HOLD THE KETCHUP
A cook at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Times Square noticed the Heinz ketchup bottles on the tables and thought they might offend Illinois Republicans staying there.
After all, Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry, is an heir to the Heinz foods fortune.
So workers at the Center Stage Cafe decided to hold the ketchup bottles during the Republican National Convention. Instead, ketchup is being served on small plates.
“Just out of courtesy,” said one kitchen official.
–Ofelia Casillas
TOAST OF THE TOWN
If you walk a mile in Rep. Dennis Hastert’s shoes here in New York City, this is where the path would take you: Tavern on the Green, Chelsea Piers, the Boat House, the Forbes Magazine Gallery, the Highlander Yacht and McSorely’s Ale House.
And that was just during the convention’s first two days.
The speaker of the House, a Republican from Yorkville, Ill., has become the toast of the town. On Monday he was the featured guest at two overlapping receptions (a difficult maneuver, even without New York City traffic).
There are so many parties for Republican luminaries this week that organizers often offer incentives to guests. The Akin Gump law firm, for example, has arranged an Irish luncheon Wednesday to honor the speaker. But in case Hastert isn’t a big enough draw, the lobbying law firm hired The Chieftans to fill the Hammerstein Ballroom with song.
–Jeff Zeleny
FOX LEADS THE PACK
Fox News Channel beat CNN by more than 3-1 in ratings for the opening night of the convention Monday, averaging 3.8 million viewers to CNN’s 1.2 million, according to Nielsen Media Research. MSNBC was third with 854,000 viewers.
During the Democratic National Convention a month ago, CNN defeated Fox by an average of more than 1 million viewers–though it consistently loses to Fox in prime time.
Fox officials had predicted they would fare better during the GOP gathering than it had during the Democratic National Convention, saying CNN viewers were more liberal (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). On Tuesday, it was clear that the Republicans were Fox fans.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Judy Woodruff and Jeff Greenfield were warming up under the klieg lights in their Madison Square Garden set when a chant broke out in the crowd above them.
“Watch Fox News, watch Fox News,” the self-appointed media critics repeated as the CNN crew sat silently, and somewhat dyspeptically, through the chant.
–John Cook and Mark Silva
FRIST FLIP-FLOP?
As he tried to give New Hampshire delegates an insider’s view of Democratic nominee John Kerry on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist noted that he has worked side-by-side with the Massachusetts lawmaker for the past 10 years.
“John Kerry has delivered nothing in the United States Senate,” Frist said. “He’s so far to the left that he’s left America.”
Left unsaid was the fact that Frist co-authored a global AIDS bill with Kerry in the 107th Congress. Last year Frist dropped his support for the Frist-Kerry bill when the White House asked him to dump Kerry and sign onto its legislation. AIDS advocates complained that the administration bill, which became law, was weaker than Frist’s earlier effort.
–Jill Zuckman
FUNNY MONEY
The street outside one Midtown Manhattan hotel was sprinkled with $100 bills Tuesday morning, though they weren’t printed with Benjamin Franklin’s mug.
“We love Republicans, we love war, we love Cheney even more,” was just one of the chants from the pig-nose-wearing group that tossed the money in the air and rolled in it.
The $100 “Hallibacon” bucks bearing the faces of Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush were part of a demonstration outside the New York Hilton. Halliburton, the controversial company once headed by Cheney, sponsored a breakfast for delegates at the hotel.
–Leah Gliniewicz and Adrienne Spain
