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Former Sen. Dean Barkley (D-Minn.) is very much on the market.
And, yes, he knows we are onto him. A conservative website in Minnesota dug up his profile on the dating website Match.com last week, and a handful of local bloggers are having a grand time picking apart his requirements in a lady (younger than him, whose turn-ons would include “brainiacs,” “erotica,” and “thunderstorms”), his raw, sometimes cringe-worthy self-disclosures (“My 23 year marriage ended about a year ago. I did not want the divorce but have finally gotten over it and I am ready to rejoin the human race”), and his geeky admissions (“I am a star trek nut along with star wars”).
But Barkley is not just interested in women within 100 miles of Minneapolis. In fact, he sounds like he also ISO at least one man in New York. (Mayor Bloomberg, are you listening?)
“If any independent political candidate is looking, I’m available,” Barkley told us in a June 22 interview. Barkley, who served as senator for the 62 days between the death of Sen. Paul Wellstone (D) and the election of Sen. Norm Coleman (R), said he is also weighing a run for the 6th district House seat (held by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R)) in his state in 2008.
Prior to his brief stint in the Senate, Barkley was a chief strategist for independent Gov. Jesse Ventura, who served for four years in Minnesota.
Barkley spent 2006 and much of 2005 trying to get Texas gadfly Kinky Friedman into the governor’s mansion — a quest that ended in defeat. In the end, Barkley said serving as Friedman’s campaign manager probably cost him his marriage, so he found himself at 56 years old without a job or a wife.
Online dating seemed like a good alternative to trying to meet women at bars, so Barkley said he would give it a try. So far, the results have been good.
“I haven’t fallen in love, but I have met some interesting people,” Barkley said.
So, for now, Barkley’s still trying to find love and a job he likes better than being a lawyer. Either one would probably make him happy.
Oh, or a publisher.
After he left Washington to make way for Coleman, Barkley penned a book but never found it a home. He calls it Suddenly Senator.
Congress and golf are back together againWe know you were worried. There was that whole effort to besmirch the legislative branch’s favorite pastime, just because of some little ol’ trip to Scotland with some well-connected fellow a few years back.
Fortunately, on June 22, lawmakers remembered that the little white ball is really what it’s all about. That’s when Reps. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) and Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) took to the floor to announce that Democrats prevailed in the annual golf tournament.
“I just rise as the captain of the Republican team to say that these recruiting classes that you all continue to bring to Washington are a problem for us. Hopefully, the American people will weigh in the near future and send us an athlete or two in a larger class,” Wamp said.
Edwards thanked stand-out star Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) — who shot an even par 70 — but he didn’t forget who really gave his team the deep bench that made it all possible.
“I should have given credit to Congressman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) for his great recruiting class this year,” Edwards said.
Business cards! This is why we have them!Is there no limit to what Craigslist.org can do for us?
Sure, the website will help sell you car, locate a roommate and even find romance, but, oh, there is so much more. An advertisement placed in the “Missed Connections” section on June 22 may have the power to — in some small way — unite our partisan, chamber-centric Congress.
To wit:
“Pour House, Thursday night - m4w - 27
“This is the worst Missed Connection posting ever, but I’m going out on a limb.
“I’m kinda hard of hearing and I never caught your name. You work for a House Republican and you’re from Baton Rouge. I work for a Senate Democrat and I’m from Reno.
“I’m so sorry I never followed up on the name but I was enjoying myself and by the end of the evening I didn’t want to demonstrate what a dolt I am.
“If you can see past my glaring social awkwardness I’d love to take you to dinner sometime. I’d like to see your smile again.”
Let us know what happens, Reno — we’re on the edge of our seats.
No emergency, just homesickAnyone who has worked in the Capitol Building for more than a couple of years knows the heart-dropping feeling of seeing dozens of members of Congress running toward the street at full speed.
More than a couple of House aides reported the frightening scene around lunchtime Friday, and the subsequent urge to scan the sky for signs of danger.
Capitol Police officers, though, know well the other reason that members of Congress are likely to break into a sprint: It was the last vote of the week.
In the midst of the chaos, onlookers reported that Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) was left standing in the middle of the street, cell phone in hand, no airport-headed car to be seen.
They said that a frantic Schmidt was bellowing into her phone, “WHERE ARE YOU? WE HAVE TO HURRY!”
Nearby, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) chastened her colleague with a reminder that the aide on the other end of the phone call wasn’t the only one listening.
“Jean, you have to quiet down — we are in public,” two strolling aides overheard Ros-Lehtinen say.
Meanwhile, another source who was making his own way out of town reported that the 1:50 flight from Reagan National Airport to St. Louis was chock-full of lawmakers. Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) jogged onto the flight so late that the source couldn’t help but speculate that the plane had been held for the congressman.
An SUV bearing Ohio plates did eventually rescue Schmidt, by the way, but her office did not respond to inquiries yesterday as to whether she made her flight.
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