Todd Gillman - FishbowlDC

Did POTUS Really Make a BJ Joke?

Peter Ogburn — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 10:00:30 +0000

At Wednesday night’s LGBT fundraiser in Los Angeles, POTUS cracked a joke about his wife’s physical fitness that went like this:

“I want to thank my wonderful friend who accepts a little bit of teasing about Michelle beating her in pushups — (laughter) — but I think she claims Michelle didn’t go all the way down. (Laughter.) That’s what I heard.”

The evening’s pooler, Todd Gillman from the Dallas Morning News wrote the joke up this way:

“He warmed up with some jokes about the first lady’s appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show. “Michelle outdoes me in pushups as well,” he said, after saying that she’s taken some criticism on her technique “because she doesn’t go all the way down” – a line that he let hang, naughtily, provoking laughter from the crowd.”

The consensus is that POTUS was joking about her level of fitness and not her oral skills. But, that didn’t stop the Washington press corps from having fun with this topic. We take a look at the issue with Storify.

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Morning Chatter

Betsy Rothstein — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:16:49 +0000

Quotes of the Day

Journo witnesses oatmeal disaster

“Old man just spilled oatmeal all over his shirt. Thought he could lazily spoon his breakfast without consequence. Now heading to restroom.” — FBDC and The Blaze’s Eddie Scarry in the EavesDropCafe.

Important Question to Ponder: “Even if you’re a hard-core partisan, is it really stimulating to watch hour after hour of TV that just repeats your view of the world?” — Politico‘s Alexander Burns.

TIPS FROM THE POOL, INTO THE DEEP END

White House Pooler Todd Gillman of the Dallas Morning News focused on movie references in a Pool Report last night in Beverly Hills: “The president appeared before 600 or so hooting, hollering supporters at an LGBT campaign fund-raiser in a ballroom at the Beverly Wilshire – the ‘Pretty Woman’ hotel. They gave him a prolonged standing ovation, chanting “Four more years!” after an introduction from a gay Army doctor. The stage was striking. Obama spoke from a lectern, no seal, with an enormous American flag draped behind him like the scene in ‘Patton,’ his head not even reaching the top of the fourth stripe.”

Self-appointed media critic

“I hear after last night MSNBC is changing its slogan from ‘Lean Forward’ to ‘Bend Over’” – CNN Contributor and RedState.com Editor Erick Erickson.

Quote Taken out of Context

“No lisa, but I sure don’t want to eat this crappy breakfast.” — Jason Koebler, tech writer for U.S. News & World Report and music writer for Washingtonian.

Leibovich doubts chumminess of morning show teams

“As citizens, we should all strive for the warmth, rapport and genuine love that seems to pervade morning TV teams. Sarcasm, dudes, sarcasm…especially love how close the morning TV teams appear on those billboards.” — NYT‘s Mark Leibovich getting his Twitter on this morning.

Breitbartonian attacks BuzzFeed Ben

“Someone needs to tell @BuzzFeedBen that when a politician says “jump,” the followup question is “why?”, not ‘how high?’” — Breitbart.com’s Ezra Dulis (Always exciting to hear about yet another Ezzy on the planet.)

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Regional Reporters Assoc. Elects its Board

Betsy Rothstein — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:45:26 +0000

The Regional Reporters Association elected its officers and board members Friday. All results were unanimous:

Your 2011-2012 RRA board:

President Joseph Morton, Omaha World-Herald (he was also last year’s president)
Vice President Matt Canham, Salt Lake Tribune
Treasurer Malia Rulon, Gannett News Service
Secretary Herb Jackson, The Record
Erika Bolstad, McClatchy
Michael Coleman, Albuquerque Journal
Todd Gillman, Dallas Morning News
Matt Laslo, Freelance
Paul Merrion, Crain’s Chicago Business
Bart Sullivan, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Bill Theobald, Gannett News Service
Peter Urban, Stephens Media
Karoun Demirjian, Las Vegas Sun

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Obama Mentions Couch Threat

Betsy Rothstein — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:27:12 +0000

TIPS FROM THE POOL…INTO THE DEEP END

Dallas Morning News White House Pooler Todd Gillman covered the 19-vehicle motorcade this morning to a bill signing at Harriet Tubman Elementary School. The bill: Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act of 2010. Gillman noted that POTUS‘s “biggest applause line” happened when he told the crowd that if he didn’t get the bill passed that FLOTUS might end up punishing him. He writes:

He emphasized that threat a moment later as FLOTUS began speaking, and thanked him for working to get the law passed. Obama moved into the microphone and interjected, “Because I would have been sleeping on the couch.” For emphasis he turned back the students and others seated behind them on the stage in the school cafeteria, and smiled.

