Check out today’s Politico piece about the daily phone calls of Rahm Emanuel, James Carville, George Stephanopoulos and Paul Begala (“Power, politics, gossip on daily call”). This is clearly a powerful force of friends in DC these days. Al Hunt, the Washington bureau chief for Bloomberg says in the article: “There is no parallel, he said, to a group of friends who has remained so central to the daily shaping of Washington conversation as these Clinton-era comrades.”
Perhaps it’s just me, but I was disappointed to see yet another “boy’s club” that women are conspicuously absent from. It’s just another reminder that no matter how many barriers fall and women are allowed on the golf courses, in exclusive power lunch spots, and powerful Ivy League clubs, the key decision makers still so strongly remain all male.
Some other interesting paragraphs from the article:
Mary Matalin, who as Carville’s wife has overheard probably thousands of the group’s calls, describes the conversation as more profane, more sports-centric versions of a knitting club.
“They talk like they are girls,” she said. “The conversations start in the middle and they end in the middle, and if they talk at night, they’ll start in the morning with no break in the flow.”
“To me, the first purpose is friendship,” said Matalin, “and the second purpose is information-sharing.”
I guess my point is: Wouldn’t it be great if powerful friendships and information sharing was more co-ed?
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