White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

  • Home
  • About
  • WHC Garden Brunch
  • Washington Insider
  • Archives
  • Contact

Donna Shalala, Favorite of Both Parties, Running for Congress

March 8, 2018 By Tammy Haddad

Donna Shalala and Sally Quinn at the Alfalfa Club afterparty at Cafe Milano, Photo Courtesy Haddad Media

Donna Shalala, the former President of the University of Miami and Health and Human Services secretary under Bill Clinton, has announced her plans to run for Congress in Florida’s 27th district. The news comes nearly one year after incumbent Ileana Ros-Lehtinen announced her plans to retire from Congress.

Despite being a longtime Clinton ally, serving as head of the Clinton Foundation after a 14-year stint as University of Miami’s President,Shalala has a storied history of bipartisanship in Washington, working for both Democrats and Republicans over the course of her career. In 2007, she was handpicked by George W. Bush to run the Commission on Care for Returning Wounded Warriors along with Senator Bob Dole. In 2008, President Bush awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Before joining the Bush administration, Shalala was appointed HHS Secretary by President Bill Clinton, staying in the position for 8 years, the longest tenure for an HHS Secretary in history.

Shalala released a video explaining why she’s throwing her hat in the ring saying, “Everything we fought for in our lives is under attack under the slogan, ‘Make America Great Again’,” and adding, “Running for Congress was never in my plans. But now I realize everything we fought for is at risk.”

…HERE I COME! https://t.co/vWNiZJor5d #ImIn pic.twitter.com/8VTwacCk8q

— Donna E. Shalala (@DonnaShalala) March 7, 2018

The district, which encompasses the greater part of Miami and Coral Gables, is relatively Dem-friendly, going for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by nearly 20 points during the 2016 presidential election.

Shalala was in Washington for the annual Alfalfa Club Dinner shaking hands and greeting old friends including Sally Quinn. Here’s an interview with Shalailah and the Miami Herald after news of the announcement broke.

 

Filed Under: News Media Tagged With: Alfalfa Club, Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Clinton Foundation, Donald Trump, Donna Shalala, Florida, George W. Bush, HHS Secretary, Hillary Clinton, Miami Herald, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Sally Quinn, Tammy Haddad, University of Miami, Washington, Wounded Warriors

DNC Day 2: Zignal Labs Measures Impact of Democratic Stars’ Speeches

July 27, 2016 By WHC Insider

The second night of the Democratic National Convention saw some of the Democratic Party’s heaviest hitters take the podium. Bill Clinton, Eric Holder, Madeleine Albright, Howard Dean, Barbara Boxer, Chuck Schumer, and Tom Harkin, were among the top billed speakers of the evening.

Zignal Labs’ Anthony York says that, “Zignal Labs tracked more than 1.9 million mentions of the Democratic gathering — more than any night of the Republican convention. Whether that translates into votes or momentum in the polls remains to be seen. If last night belonged to the current first lady, Tuesday was the night for the potential future first husband. Former President Bill Clinton was the most mentioned of Tuesday’s speakers.”

Zignal created an emoji chart to calculate the most used emoji in reference to Clinton’s speech:

DNCTuesdayEmojiCloud (1)

You can learn more about Zignal Labs and read their work with The Washington Post’s Daily 202 newsletter here.

Filed Under: News Media Tagged With: Bill Clinton, DNC, Zignal Labs

Insider Round-Up for the Day After The Inauguration

January 22, 2013 By WHC Insider

Happy Inauguration Day! twitter.com/whcinsider/sta…

— White House Insider (@whcinsider) January 21, 2013

The Inaugural is over and now Capitol Hill can (supposedly) get back to business. Here’s what you need to read so you too can say, “What about the Al Roker snub?”