That seemed to throw her off stride a bit but she recovered. “We won’t go into that. Let’s just say it got done. Don’t need to go down that road,” she said.

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Seriously Descriptive ‘Rear Flap’ Pool Report

Betsy Rothstein — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 10:54:33 +0000

THE DEEP END…TIPS FROM THE POOL

The Dallas Morning News‘s Washington Bureau Chief Todd Gillman in a weekend White House Pool report gets keenly descriptive, even touching on the rear flap of President Obama‘s coat as he arrived at Andrews Air Force Base under “gorgeous blue skies, blustery.”

He is wearing dark blue blazer, dark grey slacks, light colored shirt, no tie.He jogged to the top of the stairs, the rear flap of his blazer inverted and flapping in the wind, and waved from the top.

> Update: AP’s Manuel Balce Ceneta captures the “rear flap” of which Gillman writes.

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Pres. Obama Sits Down With Regional Newspaper Reporters

Christine — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:02:51 +0000

President Obama sat down with reporters from regional newspapers yesterday. From Politico the list of lucky reporters involved in the roundtable interviews:

Albuquerque Journal – Michael Coleman

Atlanta Journal-Constitution – Bob Keefe

Cleveland Plain Dealer – Stephen Koff

Dallas Morning News – Todd Gillman

Denver Post – Mike Riley

Des Moines Register – Philip Brasher

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette – Sylvia Smith

Kansas City Star – David Goldstein

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Craig Gilbert

Minneapolis Star Tribune – Kevin Diaz

New Orleans Times-Picayune – Bruce Alpert

Orlando Sentinel – Mark Matthews

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – James O’Toole

Richmond Times-Dispatch – Neil Simon

The Birmingham News – Mary Orndo

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Leubsdorf To Retire, Gillman Takes Charge of DMN’s DC Bureau

Patrick — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:07:30 +0000

From the Dallas Morning News (via Romenesko):

Carl Leubsdorf, the longtime Washington bureau chief of The Dallas Morning News, will retire at the end of this year after a career as a top national affairs writer.

Mr. Leubsdorf will continue to write his column for The News, as he has since 1981. The column will be published online every week and once every two weeks in the printed newspaper.

“I’ve had a wonderful run, and I’ll be glad that I can keep my hand in,” he said.

Todd Gillman, a Washington correspondent with The News, will take over as bureau chief.

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Taking On Todd

Patrick — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:52:01 +0000

A recent White House pool report describes how President Bush took on Dallas Morning News reporter Todd Gillman:

Reporter: “Mr. President — you excited about your house in Dallas?”

President: “Todd, why do you care? You live in Washington, DC.”

Todd says he’ll survive.

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This Week In Pool Reports

Patrick — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:57:38 +0000

The Bushes celebrate the festival of lights, and taunt the pool with food they can’t have.

“The Oval Office had a festive atmosphere, with a Christmas tree decorated with large golden ornaments beside the Rose Garden door and an arrangement of large pine cones above the fireplace. Officials milling behind POTUS’s desk included Hadley, Negroponte and Perino. Bush said he was looking forward to lunch with the president but warned it may not be as good as the food he enjoyed during his last trip to Italy.” — Andrew Ward, The Financial Times

“The president marked the Jewish festival of lights at Hanukkah reception. About a hundred guests filled the Grand Foyer for a 20-minute candle lighting ceremony. Six festive Christmas trees were in the corners, but the focus of the tableau was a menorah that once belonged to the great-grandfather of slain Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl. Pearl’s parents sat in the front row with the First Lady as Mr. Bush recounted the miracle of Hanukkah, and the stories of Daniel Pearl and the family candelabrum. The transcript has already moved. The president drew a parallel between Maccabees’ fight against religious oppression, and Pearl’s ‘lifelong pursuit of truth and tolerance.’ Two Jewish cabinet members were on hand, Michael Chertoff and Michael Mukasey. Like most of the men in the crowd, they wore yarmulkes. The who’s who included Elliott Abrams, Ken Mehlman, Josh Bolten, Rep. Eric Cantor, and White House chief of protocol Nancy Brinker. A man sitting in front of Mehlman wore a yarmulke decorated with a “W” and the words ‘The President.’” — Todd Gillman, Dallas Morning News

“What’s a party without a nosh? The feast reportedly included potato latkes, apple latkes, baby lamb chops and smoked salmon. Alas, the pool was ushered out and didn’t get to partake.” — Gillman

Apparently a light rain did not stop the president from riding. The bikes that they pulled off the back of the cars back at the white house were quite muddy.” — Jason Embry, Cox Newspapers

The POTUS sat, lips zipped and smiling, afterward, as the pool was being ushered out and an intrepid pooler called out the question: What are the American people to make of the CIA’s destruction of videotapes? And the pool, which had been asked not to ask questions, was shown the door. The president’s body language, however, appeared positively upbeat.” — Mark Silva, Chicago Tribune

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This Week In Pool Reports

Patrick — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:52:02 +0000

What do you do when you are in an accident with the motorcade? Ask an elderly man and woman in Maryland. And President Bush gave GOPers a much needed pep talk.

