Overheard in D.C. picks up a lot of crazy chatter. Metrorail mishaps, breaches of restaurant etiquette, cyclist faux pas—nothing is beyond its ken. And, as we are the nation’s capital, sometimes we even get choice bits of political hand-wringing.
But not like this one. In our email today, we received an Overheard item that is sure to elicit tons of speculation, and possibly rock the presidential race. (OK, maybe not, but it’s still pretty nuts.)
About 1 a.m. Sunday, our tipster heard the irate laments of an apparently well-sourced—and perhaps well-sauced—politico outside the 14th Street NW seafood restaurant Pearl Dive. Barely 19 hours after former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney introduced Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate on the Republican ticket, our aggrieved campaign observer vented, becoming, in the words of our observer, “progressively more pissed off” while punching at chain-link fences and construction barriers as he continued down the street.
From this guy’s side of the conversation, we can’t really tell what side he’s on and who he’s working for. Is he a Republican pollster worried about the latest numbers? A Democratic operative trying to keep a secret? A soulless fixer open to the highest bidder? Read the transcript:
“Well, Romney’s polling indicates that….
“This is a problem.
“This is a big fucking problem.
“This cannot get into the press. We have to keep it out of the Monday news cycle.
“Nobody will go after it now, it’s too late. But it can’t get out Monday.
“I don’t want anyone tweeting this, blogging it.
“I don’t care how much it costs, pay it.
“The amount of money doesn’t matter.
“This is a big fucking problem.
“Of course this had to happen now…
“This kid cannot get out.
“Where did this bitch come from, anyway?
“You have 20 minutes to assemble a team to fix this.
“I’m going to be home in 20 minutes. Call me on my secure line.”
Monday was relatively free of earthshaking campaign events. Sure, there was the first wave of Democrats trying to create division between Romney and Ryan’s approach toward federal spending and entitlement programs, but no memorable landmarks. What is the big fucking problem this gentleman was screaming about? And who is that kid? Maybe the issue was quashed in 20 minutes on that secure line.
Still, we really want to know what the other side of that conversation sounded like. Call us, maybe?
Editor’s note: Obviously, there’s a good chance the conversation our Overheard tipster heard was the drunken bullshit of a silly intern or someone acting out how they would audition for Aaron Sorkin. But you never know.
