White House

It is, in short, a fine time to be a Democrat. The American two-party system has swung back and forth like a pendulum over the last century, with neither the Democrats nor the Republicans putting more than two consecutive candidates in the White House since 1928. Sometimes, the two parties run neck-and-neck; Tuesday, it was little short of a Democratic free-for-all, as Sen. Barack Obama won the presidency in a landslide, and his fellow party members decisively took the House and Senate.

Sandwiches have been an American favorite since the days of the American Revolution. George Washington ate sandwiches and candy for lunch every day. Calvin Coolidge sneaked away from his inaugural parade to enjoy sandwiches and coffee at the White House with his wife. After taking the oath of office following Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death, President Truman returned home for a turkey sandwich and a glass of milk. The current White House chefs can predict President Bush’s favorite lunch — bacon-lettuce-tomato on white bread with Lays potato chips and a diet Coke.

Glendale resident Helen Yuen has traveled to 52 countries, learned several languages and met Pope John Paul II twice. It was those visits — with the former pope — During the pope’s visit to New York , Yuen, a devout Catholic, wrote and presented a speech in Chinese welcoming him. She met him again in St. Louis. But meeting the pontiff was just one of the momentous occasions of her life. When she went to New York in the early 1960s, Yuen got involved in politics.

When Rostom Sarkissian landed in Glendale last week after an 11-day stint in Las Vegas, he was sick and exhausted. On Wednesday, he lost his job. The 18-hour days he spent in Sin City allowed for little beauty rest. But unlike the scores of gamblers and rabble-rousers who flock to the city looking for the elusive, easy buck, Sarkissian saw little casino time. Instead he spent most of his waking hours camped out in an office on the telephone, trying to persuade hundreds of strangers on the other end of the line to vote for presidential hopeful John Edwards.

President George W. Bush president@whitehouse.gov www.whitehouse.gov/president The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC 20500 (202) 456-1111 Vice President Richard C. Cheney vice_president@whitehouse.gov www.whitehouse.gov/ vicepresident The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC 20500 (202) 456-1111 Congressman Adam B. Schiff (D-29th District) www.house.

The Glendale Latino Assn. will have a mixer from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at California Finance Group, 1748 Victory Blvd., Glendale. The cost is $10 and will include appetizers, prizes, refreshments and music. Contributions will benefit the annual scholarship fund. For more information, call (818) 550-8222, ext. 14. ? John Dean, former White House consul under Richard Nixon, will be discussing his new book, ?Broken Government? at 7 p.m. at the Glendale Central Library, 222 E. Harvard St., Glendale.

The following are odds and ends from the area sports scene. GLENDALE GOES EAST TO COOPERSTOWN A tradition continues starting this weekend, when Coach Dave DePinto takes a talented group of Little Leaguers to New York and baseball's most hallowed grounds. The Glendale Knights, a 12-and-under baseball team that features players from Glendale and La Crescenta, will compete in the Cooperstown Dream Park Tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y., from Sunday through Thursday.

Facing almost certain defeat in the Senate, the White House on Wednesday withdrew the ambassadorial nomination of Sam Fox, who contributed $50,000 to the Swift Boat veterans' controversial campaign against Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., in the 2004 presidential race. President Bush had nominated Fox, a St. Louis businessman, to be the U.S. envoy to Belgium. The withdrawal, a rare setback for the sort of nomination that normally would sail through the Senate, reflected both the muscle Democrats are exercising in Congress and the problems likely to surround any Bush appointee linked to the attacks on Kerry.

GLENDALE — It all started with a book that vilified John W. Dean as the orchestrator of the Watergate break-in. It couldn't have been further from the truth, said Dean, the former legal counsel to the Nixon White House who spoke and signed books at the Glendale Central Library on Wednesday. The truth, Dean said, was a series of what he called a series of "uncivilized" actions that inspired his latest book, "Conservatives without Conscience," which he spoke about as part of the library's Authors, Artists and Friends series.

Election results are good for women Good news women, we have a higher position in government than ever before. Speaker of the House sounds good to me. But women have been speakers of most houses in this country for years. I don't understand why more women don't get out and vote. That is the only way to have a voice in where our future will lead. Sorry fellas, but the men we've had of late have not done such a hot job. In 1920, when women finally got the constitutional right to vote, women really went through hell to get the right to vote.