The RHODC And Their Political Connections

Post from Politico.com. 

By: KIKI RYAN

The five cast members of “The Real Housewives of D.C.” don’t possess strong connections to the political world that dominates Washington: One sells real estate; another owns a modeling agency; each does charity work. Still, on the debut episode of the Bravo reality show, airing Thursday night at 9 p.m., many of the housewives go to extremes to prove their ties — no matter how strong or weak — to political power. Herewith, details on how some prominent pols are connected, even tenuously, to the newest batch of housewives.

President Barack Obama

Alleged White House crasher Michaele Salahi informs her hairstylist that she knows just how much Obama “loves people” because they worked together on a Rock the Vote event. “It was in the Oval Room,” says Salahi, before being told that, no, it was the Oval Office.

As Housewife Stacie Turner explains that she met Obama "years ago,” the camera zooms in on a photo taken of her and her husband with the president. "I just knew that that man was going places," she says.

Cat Ommanney seems to have the strongest White House connection — her then-husband Charles (since the show filmed, the two have filed for divorce) is a White House photographer who traveled with Obama for two years on the campaign trail. “Charles’s photographs contributed to [Obama] being elected,” she claims.

Vice President Joe Biden

During a dinner party, Ommanney brandishes her iPhone to show her co-stars a picture her husband had sent her of Vice President Biden wearing sunglasses in the back of a limo. “His hard day in the office is being supercool, sitting in the backseat with the vice president,” she says of Charles.

Photo:Bravo

President George W. Bush

Ommanney claims that President George W. Bush RSVP’d to her wedding, but then-Sen. Obama didn’t. “George was almost like a father figure to Charles in lots of ways,” she says. “All my experiences with [Bush] have been on a personal level.”

President Lyndon Johnson

Mary Amons, a native Washingtonian, was raised by a family that was politically well-connected. Her grandfather, CBS personality Arthur Godfrey, was "very good friends with President Johnson."

The Kennedy family

Amons' father was a lobbyist who became “personal friends” with Ethel Kennedy. "We'd come over, we'd hang out, pool parties," she said about growing up with the family. "I have fond memories of hanging out at that Kennedy House."

Dick Cheney and Colin Powell

Minutes into the first episode, Amons says, “We live in McLean, Va. We are surrounded by the CIA, Dick Cheney — oh, Colin Powell lives across the street.”