Ken Mehlman

Ken Mehlman is Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

He's a confirmed bachelor who's been called "quite a catch" by beards single ladies in the Capitol.

Background
Mehlman came into politics as "a Reagan Republican" in 1990 and made his name as chief of staff for members of the Texas Congressional delegation. Like all GOP House staffers, he had to pretend to be friendly with the "pink mafia" that controls so many powerful House GOP staffs, but he insists that he did not got along all that well with those guys. Really. He almost never attended the nightly after-work soirees in Mark Foley's office.

In 2000, Mehlman was field director for the Bush-Cheney campaign, before landing the plum job of White House Director of Political Affairs. In his spare time, he volunteered to help staffers in the Faith Based Initiatives program set up revival meetings. It's pure coincidence that those revival meetings were scheduled in various swing states.

In 2004, Mehlman became Campaign Manager for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign.

He was appointed chairman of the Republican National Committee after the election.

"He earned those jobs the old fashioned way," says one former associate. "He got to know every cute guy in the West Wing and in the House. He 'worked it' around the clock -- weekends, nights, and early mornings. He kept his head down and his butt firm. He made 2004 happen.

"He and Karl Rove are a terrific couple," the former associate adds, "but Ken was the chief operating officer."

Mehlman is such a cutie that even Donna Brazile, the fiercly partisan, lying, devious manager of Al Gore's campaign in 2000 likes to pinch his cheeks.

"I've played with them all: Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie," Brazile says. "They are all descendents of Lee Atwater. Lee was like a water moccasin: when you hit him, he came right back at you. Ken is not like Lee or Karl Rove. He has a moral compass that points directly to the magnet in his right pocket. Plus, he's cute as a button."

Then she offers high praise. "He's not a snake," she says, adding "Those rumors about his 'equipment' are pure wishful thinking by

Responding to scandal
As chairman of the RNC, Mehlman has been point-man in refuting phony charges by Democrats that there is a "culture of corruption" in the GOP.

"That's absurd," he insists.

He points out that most of the so-called "bad apples" like Randy Cunningham, Bob Ney, Scooter Libby, Katrina, Jack Abramoff, Conrad Burns, Harriet Miers, and the unfairly persecuted Tom DeLay "didn't kill anybody," and those charges about Abramoff and the Florida murders haven't yet been proven.

And besides, Mehlman insists that everyone should ignore what anyone in the liberal media might try to tell them about Mehlman and GOP super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Ken Mehlman does not know Jack Abramoff. Never met him. Never talked to him. Never posed for pictures with him. Wouldn't even know him if he saw him wandering out of Karl Rove's office. Abramoff is dead to Ken because Abramoff was obviously a Democrat.

Factoids
"You call him sir!"
 * Mehlman joke: "What do you call a dictator with a nuclear bomb?"
 * Prefers disco dancing to a quiet night listening to show tunes with Karl Rove.