  • Al Roker got snubbed by ‘interviewed’ President Obama and Vice President Biden while walking to the parade box.
  • Photobombs were dropped left and right during the ceremonial swearing-in. From Bill Clinton to Joe Biden and even “Grumpy” Gohmert made an appearence.
  • At our event with Huffington Post and Third Way, we had Old Ebbitt Grill staples like mini-lobster rolls, chicken empanadas, tuna tartare, oysters, chorizo and manchengo…oh, the list goes on. Even the Inaugural Luncheon sounded good. While our event was fantastic according to Variety, the Inaugural Ball itself got the short end of the culinary stick with Presidential Cheez It.
  • The stars came out to the district according to Politico:

    “Guests who had less trouble getting to the event, held at the Harman Center for the Arts, included the Goo Goo Dolls, Richard Kind, Tim Daly, Melissa Leo (wearing a maroon velvet pantsuit), Evan Handler and Wayne Knight. Knight of ‘Seinfeld’ fame applauded President Barack Obama for speaking ‘from his heart’ during his inaugural address. Handler, known for his role on ‘Sex and the City,’ agreed. ‘He did a great job with his speech,’ the actor said.”

  • People were definitely not shouting “Boo-urns” at Rep. Paul Ryan according to the Huffington Post. (It was “Boo!”)
  • Beyoncé lip-synched at the Inaugural. Let the Internet go crazy!
  • Filed Under: DC, Entertainment, Inauguration, Insider Round-Ups, News, The White House Tagged With: Al Roker, Barack Obama, Beyoncé, Bill Clinton, Huffington Post, Inaugural, Inaugural Ball, Inauguration, Insider Round-Up, Joe Biden, Paul Ryan, Photobomb, Third Way, WHC Insider

    HBO and Scorsese Collaborate on Clinton doc

    December 17, 2012 By WHC Insider

    President Clinton - 2010 SIF Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Service

    The most famous eyebrows behind the camera are focused on Bubba. HBO announced earlier today that they’re financing a documentary/biopic on Bill Clinton to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
    [Read more…]

    Filed Under: DC, Entertainment, TV Tagged With: Bill Clinton, DC, Documentary, Entertainment, HBO, Martin Scorsese, TV

    We All Like Hillary Clinton (For Now)

    December 12, 2012 By WHC Insider

    Tina Brown, Meryl Streep and Hillary Clinton Stage

    If you thought you liked Hillary Clinton before, you may not in 2016. So claims data guru Nate Silver today at FiveThiryEight where he examines the curious case of how everyone loves the soon-to-be-former secretary of state.
    [Read more…]

    Filed Under: DC, Media Strategy, News Media, The White House, Washington Tagged With: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, FiveThirtyEight, Hillary Clinton, Nate Silver, New York Times

    Meyers and McCurry Host Junior Statesman of America

    May 19, 2011 By WHC Insider

    Dan Meyers and Jeff Harris host JSA Event

    Junior Statesmen Foundation and Junior State of America alumni and friends gathered at the Arlington home of Dan Meyers and Kevin Latek last week to hear a presentation from the CEO of the Junior Statesmen Foundation, Jeff Harris. The event was held to raise awareness of the Junior Statesmen organization, which provides opportunities to educate high school students on the American political system throughout the DC area.

    “Our challenge is getting high school students to be excited about their government, their chance to participate, their chance to make a difference,” said Harris. “JSA is all about giving high school students the skills, the knowledge that they need to become active, involved participants in our democracy for the rest of their lives.

    Mike McCurry, the former Press Secretary to President Clinton and JSA alum, co-hosted the “friendraiser” along with fellow JSA veteran Dan Meyers, Rich Galen, Sarah Hoffman, Junelle Cavero, Andy Green and Tammy Haddad. He told the gathering that his first and only political campaign was through the Junior Statesmen of America Foundation while he was still in high school. McCurry ran for the position of Junior Governor of California, which he won.

    “[JSA] is a program unlike some of the others that I think many [people] are familiar with… this one actually allows people to be involved, get involved, and really learn by doing,” said McCurry.

