Press and pols have never gotten along worse.
Still…who spells better? On September 27, we’ll find out when members of the media and members of Congress will join for a spelling bee at the National Press Club.
This could all be potentially embarrassing.
Tickets aren’t dirt cheap but the money will go to a good cause — the club’s nonprofit Journalism Institute. Guests will pay $25; members will fork over $15.
The participating politicians are as follows:
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore), Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla), Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Col), Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA).
And the reporters:
Todd Gillman: The Dallas Morning News and last year’s champion
Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak – NPR
Tamar Hallerman – Atlanta Journal Constitution
Alexandra Petri – The Washington Post
John M. Donnelly – CQ Roll Call
It’s too bad CBS’s Major Garrett isn’t a contestant. In 2013, he participated in the National Press Club bee and, if memory serves, he didn’t do too well. However, he did have a pretty good game plan going into it.
“I am not remotely confident in my abilities and I intend to invoke the Don Rickles method during the competition,” Garrett told me at the time. “On the Carson show, Johnny once asked Rickles if he could spell Chihuahua. Rickles said yes ‘D-O-G’ I intend to employ a similar tactic for chrysanthemum – ‘F-L-O-W-E-R.’ I won’t win, I won’t even get close. But I will try to do Rickles proud.”
At the bee, Garrett ferociously chewed gum at the podium and was asked to spell the word: Entrepreneur.
“E-n-t-r-e-p-r-e-n-u-e-r,” he said, spelling the word incorrectly.
The host for this year’s bee will be Thomas Burr, a reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune.
A little history… according to a statement from the club, the first National Press Club Spelling Bee was held in 1913. President Woodrow Wilson in the audience.
That year, members of the House and Senate won. One hundred years later, National Press Club members revived the Bee.
Purchase tickets here.