The Gridiron Club

Reporter: Christa Marshall

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Script

CHRISTA MARSHALL: Many prominent journalists in the nation's capital lead secret lives. They wear everything from oil rigs on their heads to gorilla costumes while performing satirical songs. Pulitzer Prize winner Clarence Page, for example, once belted out a lampoon of John Edwards:

PAGE (SINGING): Pretty Lawyer, in a senate seat, Pretty Lawyer, good enough to eat. I got my hairdo, my money too, If you don't vote for me I'll sue.

CM: Page's parody was part of an annual ritual known as the Gridiron club dinner. The dinner is a spectacle where everyone from the president to Supreme Court Justices dine on dishes like caviar and roasted veal while watching big-time journalists prance in front of them. Often, political figures exchange their formal evening wear for crazy costumes and join the journalists.

This extravaganza is closed to the public and "off the record." To hear what goes on, you can do one of two things. Have someone reenact a performance, or dig up the only public recording ever made. In 1985, Helen Thomas satirized the losing vice presidential candidate, Geraldine Ferraro:

HELEN THOMAS (SINGING): There's no enjoyment in unemployment. Now I've got pay-ola. Pushing pepsi-cola.

CM: All this wackiness raises the question why the Gridiron Club exists, and why it is so secretive. The answer lies in the club's beginnings in 1885. Back then, reporters were looking for a way to ease the tension between themselves and politicians. They decided to start an invitation-only club and subject political leaders to a private evening of roasting. And the tradition stuck.

Every president since Grover Cleveland has attended at least one dinner. Journalist and Club member Robert Novak says Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan relished the event, while Richard Nixon despised it. And Jimmy Carter...

ROBERT NOVAK: Jimmy Carter hated Gridiron. In his four years, I think he missed two of the four dinners.and I don't think the president George W Bush is fascinated by it. I think Bill Clinton was kind of so-so on it. He kind of liked it at times, but oddly enough President Clinton had a bit of a thin skin.

CM: The Gridiron's motto is, "it singes, but never burns," but it's sometimes a challenge to make sure the satire doesn't go too far. Novak cut the song "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" during the Lewinsky scandal:

RN: It wasn't that I was so sensitive, but I was going to be sitting next to President Clinton as president of the club for four hours, and I didn't want to be personally embarrassed.

CM: Regardless of how political figures might feel about the roasting, they often improve their image by showing their humorous side. Washington Post journalist and club member Annie Groer explains:

ANNIE GROER: Nancy Reagan did herself a huge amount of good one year when she sang 'Second Hand Clothes' when all everybody thought she cared about was fashion.

CM: Groer adds that the antics at the Gridiron have another benefit.

AG: Washington takes itself so bloody seriously, that the more people can poke themselves in a festive and lighthearted way, the better.

CM: One of the funnier moments from last year's show came when club singer Dave Werner pretended to be President Bush's advisor Karl Rove:

DAVE WERNER (SINGING): As the president's advisor, I wish he could be wiser, and think with little strain. He'd have gravitas and nuance, He'd have policy congru-ance if he only had my brain.

CM: The lineup of the 2005 show is yet to be determined, but with tension high in the nation's capital, there's a lot of material to work with.

AG (SINGING): Pat Robertson, he wants a ban. We'd rather have him as our best man.

For Intern Edition, I'm Christa Marshall.

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