    Dan Meyers joined the JSA when he was a student in Ohio. Today, he serves on the JSA board and sees it as his way of giving back to the foundation for the support it gave him throughout his high school years.

    “The foundation is something that is very close to my heart,” Meyers said. “It’s something that inspired me to get involved in politics.

    Guests included JS Board members Doug Bailey, Chris Dunn, JSA staff alum David Mark, Susan Sher, the former FLOTUS Chief of Staff, Jessica Stuart, Junelle Cavero, CEO of Blue Knot Strategies LLC; the divine Chris Edwards, wowed the crowd with the families fabulous Edward Marc Chocolates.

    Check out photos from the event below:

    Filed Under: Event Coverage, Washington Events Tagged With: Bill Clinton, Chris Edwards, Dan Meyers, Dan Quayle, Jeff Harris, Junelle Cavero, Junior Statesman of America, Kevin Latek, Michelle Obama, Mike McCurry, Newt Gingrich, Rich Galen, Susan Sher

    Bill Clinton Touts World Cup Soccer

    June 3, 2010 By WHC Insider

    Sons of Italy NELA Gala 2010 from whcinsider on Vimeo.

    Lots of laughter and amore in the air as President Bill Clinton and Quincy Jones joined Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano and Washington favorite Franco Nuschese at the Sons of Italy Foundation’s 22nd annual National Education & Leadership Awards gala in Washington, D.C. on May 26.

    Clinton was honored with a lifetime achievement award for his career in public service and used the occasion to promote his new passion: bringing the FIFA World Cup to the U.S., which received a rousing round of applause (Italy is the defending champion heading into the 2010 World Cup games). Clinton was recently named the Honorary Chairman of the USA Bid to bring the games to the United States in 2018 or 2022.

    The event, emceed by actor Joe Mantegna, also honored Capt. Anthony Odierno, (U.S. Army, Ret.), who was severely wounded in Iraq; and Lewis Merletti, former director of the U.S. Secret Service. National scholarships were also handed out to 11 young Italian Americans heading off to college.

    On hand for the festivities were numerous notables ranging from the worlds of government to entertainment, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House; Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq; NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, Sons of Italy Foundation President Vincent Sarno, and tenor Michael Amante.

    Filed Under: Washington Tagged With: Bill Clinton, Capt. Anthony Odierno, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Franco Nuschese, Gen. Raymond Odierno, Giorgio Napolitano, Joe Mantegna, Lewis Merletti, Michael Amante, Nancy Pelosi, Quincy Jones, Sons of Italy, Vincent Sarno, World Cup

    Grove Attacks WH Press Corps: The View from Michael’s

    April 6, 2010 By Tammy Haddad

    Former Washingtonian and Washington Post reporter Lloyd Grove has picked up the attack against White House correspondents launched by Ana Marie Cox last year.  Ana Marie, did you spend anytime with Lloyd at Michael’s when you visited your new GQ editors in NYC? Grove’s Daily Beast blog recently harrumphed against the hardworking, hard tweeting members of the most exclusive club in Washington journalism – the ones who report to work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

    While I enjoy Michael’s like the next media maven, what’s so wrong with covering the leader of the free world 30 feet from his office and home? Grove’s complaint about Robert Gibbs tweeting reminds of when we began putting Ross Perot and President Bush and a former governor by the name of Bill Clinton on Larry King Live in 1992.  Our newsroom colleagues lamented the end of journalism, but social media didn’t just start on the Internet; interactivity has always been an important part of journalism.

    Ask Dan Pfeiffer, the president’s communications director, how much his press shop likes responding to the five reporters who call with follows on each White House reporters’ tweet.  Take a quick look at the stories and interviews done by NBC’s Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie as well as ABC’s Jake Tapper; you want them to pull back and tweet from Café Milano?

    Tell WHC Insider what you think after reading Lloyd Grove’s column.

