Several thousand guests descended on the Washington Hilton around 6 p.m. on Saturday for a couple of hours of pressing flesh before heading into the White House Correspondents Association dinner in the hotel’s International Ballroom at 8 p.m. While making the rounds ourselves, we polled some attendees about which party was best, what an Obama-, Clinton-, or McCain-run dinner could be like next year, and which after-party they were most looking forward to.
“[These parties] are like the Olympics, so they always say it’s the best ever. This is my first time and it’s amazing. But I challenge them next year to top it.”
—Joel McHale, host of E!’s The Soup
“All the parties blend together, but the guests make a difference. It’s the best people-watching in Washington all year.”
—Carrie Foster, public relations executive, Linda Roth Associates
“I couldn’t really tell the difference between the parties because of the way they were set up; I just mingled around.”
—Catherine Bell, actress, Army Wives
“Same party, same people, different dresses.”
—Washington-based journalist
“The first time I came here, it was in the Clinton administration, and Democrats always tend to hang out later and drink more—so maybe we’ll see more of that [next year]. Either way, I’m sure there’ll be a new excitement with a new administration.”
—Richard Schiff, actor
“Bloomberg’s [after-party] is supposed to be over-the-top, but Capitol File is going to have a fun crowd, and it’s way easier to get into.”
—Democratic consultant
“I was at Tammy Haddad’s party today and ran into some friends who invited me to Capitol File—I’m hoping I’ll run into even more of my clients there.”
—Dennis Hof, owner, Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada and star of the HBO series Cathouse
