Rumor has it that Clinton’s mom, Virginia Kelley, may be moving to Washington. If she does, Miz Virginia could become the first First Mother to frequent Pimlico, Baltimore’s horse-race track-she is an avid gambler. (Record companies are talking about signing up half brother Roger and his band, Politics.) First Cat, Socks, will be relocating to the White House–despite Bill and Hillary’s allergies.
Arkansans already in situ will be key players in the Clinton years. “Everyone knows everyone else, and we all do keep in touch,” says Ann Terry Pincus, a Little Rock native and major fund raiser. West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller and his wife, Sharon, a close friend of Hillary’s, will be leading hosts, along with Democratic grande dame (and powerhouse fund raiser) Pamela Harriman. Expect some of Clinton’s favorite stars to make the scene: Geena Davis, unwed-mother impersonator Candice Bergen, Richard Gere and Tom Cruise. Hasta la vista, Arnold: neither Schwarzenegger nor Bruce Willis, who campaigned for George Bush will make the A list. And Frank Sinatra won’t be found dancing cheek to cheek with this First Lady.
Chelsea, 12, attends public school in Little Rock, and her parents are committed to public education. Washington will put their principles to the test: Francis Junior High, which serves the White House area, is afflicted with the ills of most inner-city schools. It would be an embarrassing about-face, but the Clintons could use the Secret Service as an excuse for private school. They might pass up the National Cathedral School (too preppy) in favor of the politically correct Sidwell Friends.
“I’m going to have to carry smelling salts,” says Fran Rehwaldt, a broker for Prudential real estate. Families who paid $70,000 for a perfectly lovely house in Little Rock are in for a shock. “$250,000 is rock-bottom for a house in the American University area,” says Steve Loew, an agent with Long & Foster. Make it $500,000 for a town house in Georgetown.
After 12 years of blue-suited Republicanism, blue denim is about to make a comeback. Clinton’s easy-fit jeans will set the tone for aging baby boomers. “This is a cultural transformation,” says Samuel Popkin, a Clinton adviser and political scientist at the University of California, San Diego. Goodbye Brooks Brothers, Hello Lands’ End. Exit Hermes, enter ethnic jewelry. Women staffers will be wearing pants to the White House for the first time. Hillary herself is a “bridge” dresser, says Val Cook, vice president of Saks-Jandel, tending to off-the-rack, midpriced lines. Stores will stock up on less expensive outfits$500 Inaugural gowns, not $1,500 models.
As a matter of taste (Hillary’s) and waist (Bill’s), healthy nouvelle could become the cuisine of choice. After Bush’s cruel snub, “Broccoli growers can take heart,” says long-time friend Carolyn Staley. “They love it every way it’s cooked, plus raw.” Unlike the Carters, the Clintons will serve alcohol-though Bill rarely touches the stuff. Local hosts are already tendering Southern comfort. Last weekend Frank Mankiewicz of the PR giant Hill & Knowlton served up catfish hors d’oeuvres, curried okra and fried green tomatoes. But the meal was not unadulterated Arkansas, which might not cut the mustard in Washington. “We did some research on the native foods of Arkansas,” said Mark Chaikowski of Occasions Caterers, which handled the Mankiewicz lunch. “It’s all garbage food. They serve Twinkie pie.”
Nobody could be happier about last week’s outcome than Pietro Santoro, owner of Pietro’s Hair Salon in the Capital Hilton. For most of the last few decades, his archrival Milton Pitts got to barber GOP power heads from Nixon to Bush. Now, he says, “Pitts is finished, dead. He’s too close to the Republicans.” Santoro stands ready to give Clinton a new do. “He needs it longer. It’s too bushy.”
Humorist Art Buchwald, who has chronicled Washington mores since Truman, doesn’t anticipate seismic shifts under the Clintons. “Washington never changes because the lobbyists, the lawyers and the journalists stay here. You can go anywhere and the same people, the same faces will be saying the same thing.” That’s true, but never before has Washington resounded with the cry “Whooooo … Pig… Soooooooie!” Welcome, Arkansans.
