Backstory: Eggnog, Mr. President?

During the holiday season, George W. Bush is not only commander in chief, he is entertainer in chief. Before escaping to Camp David for Christmas later this week, President and Mrs. Bush will have welcomed 9,500 guests to the White House for 26 parties spread over 21 days.

The events vary in tone and size. For intimacy and prestige, it's hard to top the small dinner for Bush family members and close friends. Legislators are feted at a black tie congressional ball. Gatherings are held for White House staff, Secret Service, and generous political supporters.

As if to test their holiday spirit, the president and Mrs. Bush also host a party for the press. It's not just a gathering for the White House regulars who have presidential nicknames. No, for last Thursday's holiday reception, the White House sent invitations engraved in candy-cane red to 625 journalists. Roughly half of those invited labor in the land of print. The rest work in the better-coiffed (and better paid) world of broadcast news. At least in terms of party invitations, newspapers remain uneclipsed by broadcast networks, a refreshing change from real life in the nation's capital.

When several hundred print journalists get invited to the same White House Christmas party, delusions of social grandeur fade quickly for those of us who are included. Of course, the size of the invitation list makes not getting an invitation harder to explain. The list includes everyone from those who cover the president to Washington bureau chiefs (my ticket in) to, this year, a radio talk-show host from Fargo, N.D.

Each member of the press can bring along one guest. Most reporters come with a child or spouse, although those with better developed political skills invite a boss. For the Bushes, the bottom line is that 1,250 journalists and friends end up traipsing through the Executive Mansion.

On a late afternoon, one of my college-aged sons and I trudge the two blocks from the Monitor's Washington bureau across an ice-slicked Lafayette Park to the East Entrance of the White House. Once inside the wreath-festooned doors, our first stop is the bright red presidential movie theater, where tuxedoed staffers have set up a coat check operation.

The centerpiece of the reception is a brief chat with the president in a receiving line during which a White House photographer takes a commemorative picture. The whole process is choreographed by a host of bright, fit, unfailingly polite military aides. No danger they will be confused with journalists. Step 1 for them is to assign guests to one of three color-coded groups - like a nursery school play group. My son and I arrived early so we are assigned to the red team, which meets with the president first.

While waiting for Bush to emerge from the residence, we circle the nearly empty second floor, decorated to illustrate the theme "All things bright and beautiful." The phrase is apt for how the White House looks this time of year. A 20-piece Marine orchestra, in dress uniforms, plays carols in the front hall. Some 18 Christmas trees, 580 feet of garland with silver and gold crystals, pink and orange French tulips in vermeil containers, and countless boxwood wreaths with gold ribbons all are tastefully deployed.

In the East Room and State Dining Room on either end of the main floor, large buffets are set up where the new White House chef, Cris Comerford, shows off her farfalle pasta with Maine lobster, Maryland crab cakes with lime-ancho remoulade, and some of the 10,000 chocolate truffles her team whipped up this party season.

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