Pictured: Jason Meath, Pam Bailey, Patrick Dorton
By "The Mole"
Jack Valenti caught it. Mike Deaver mastered it. At some point, young Jason Killian Meath, too, got the bug. Struck by a photograph of conservative idol and President Ronald Reagan with a bejeweled Michael Jackson at the White House, political media consultant Meath realized that Hollywood and Washington make a bizarre and weirdly fitting couple. It was 1984, after all. These days, Meath, a partner at Rational 360, has come out with a book with a very rational (if copyright-protected) title, "Hollywood on the Potomac" (Arcadia Publishing 2009).
Gee, where have we heard that name before?
The book is straightforward, sepia-tone photos of Hollywood and Washington stars. Jack Kennedy and brother-in-law Peter Lawford don the cover, appropriately pictured sailing, seriously, off the coast of Maine. Republican strategists and Reagan protégés dotted the launch party of 20- and 30-somethings at Georgetown's George -- Grocery Manufacturer's Association honcho Pam Bailey, a Reagan White House wunderkind herself, looked even better than she did as head of the cosmetics powerhouse Personal Care Products Association. (Hollywood -- call her agent!) Former Clinton adviser and Rational 360 partner Patrick Dorton (son-in-law of Democratic lobbyist Fred Graefe), as well as partner Stuart Stevens, "the only Republican media consultant to have worked extensively on network television," his web bio says -- dutifully mingled to support their partner Meath in the cavernous club.
This book, a photo album heavy on Ronnie and Nancy, is a sweet if mild walk down memory lane. For the juice, there's only http://hollywoodonthepotomac.blogspot.com
Hollywood on the Potomac also appears in Washington Life Magazine by Janet Donovan
