Kaine proves able in spelling bee showdown

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a man who knows plenty about tough contests but had never before taken part in a spelling bee. 

A slew of nine journalists and an equal number of lawmakers faced off in the National Press Club’s Centennial Spelling Bee at the organization’s headquarters in downtown D.C. in a match to test their word mastery and raise money for the club’s non-profit Journalism Institute. 

As Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) took to the dais for his first word, he elicited fist bumps from his colleagues in Congress.
The first word, as selected by a team from the classic dictionary company Merriam-Webster: “potato.”

Unlike former Vice President Quayle’s infamous “potato with an ‘e’ ” flub, spelling the starchy food item would not be a problem for the congressman, who rattled it off in record time.
The Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman, who sat on the opposing team of journalists, cracked, “That’s completely unfair — that’s the only one I studied.” 

{mosads}Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) would prove to serve as Congress’s version of a class clown during the heated competition. Approaching the center of the room for his first word, he quipped, “Don’t hurt me — I’m a Democrat.”
After pronouncer Peter Sokolowski offered him the word “discretionary,” Connolly shot back, “They’re not very big on that on Capitol Hill.”

CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett was the first to err. As he started spelling “vaccinate” with a single “c,” a chorus of “oooh’s” from the packed audience could be heard. He jested, “Could CBS turn off the cameras?” and unsuccessfully noted to the judges, “Sometimes ‘I’ sounds like ‘c.’ ” 

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) ran into trouble with the word “shenanigans,” as he began its spelling with the letter “c.” Connolly yelled out, “It would help better if your name was ‘O’Flake!’ ”
The senator later joked to the crowd, “For the record, for that last one, I’m Mormon. I’m not supposed to know anything about shenanigans.” 

Fortunately for Flake, each speller was given “one free pass” after misspelling one word, and he was allowed to stay in the game. 

Politics, of course, colored the competition. When Connolly was asked to spell “iconoclast” (defined by Merriam-Webster as “a person who opposes beliefs and practices that are widely accepted”) he paused for a moment and said, “Hmm, iconoclast, as in Ted Cruz,” in reference to the Republican senator from Texas. 

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) was first to go down in the third round from the lawmakers’ side after inadvertently misspelling “inadvertent.” His Democratic colleague, Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.) shook his head and joshed, “Coons, we’re so disappointed in you.” 

Rep. Anna Eshoo — the lone female lawmaker in the bee — was tripped up by the word “octogenarian.” The California Democrat, who is 70, said, “I don’t know anything about being an octogenarian.” 

After six rounds, other congressional spellers were out, including Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), and the team was whittled down to Cartwright and Kaine. 

Four journalists were left standing on the press team — but not for long.
After a series of increasingly tougher words, Kaine and Politico editor Rebecca Sinderbrand were left going word-for-word. 

A spelling snafu by Sinderbrand had Kaine taking off his suit jacket in dramatic fashion to receive the word that could make him the winner.
In the end, the former Democratic National Committee chairman and Virginia governor proved his spelling skills were nonpareil in the nation’s capital — and “nonpareil” just happened to be his final word (meaning “having no equal or rival for excellence or desirability”). 

There was at least one consolation for the Beltway journos though: their team spelled more words correctly in total than the lawmakers. 

Proudly posing with his prize — a beefy Merriam-Webster dictionary — Kaine told ITK after his big win: “It’s good to have a fallback in my line of work. You got to have another talent if you’re in politics. I could lose or something.” 

The 55-year-old freshman senator laughed that he was a bit afraid of how he’d be perceived in the media after claiming victory against a pack of reporters, saying, “I think it would be much better to finish in second at something like this than it is to win. It’s like being pork king or something like this at a county fair. You would rather be pork king runner-up than pork king.” 

So where does Kaine go from here following his spelling bee win?
“You retire from spelling and count on endorsement contracts to pretty much last you for the rest of your career.”

Photos: (top left) Reps. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) shake hands with the judges. Credit: Andrew Dubbs/Hollywood on the Potomac. (right) Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) poses with his dictionary. (bottom left) FinePoint PR’s Meredith Fineman, daughter of Howard Fineman, shows off her tongue-in-cheek shirt.