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RUSH: Meanwhile, on the Republican side: Have you seen what happened in New Hampshire over the weekend? There's this guy, he's the governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker. He went into New Hampshire and basically owned it. I wonder why this is happening wherever this guy goes. Iowa, now New Hampshire, wherever he goes, he's drawing enthused, rabid, huge, large crowds, and he is giving those crowds what they want. I wonder how this is happening. Governor of Wisconsin. It's Scott Walker. He's the governor of Wisconsin. He was at the Gridiron Dinner the other night, and he was parrying back...

As the Catholic Church turns this week to electing a new pope, an outsider might be knocking on the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel: Vice President Joe Biden. President Obama, armed with jokes for Saturday night's Gridiron Club dinner, kidded that Biden has a higher calling. But, the president said at the old-school event featuring skits and humor, the 70-year-old veep might have a handicap--he's too young. "Even though I'm just beginning my second term, I know that some folks are looking ahead to bigger things. Look, it's no secret that my vice president is still ambitious. But let's...

We hear stories often about the media crying because access is denied. In the courtroom, in the back room, in the smoke-filled room. If the media is banned, it will complain, and most often it is justified. What about when the media itself denies access to one of its own? The annual White House Corespondents Dinner is coming up in April, and the media has banned C-SPAN from broadcasting the event. No reason given, just C-SPAN cannot do what it has done in the past by providing full video of the event. Some journalists have complained about the lack of...

All right, I hear the criticisms. I do. For example, I know that people think I'm not passionate enough. That I'm too cool. That I'm too detached. But as I was going through my daily routine -- sitting alone in my study -- (laughter) -- meditating, thinking about how to win the future -- (laughter) -- I pondered this critique, and calmly rejected it -- (laughter and applause) -- as thoroughly illogical. (Laughter.) And for all those who think I golf too much, let me be clear. I'm not spending time on the golf course -- I'm investing time on...

It took three attempts, but the Gridiron Club -- a hokey, hallowed vestige of swampland-era Washington -- finally got President Obama to show up for their annual dinner Saturday night. And yet what did they get? No respect, we tell you -- no respect! How fascinating, the president told the 650 guests at the downtown Renaissance Hotel, to be meeting at a time when, across the world, "a powerful spirit of change is tearing down old regimes, decaying institutions, remnants of the past." Pause. "So, look out, Gridiron Club... I mean, look at this getup. Forget about winning the future....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former President Bill Clinton poked fun at Republicans, Democrats, his own health and his audience of reporters Saturday night, telling the Gridiron Club's annual dinner he was there because "I really didn't have anything much better to do tonight." Clinton, who stood in for President Barack Obama, said Democrats are going to pass health care. "It may not happen in my lifetime, or Dick Cheney's, but hopefully by Easter," he said referring to his and the former to vice president's heart ailments.

Sarah Palin spoke at the exclusive Gridiron Club in Washington this past weekend. There is no available video of the speech, but To the Point has the full text of her speech. Here is the opening portion of it: Good evening. It's great to be in Washington. I am loving the weather [it was snowing]. I braved the elements and went out for a jog! Or, as Newsweek calls it, a cover-shoot. I feel so at home here in DC. I can see the Russian Embassy from my hotel room! It's a privilege to be here tonight at the Washington...

Gridiron singed by Obama no-show Anne Schroeder Mullins – Mar 16 No offense intended, says the Obama White House. None taken, say the esteemed leaders of the Gridiron Club. Still, in Washington, a slap does not have to be officially labeled as such for its sound to echo — and its sting to be felt. And make no mistake: President Barack Obama deciding that he is too busy to attend the Gridiron’s annual banquet later this month is a slap. He’s the first president since Grover Cleveland to skip the white-tie-and-tails affair in his first year in office. The official...

Man, wouldn’t this be great to see on youtube? President Bush brought the 123rd annual spring dinner of the Gridiron Club to a rousing close Saturday by donning a tan cowboy hat above his white-tie and tails singing, onstage, a self-parody of a Texas-flavored country-and-western song. “You have just witnessed the first and final performance of Bush and the Busharoos,” the president said, after rendering a final encore of the “Brown, Brown Grass of Home,” the venerable waltz tune, in a voice that did minimal musical justice to Tom Jones’ popular version. **snip** In another stanza, Bush sang, “I spend...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush headlined the annual Gridiron Club political press roast Saturday night, but Vice President Dick Cheney was the main target of the humor. Cheney's well-publicized Texas hunting accident last month, drew ridicule from the press corps and all the speakers, including the president. Bush pointed out that the vice president's full name is Richard B. Cheney. "B. stands for bulls eye," Bush said to laughter from the hundreds of reporters and officials from the administration and Congress. The press, Bush joked, blew the matter way out of proportion: "Good Lord, you'd thought he shot somebody or something."...

Those that can't understand exactly why President George W. Bush is so popular with Independents and Republicans can just look at his self-deprecating humor displayed during his appearance at the Gridiron Club's 120th annual dinner. The president can definitely deliver one-liners, even when they are at his own expense. The highlights: --President Bush said anyone looking for a transcript of the evening's program should call Doug Wead, the longtime Bush family friend who recently made public tape recordings of private telephone conversations he had with Bush before he started running for president. -- Bush noted, with a little help, the...

WASHINGTON - John Kerry (news - web sites)'s wife sang about how happy she is that he wasn't elected. Karl Rove revealed his successful strategy for winning President Bush (news - web sites) a second term. Wannabe presidential candidates pressed for advantage in the 2008 race. It was as close to "Saturday Night Live" as Washington gets, as journalists assumed the personas of politicians in song, dance and wisecracks at the Gridiron Club's 120th annual dinner. It's a journalistic tradition in which, for one night, members of the Fourth Estate turn the tables on the powerful people they report and...