million dollar brick Tudor-style house in a prosperous neighborhood of suburban Arlington, Va. He and his wife Tipper lived there earlier in his Washington career. The house has been in Tipper Gore’s family since the 1930s.

*

Contributing to this report: Times staff writer Booth Moore and wire services.