Hollywood had its red carpet Oscar night for stars on Sunday. Washington followed two days later with President Barack Obama’s walk down the peacock blue and gold carpet of the House chamber for a speech to a joint session of Congress.

Candycane was the power fashion statement. Obama wore an eye-catching red tie with diagonal white stripes, Gov. Bobby Jindal giving the Republican response wore a red and white tie but his stripes were bigger. (The designers could not be determined by the untrained eye).

But the standing ovations preceded Obama’s entrance into the congressional chamber. First for US Airways Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger who has become a national hero for safely landing a plane in New York’s Hudson River with no fatalities. The simple jewelry of his pilot wings adorned his uniformed breast.

The next power celebrity to get a rise out of fans was U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who appeared frail after her recent surgery for pancreatic cancer, wearing a delicate white collar around the neck of her black judicial robe. She got a warm hug from the president.

First lady Michelle Obama was a vision in a royal purple sleeveless dress (again the designer could not be determined by the untrained eye) but it was pretty. She blew a kiss at her husband.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wore bright rose and gave out lots of diplomatic hugs and kisses.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in olive green, wielded the power gavel as she presided over the event. Vice President Joe Biden, in light blue tie, was seated next to her behind Obama as he spoke.

“Nobody messes with Joe,” Obama said to laughter all around, looking back at his consigliere.

Obama used a lot of hand gestures while he spoke: the finger-point, the two-handed bookend, and the hand chop.

And at the end of the evening he used his hand to sign autographs on the way out of the chamber.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Pool (Obama addresses joint session of Congress)

Obama

Watch out Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina, New York and California would love those dollars you turn down from the $787 billion economic stimulus plan.
 
A few governors, namely Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, South Carolina’s Mark Sanford and Mississippi’s Haley Barbour, have all said that they may turn down some of the stimulus money for their states, particularly aid aimed at bolstering unemployment benefit programs.
 
“We can’t pay for the benefits already in the program, but to get the stimulus money, we’ve got to increase the program’s size and scale,” Sanford said on “Fox News Sunday”.
 
That has some other states hard hit by the deepening recession calling for the money to be sent their way, especially New York where Wall Street has been laying off workers by the thousands.
 
“If any governor — Democrat or Republican — leaves stimulus money on the table, then we respectfully request that funds be distributed to New York,” the state’s two Democratic senators, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, said in a letter to President Barack Obama on Monday.
 
Another New York lawmaker, Representative Anthony Weiner, plans to offer legislation that would redirect rejected stimulus funds to other states. 
 
“If some governors decide to reject the money, 45 other states should be able to use it to create thousands of jobs. We have plenty of projects across the country that will put people to work and help achieve long term economic growth and stability,” Weiner said in a statement.

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Mike Segar (Wall Street in New York City.)

Republicans have chosen Louisiana’s young governor, Bobby Jindal, to deliver a high-profile national address that will follow on the heels of President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union Address to the U.S. Congress on Feb. 24.

The choice of Jindal,  37 years old and of Indian heritage, points to a search for new leaders for the Republican Party, which is still reeling from the loss of its majority in both the House of Representatives and Senate to Democrats and the White House to Obama.

Jindal - who proved his mettle as an able administrator and communicator after Hurricane Gustav tore across Louisiana in September - has been tapped as a rising star in the Republican Party.
A darling to conservatives like talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who has dubbed him as “the next Ronald Reagan,” Jindal will have a chance to polish his credentials before a national television audience later this month.

“Here in Louisiana, we have first-hand experience with reforming government and cutting taxes to stimulate our economy in uncertain times,” Jindal said in a statement on Wednesday. “This is a terrific opportunity to talk about our great state to the nation.”

Too bad many in Louisiana won’t be listening. Feb. 24 is Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the big party in these parts, especially in New Orleans, before the start of Lent.
 Photo Credit: Reuters/Jeff Haynes (JIndal shakes hands with a then President-elect Obama)

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - And the speculation continues. 
 
Republican John McCain praised two potential vice presidential picks on Wednesday but gave no clues about who he would add to his ticket or when he would decide.
 
The Arizona senator’s campaign has not quashed speculation this week that a choice was imminent, but McCain said in a television interview that he has yet to decide who would be his number two.
 
Earlier at a stop at a grocery store, where the presumptive Republican presidential nominee got a look at the high price of milk and other staples, he spoke highly of two people said to be on his short list: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
 
“We can’t mention any names, we have the process going on,” McCain started by saying.

Can’t you say anything positive about Pawlenty, a reporter prodded.
 
“Oh, Tim … He’s a great, fine person,” McCain said.
“I think he is, he, Bobby Jindal and a number of governors, I think are the future of the Republican Party.”

But Jindal told Fox News on Wednesday he wasn’t interested in being vice president.

“Let me be clear: I have said in every private and public conversation, I’ve got the job that I want,” Jindal told Fox News. “And I’ll say again on air: I’m not going to be the vice presidential nominee.”

However, Fox cited Jindal insiders as saying that the governor would take the job if asked. 
 
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are also said to be on McCain’s list.
 
Bets anyone?

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Photo credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder. McCain smiles as he is introduced at a campaign picnic outside the Maine Military Museum in South Portland, Maine, July 21, 2008.