WH Pool Report with Scott McClellan

We're going to stick with this story about the pool report penned by a White House spokesman for just a little while longer. No doubt some see McClellan's authorship as vindication for spending millions of dollars to give Al Franken his own radio show. We hear the real story is that the pool, like Air America listeners, were both few in number and bored.

But handing over the pool report for a paragraph or two to Scott "Let me say that again" McClellan is a small joke -- and not nearly as funny as handing over, say, a whole presidential press conference.

The rest of the report seems to have been written by the Palest Postie, Dana Milbank, apparently getting out some excess snark (like there is such a thing): "On AF1, the inflight movie selection was The Fog of War (2003) for the second time in a week. Your pooler did not necessarily see any symbolism in this but is aware that others might."

Full report after the jump.

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Because of the small size of the reception room at the River Club in New York, the pool was unusually small for the New York leg. Therefore your pooler sought help from unconventional places. The following is the first known pool report to be written by White House press secretary Scott McClellan:

"Along the motorcade route to the airport were many well-wishers and supporters and only a handful of protesters. Governor Pataki and Congressman Reynolds joined the President in the limo, and boarded Air Force One for the short flight to New York. Karl Rove was spotted wearing socks with no holes visible to your pooler. Air Force One was wheels up at 11: 17am EST and touched down at JFK at approximately 12pm EST.

"The Italian meatball sub was more than enough to keep your poolers satisified on an otherwiseuneventful flight."

All in all, a fine effort, for a flak. And your pooler does not disagree with Scott's premise. It should be noted that the AP reporter on the ground in Buffalo estimated 500 demonstrators, but only a fraction of that were visible to POTUS entourage. Signs included one proclaiming "Bush: You're Fired" and another that read "Bush Lies, People Die." There were indeed many well wishers, including one with a sign proposing a "BUSH/RICE" ticket. On AF1, the inflight movie selection was The Fog of War (2003) for the second time in a week. Your pooler did not necessarily see any symbolism in this but is aware that others might. It was further learned by your pooler that McClellan was ribbed by the president for getting a haircut that was even shorter than the newly cropped POTUS do.

Potus deplaned with a jocular salute, followed by Pataki, Card and Rove. A lovely chopper flight over Brookly on a sunny, 68 degree day left him at the Wall Street zone at 12: 25. The motorcade went north on the FDR drive and up First Avenue and past the United Nations without stopping. Again, symbolism at your discretion. The River Club provided a fine pool hold with nibbles such as crunchy pickles, and a view over the East River.

What follows is more detail than most desire but surely not enough for the insatiable New York press corps, which apparently did not have a representative in the room.

In the ballroom, Pataki introduced Potus and " a friend of New York" and friend of Israel. There were only 12 tables in the windowless room with 10 at each. Centerpieces were orange and yellow flowers. On the tables were remains of salads, raspberry/whipped cream desserts, and red and white wine. A shrimp dish was also alleged by Stanzel, who further informed your pool that the overall take was $3.75 million for the Victory 2004 committee, in intervals of $25,000. Roughly 130 attendees. Stanzel also said the first lady raised $800,000 for Victory 2004 in Louisville today. This was the 2nd Victory 2004 event for Potus after the one in the LA

area.

Distributed among the various tables were: Jack Oliver, Andy Card, Mike Bloomberg, Rove, Pataki, Potus, Mercer Reynolds, Al Hoffman, Peter King, Vito Fossella, and Elaine Chao's father. The setting was intimate, even confined, and your pool was ushered in and out for remarks only so could not buttonhole attendees. There were about 20 women in the room, and a handful of attendees of Asian/Middle Eastern/Hispanic appearance, with white men making up the balance. Two men wore skullcaps. The attendees- who seemed to have particular appreciation for the Potus "death tax" joke -- were weirdly still and quiet for Potus speech, and Potus opted to give his usual stump speech. The result was a flat delivery with Potus hurrying along when applause lines frequently did not produce the desired effect. A half dozen people were spied dozing off during the speech, but your pooler can identify only one, Larry Leeds, who was, unfortunately for him, seated directly in front of the pool. Card, too, seemed to be battling drowsiness. Other name tags spotted: John Bonomo, Steven Levy, Ted Forta, David Knott. At one point the room was so still that the dropping of a piece of cutlery caused a stir. Potus reached JFK at 2:50.

Angie C. Marek/U.S. News

Dana Milbank/Washington Post

Scott McClellan/Freelance