    Filed Under: Correspondents, News Media Tagged With: Ana Marie Cox, Bill Clinton, Cafe Milano, Chuck Todd, Dan Pfeiffer, George H. W. Bush, Jake Tapper, lloyd grove, Michael's, Robert Gibbs, Ross Perot, Savannah Guthrie

    Comedy Pro Phil Rosenthal Directed President Clinton’s Famous WHCD Departure Video, Has Advice for President Obama: Play It Straight

    May 5, 2009 By WHC Insider

    By tradition, the president is the guest of honor at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and the guest of honor addresses the audience of roughly 2,000 at some point during the evening.

    It’s usually a light-hearted, often funny speech, very much in keeping with the chummy spirit of the occasion. But for the jokes to work, delivery is everything.

    “I’d tell Barack Obama to treat the jokes, the whole thing, as seriously as the State of the Union speech,” Phil Rosenthal tells WHCInsider. “He should deliver it with the same gravity and seriousness.”

    Rosenthal, the creator and executive producer of the hit comedy “Everyone Loves Raymond,” wrote material for all WHCDs that Bill Clinton attended as president and also directed “The Final Days,” the famous video of President Clinton at his last WHCD. Considered one of the funniest presidential comedy routines, the short spoof featured President Clinton riding a bike through the White House and later running to give First Lady Hillary Clinton her lunch before she went off to work in a limo. [Read more…]

    Filed Under: Washington Events Tagged With: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Phil Rosenthal, State of the Union, The Final Days

    Memorable Moments of Dinners Past

    March 21, 2009 By WHC Insider

    If there’s a single instance in the recent history that encapsulates what the White House Correspondents’ Dinner has become in staid, old Washington, it would have to be the “Ozzy moment.” The year was 2002 and the unified spirit that enveloped Washington in the wake of the 9/11 attacks still lingered as the elite masses gathered at the Washington Hilton hotel for the annual dinner. President Bush was on hand, riding a wave of political popularity. Cabinet members like Colin Powell were also present, as well as the upper echelons of official Washington.

    Comedian Drew Carey was the featured entertainment (after the president, of course), and the requisite celebrities were on hand as well – Harrison Ford, Christie Brinkley, etc. But it was heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne (invited by Fox News host Greta Van Susteren) everyone was clamoring to see. His MTV reality show “The Osbournes” had become a cultural phenomenon and the muttering poster boy of rock ‘n roll excess was more famous than he had ever been in his head-banging heyday. Even the president couldn’t resist the pull of America’s sudden and most unlikely celebrity. “The thing about Ozzy is he’s made a lot of big hit recordings,” Bush said as he gave the singer a shout-out during his remarks. “’Party With Animals,’ ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,’ ‘Face in Hell,’ ‘Black Skies’ and ‘Bloodbath in Paradise’ … Ozzy, mom loves your stuff.” Osbourne responded by standing on his chair, arms raised and shouting as the audience howled and applauded.

    [Read more…]

    Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Bill Clinton, Christie Brinkley, David Gregory, Dick Cheney, Don Imus, Greta Van Susteren, Harrison Ford, Helen Thomas, Karl Rove, Laura Bush, Lynne Cheney, Ozzy Osbourne, Rich Little, Stephen Colbert

    Search WHCInsider

    2022 WHC Garden Brunch

    About White House Correspondents Insider

    Exploring “behind the scenes” of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

    We track the White House Correspondents’ weekend and all the activities around it, from journalists and media companies to the White House and politicos.

    Tammy Haddad is Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WHC Insider and CEO of Haddad Media.

    White House Correspondents Insider is not affiliated with or approved by the White House Correspondents’ Association, which is a registered trademark of the WHCA.

    Cone of Silence Podcast

    WHCA Seating Chart

    Connect

    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Flickr
    • Apple
    • Google
    • Instagram

    Copyright © White House Correspondents Insider

     

    Loading Comments...
     

    You must be logged in to post a comment.