Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, Atlanta-Journal Constitution’s editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich, and Talking Points Memo blogger Josh Marshall had plenty of reasons to celebrate at The Week’s Fifth Annual Opinion Awards dinner at the Four Seasons on April 8th: they won. The elegant and intimate evening raised eyebrows when panelists took center stage, and the discussion turned into a testosterone versus estrogen contest. This was led by Time.com’s Anna Marie Cox, who questioned why, when we have an African American and a woman running for President, the panel of experts were all white men? Fair question. The “How We Pick the President” gabfest, moderated by Sir Harold Evans, escalated into a verbal shouting contest more typical of Hardball than a dinner party. Karl Rove, Harold Raines, and Doug Schoen were intermittently reprimanded for their comments, and it didn’t help that the formerly secretive Rove was the most loquacious panelist. Wish we could have heard what Matt Cooper, Tammy Haddad, Betsy Fisher, Joe Di Genova, Mark Russell, Victoria Toesing and Hilary Rosen had to say, but they weren’t within ear shot. opening of the Newseum on April 12th Some prominent Democrats who

would normally be in the thick of things are still sitting on the fence, undecided whether to back Hillary Clinton or support Barack Obama. So, like Nancy “Bitsey” Folger, they contributed to both candidates. A well known social activist in Washington, Folger says that unlike in past elections, she has organized no Democratic fundraisers in this campaign because, she says, “It’s a very hard choice, I like them both. We really need to find a better system for choosing a candidate. This campaign has been so brutal; whoever wins won’t have the energy left to man the government.” The constant grind for cash, combined with new rules limiting individual campaign contributions, have seen an increase in the role of what used to be called fund raisers, but in the new, slicker, campaign jargon are known as “bundlers” – individuals who ask friends, family, and business associates for contributions to the candidate of their choice. Contributions from individuals are limited to $2,300 for the primary campaign, and the same for the November election campaign for a total per person of $4,600. But delivery of the money “bundled” in lump sums of $50,000 beats being deluged with $2,300 checks,and campaign experts maintain that

bundlers now account for more than a quarter of presidential contributions. In 2000 it was 8 percent. Bundlers are Washington’s new secret agents, preferring to operate out of the public spotlight. Not Esther Coopersmith, who says the Clinton campaign calls its bundlers “Hillraisers,” and claims to have so far raised $450,000 for her candidate. “I keep collecting the checks and sending them on,” she says. In the Obama camp there’s columnist Megan Beyer who, with auto dealer husband Don – a former Lieutenant Governor of Virginia – has “encouraged many of our friends and colleagues to come and meet Barack,” as Megan puts it – meetings which the website Public Citizen says have raised $200,000 for the Democrat senator from Illinois. Like Coopersmith, however, several Democratic activists said the bottom line is loyalty to the party. “I’m a Democrat, and I’ll work with whomever is on the ticket. But (the campaign) will be easier with Hillary,” she says. On May 7, she helped organize a pro-Clinton rally for women at Washington’s Omni Shoreham Hotel called “Generations of Women,” with appearances by the candidate herself, her mother, and daughter Chelsea.