You Never Know...

...who you'll run into when waiting for a plane. Walking up, newspaper in hand, was U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown for the 8:40 to Washington-Reagan Airport Thursday morning. Just like the rest of us -- he was running late.


Brown actually took off from his northeast Ohio home via Cleveland Hopkins International on the 7:30 flight, which would have gotten him to the meeting room where Senators (including Brown) were getting their pitch from the Big 3 automakers today.


Unfortunately, a glitch and a warning light turned the flight around. The next plane out was the 8:40, which didn't spell much hope he would be sitting in the hearing room on time but he promised me he would be doing whatever he could to get there before the testimony was over.
Funny how transportation humbles even the best of us; the Detroit automakers got clobbered for taking private jets, then drove this time to DC in hybrids. Brown normally would be moving heaven and earth to be there on time, but the craft taking him through the heavens is another story.


At least I had the pleasure of saying hello and playing photographer for a young mom from New Orleans who wanted a picture with the Senator and her two kids. No need to burn any fossil fuels for that task.

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In DC on RTNDA business; this city is clearly chomping at the bit for Obamaville just about a month and a half away. All of the sidewalk vendors have Obamagear for sale, including sweatshirts, hats, buttons, dishes, posters -- you name it. For $20 bucks you can get a sweatshirt, some of the other take home gifts are a bit pricier but people are gobbling this stuff up like crazy. It's tough to imagine just where they'll be putting the four million folks they expect to squeeze in between the Dome and the White House. My friend Jane's PA nieces and nephews are coming in just to say they were here -- even if it means watching on TV.

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If you are one of the millions here's a tip: Shelley's Back Room at 13th and F. Take the Metro Center stop and find it but advance notice: it is one of the few places in the District where it's legal to smoke indoors. A very nice cigar bar (enjoyed a fine Mac with a cup of clam chowder tonight, reasonable prices too...) with nice ambiance but air you need a chain saw to cut. It was nice to smoke a stogie tonight in some place other than 25 degrees. Nice to be at the center of America's capitol, within site of the Treasury Department and White House...dreaming of an end to the Cuban embargo.