Republican Governors Planning Lavish Inaugural Parties

We're coming up on inauguration season, and 27 new governors are planning their parties. In today's game you're challenged to match the celebration with the politician. Here's a hint, that won't surprise anyone who's in the know: According to today's New York Times, Republican governors are spending more money on parties then their Democratic counterparts. So much for being "fiscally conservative" (with an important exception, inexplicably omitted by the Times. See it at the bottom) 

Play the game after the jump.


A) This incoming governor has been flying around the state this week on a seven-city “appreciation” tour. For the main event on Tuesday, he will lead a parade featuring 26 marching bands, followed by a black-tie dinner for 2,100 people, with oysters Rockefeller and fried calamari served in mini-martini glasses. His multiday, multicity inauguration has become known wryly in political circles here as the “coronation.” On Tuesday, for his official inauguration, he will hold a two-hour prayer breakfast with no fewer than 10 speakers; an afternoon concert featuring the country singers Lee Greenwood and Rockie Lynne; and a parade befitting Disney World’s home state.

Democrat or Republican?

B) This incoming governor will host back-to-back $1,000-a-head V.I.P. receptions, one of them at the Wynn Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.

Democrat or Republican?

C) Another governor-elect has organized two “preinaugural balls,” not to be confused with the inaugural ball itself, which will be held later at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Democrat or Republican?

D) This one is having a small preinauguration dinner for close friends at the governor’s mansion, and has parceled out so few invitations to his no-frills swearing-in ceremony that even some top aides have not made the cut. "No balls, no concerts, no parades — no fanfare,” he said. “I think it would be discordant to the feeling of the body politic.”

Democrat or Republican?

E)Another has issued guidelines: no paid entertainment (a school choir will sing) and a rent-free evening reception (in a state-owned building). To highlight his thrift, he plans to stop at a cookout after he takes the oath to snack on hot dogs and chips.

Democrat or Republican?

F) This newbie promises no lavish ball, just a short reception with a cash bar, and lobster donated by a campaign contributor.

Democrat or Republican?

G) This one will celebrate his re-election with four events in two days in four different places across the state. However, he says he won't use public funds, as some other governors are doing. He will use private donations to pay for the two-day bash -- just don't ask who's giving and how much. [Newspeak alert] "We are following the letter of the law and are not required to disclose that information," a spokesman said, said. "I think the governor is being incredibly transparent.

A, B, C: Republican 

D, E: Democrats

F, G: Republicans

See the New York Times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/31/us/politics/31inaugurations.html

Note: Descriptions of the parties came from the Times article, and other printed reports (the last two aren't mentioned in the Times article.

Quibble: F is Maine's new Republican governor Paul LePage. I think it was dishonest for the Times to exclude him from their story. It seems to me he was left out because he's a frugal, rather than spendthrift, Republican.

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