White House Primes for Political Partying

The holiday decorations are up at the White House -- including an 80-pound display of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, from the book of the same name.

Invitations have been mailed to 7,000 people who will stand amid four 12-foot-tall nutcrackers and 19 Christmas trees to shake hands with the president and first lady.

There are 245 wreaths, five poinsettia trees and two antique sleighs, all in readiness for the 20 receptions that will take place over the next two weeks -- some back-to-back on the same evening -- beginning today with a White House fete for this year’s Kennedy Center honorees.

But this being Washington, the usual round of parties and holiday cheer will have an overlay of politics. The first family made a concerted effort this year to reach out to people who have never been invited to a White House Christmas party before, including supporters from all 50 states. And the Republican National Committee is paying for all the parties, plus 1.5 million Christmas cards that the Bushes are sending out -- bearing a Crawford, Texas, postmark and depicting the White House diplomatic reception room.

The effort to spare taxpayers the expense of so much holiday frivolity is not new -- the Democratic National Committee played a similar role during the Clinton presidency. But it underscores how, in Washington, even throwing a party is political.

“Politics still reigns,” said former Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, a Republican from Minnesota and a Bush “pioneer” who raised at least $100,000 for the president’s campaign and was invited to a White House Christmas party this year. “Perhaps it’s less confrontational, but when you have the greatest one-up men in the world right there, it’s hard to lay politics aside.”

And some Washington holiday partygoers say the partisan jabs have gotten rougher lately.

“Fundamentally we’re a 50/50 country, and it makes for some animosity,” said Frank Fahrenkopf, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, referring to the razor-thin 2000 presidential election. Recalling a more civil era, when House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, a passionate Massachusetts Democrat, would visit at the end of the day with conservative icon Ronald Reagan at the White House, Fahrenkopf observed, “The climate has changed.”

The town’s increasingly partisan cast also may explain why parties in general have lost their allure. The salons of hostesses Pearl Mesta and Katherine Graham have been replaced by book parties and launch parties for a new think tank or political initiative. Few entertain here on weekends, and turnout improves if there’s a business reason at the heart of the occasion.

“The mercantile quality of Washington is so much more pronounced,” said Terence Smith, media reporter for PBS’ “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer” and a 30-year veteran of Washington parties. “There aren’t any salons anymore, there aren’t any intellectuals anymore. Washington is a town full of strivers who want to be on ‘Crossfire’ and who think the pinnacle of social achievement is to be featured in some lame HBO series.”

Still, Washingtonians share a fervor for policy that would make them unwelcome guests at any parties but their own. As a result, partygoers -- usually politicians, journalists or lobbyists --tend to talk, even if they spend the evening arguing about who’s going to win the New Hampshire primary or what the Supreme Court might decide on campaign finance reform.

The Cook Political Report, which tracks campaign news, makes it a point to invite to its bash Republicans, Democrats and “others,” a category added this year. “Others” means media folks and lobbyists who for some reason don’t want to declare themselves.

“It’s like a high school dance -- Republicans are on one side of the room and Democrats are on the other side of the room, and they don’t often meet in the middle,” said the Report’s Jennifer Duffy.

For their part, the first family takes the holiday season seriously. Monday night is the congressional ball, where President and First Lady Laura Bush host the members of Congress and their guests. There are three general receptions, where diplomats often are on the guest list, and two press parties.

During the Reagan administration, there was one party for the media. Now, thanks to the explosion of cable channels covering the White House, there are two -- one for the print media and one for broadcasters.

“There is a party almost every night,” Laura Bush said as she showed reporters the White House Christmas decorations Thursday. “But most of them are fairly early in the evening.”

That’s a good thing for a president who likes to be in bed by 9:30 p.m. and who has set records in presidential promptness, showing up at events not only on time but often early. The evenings test the patience of even a garrulous partygoer like Clinton, or the president’s father, George Bush -- who once was overheard toward midnight singing Christmas carols with a pianist. Every single person in line to shake the president’s hand gets a picture taken by a White House photographer.

Still, Laura Bush -- who started planning the White House decorations in July, using characters from favorite children’s stories -- insists the president will have a good time. “He’s really glad to get out and see everybody.”

One political ally agrees.

“He doesn’t get stuck talking to boring people,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “He’s saying ‘Hi’ to 300 people, and he’s got those nice guys with guns who make sure the guests don’t stay too long.”

As for any friction between a president and guests of the other political persuasion, Norquist said, “When you’re the president of the United States, you can be magnanimous. We won, you lost, no sweat.”