IT'S THE COOKIES, STUPID!
For those of you who placed your
Presidential Elections bets with the
pollsters, shame on you. For about a
buck you could have known the outcome on
November 8th when Family Circle
announced the winner of their cookie
cook-off featuring Laura Bush's
Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk vs. Teresa
Heinz-Kerry's Pumpkin Spice.
Here are some excerpts from Hollywood
on the Potomac's column in July:
"For those of you who don't take
First Lady cookie contests seriously,
you should. "So far, the cookie contest
has predicted the winner in the last
three presidential elections", says
Susan Ungaro, Editor-in- Chief of Family
Circle. According to Ungaro, Hillary
Clinton remarking about her career in
which she said, "I could have stayed at
home and baked cookies and had teas."
became the impetus for the contest.
Clinton went on to win with her
chocolate chip cookies despite the
remark and show downed then first lady
Barbara Bush and later in 1996 left
Elizabeth Dole in a sticky situation
with her pecan rolls."
Cookie Cutter Election Predictor:
Laura's Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk cookies
won in a landslide with 67% of the vote!
LA DOLCE VIDA
The
only thing missing from The National
Italian American Foundation's 29th
Anniversary Gala was Ed "Kookie"
Burns of "77 Strip" to lend
Connie Stevens his comb and
President George W. Bush who sent a
video message. Apart from that, the more
the merrier theme brought guests from
Maine to Milano who piled into the
Hilton Washington Ballroom to toast the
honorrees: Grammy award-winning singer
Tim McGraw, Chariman of the
Willis Group, Joseph Plumeri,
Camella La Spada and legendary tenor
Luciano Pavarotti.
"It's
a big night for crying so I will try to
avoid that. I don't want to do anything
except make people happy and of
course......make money. Of all the
rewards I have had in life, making
people happy is the best." Luciano
Pavarotti
"I wish your dad (Tug McGraw) was
here to present this to you." Yogi
Berra to Tim McGraw. "It's a good
day when your wife (Faith Hill)
and Yogi Berra makes you cry twice in
one night." Tim McGraw
"I sent my son to Italy ahead of me to
see if there was anyone in my home town
named Pulmeri who looked liked me." His
response: "There are 160 Pulmeri's there
and they all look like you." Joe
Pulmeri who was introduced by
Senator Bill Bradley
The
'art' of body-slamming at the VIP
reception was not lost on those who got
too close to Master of Ceremonies
Tony Danza. The ever popular sitcom
star of "Who's the Boss" and "Taxi",
launched his own talk show in September.