“Potus strode briskly across the enormous plant floor as his guides explained what was going on. Plant workers gawked from a distance as potus walked through. His first stop was to inspect a hybrid engine that was on display for the occasion. It is the same engine that will be in the saturn aura, which goes on the market shortly. The conversation was out of earshot but potus nodded as the mysteries of the hybrid were explained. Potus then shook hands with several plant workers, and threw his arm around another as a gaggle of co-workers looked on approvingly.” — Michael Fletcher, Washington Post

“A wild ride through the snow to Camp David. Left White House at 2:12 pm and the motorcade wove in and out of bumper to bumper traffic in rain and sleet, often using breakdown lanes. At 3 pm, just south of the Urbana exit in Frederick County the motorcade was involved in an accident when a motorcade suv and a private car spun off he road into the median strip. The potus vehicle not involved and we continued without stopping into steady snow to Thurmont without further incident.” — Jack Farrell, Denver Post

“Brian Cole of Fox News was in the front passenger seat of our van and describes accident this way: ‘we were on the right shoulder…it looked as if the motorcade suv either slid or tried to avoid something, careened across the interstate and hit a car in the left lane and pushed it’ into the median. The motorcade did not stop so we cannot say if there were injuries but the photos of the car taken as we went by do not show extensive damage. I cannot say how fast we were going at the time of the accident. we were hitting 60 or 55 mph at times. But brian estimates we were at 30 mph when accident took place. The second press van turned back at that point and passed the site and emailed us to say there apppeared to be two people in the hit car — an elderly man and woman and that afp and getty photogrphers in that van got photo of driver out of car talking with man from white house suv. They saw no ambulances at that time. We were on 270 south of urbana exit when the accident took place.” — Farrell

“They shook hands. Bush got a standing ovation and launched into a pep talk aimed at the depleted GOP ranks in the House. ‘I thank you all for recognizing that it’s in the best interest of the United States of America that John Boehner become the next speaker of the House of Representatives,’ said Bush, who had lunched with the Democratic speaker earlier today. Notes that he once lost a West Texas congressional race and bounced back to become president. ‘The key is to learn from every election and to come back stronger, and with your help that’s exactly what we’re going to do in 2008. … I believe that we can retake the Senate and the House and hold the White House in 2008.” — Todd Gillman, Dallas Morning News

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This Week In Pool Reports

Patrick — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 12:55:22 +0000

In this week’s episode, the First Dogs frolicked in the snow, Obama wins the little discussed playgroud primary and President Bush loves teasing the poolers.

“The pool enjoyed a brief respite from the icy weather when we walked through the White House to the motorcade past a small fragment of spring: dozens of daffodils in tubs awaiting planting. Back into the cold: In the Rose Garden, there was evidence of the First Dogs frolicking in the snow,(pawprints, not yellow snow). But clearly the icy grounds were considered too much for their delicate paws, as in front of the White House there was a specially plowed 20 foot area for them.” — Caroline Daniel, Financial Times

The following exchange was overheard by another pooler, between younger boys at the first table, as the president schmoozed elsewhere. Sorry, names weren’t collected.
1st kid: ‘He’s my favorite president.’ (referring to Bush)
2d kid: ‘My favorite president is President Obama.’
1st kid: ‘Who’s that?’
2d kid: ‘He’s the first black president.’
– Todd Gillman, Dallas Morning News

Last note: As we were ushered out of the Oval, Bush took note of New York Times’ photographer Doug Mills’ dome. ‘May I suggest a hat on your bald head?’ Bush joked. ‘He always gives me grief when I don’t have a hat on,’ said Mills. He showed Bush he indeed had a fleece cap; Mills just wasn’t wearing it inside the Oval. ‘Every president since Reagan has made a comment about his bald head,’ mused fellow AP shooter Ron Edmonds.” — Tara Copp, Austin American-Statesman

“A day after Barack Obama launched his presidential campaign invoking Abraham Lincoln, President Bush toasted ‘the incredible life of the man who saved the union.’ The occasion was a black-tie dinner in the White House’s State Dining Room marking the Ford’s Theatre’s celebration of the 198th anniversary of nation’s 16th president.” — Finlay Lewis, Copley

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