Imus and Chris Wallace Mostly Got Along Today. That's It.

Imus did what few people, Chris Wallace included, expected this morning and praised “Mr. Sunday’s Soups,” by Lorraine Wallace, saying that the cookbook is “just terrific!”
 
Wallace was thrilled at the I-Man’s accolade, and was surprised to see the book’s cover image displayed on television. “Oh my gosh, you’ve got it up!” he cried, perhaps getting a bit more personal that Imus would have liked. But Wallace was unapologetic. “I figured you were used to hearing that at home.”
 
Both men expressed hope that all would go smoothly when Wallace and his wife join Imus in studio in January, but the possibility exists, according to Wallace, that Imus will “train your Uzi, and start spraying the entire studio.”  In Imus’s defense, there’s a chance of that happening pretty much any morning.
 
Moving on to equally vicious dealings, the Senate yesterday passed President Obama’s compromised tax deal by a vote of 81-19, and Wallace, the host of Fox News Sunday, predicted the House would “make a mess” of the bill, despite its overwhelming support in the Senate.
 
“They may pass a different version, that would then go back to the Senate,” Wallace said, noting that Republicans have all the leverage right now. “If this whole thing goes down, they can simply pass it and get all the credit for it in the new year when they have control of the House.”
 
No better than the tax cut extension bill is the trillion-dollar governmental spending bill that is flush with pork. “If I were Obama,” Wallace said, noting his use of proper grammar, “I would stand before cameras today and say, ‘If you pass this bill with all these earmarks in it, I’ll veto it.’”
 
Too busy double-checking with Charles that Wallace had properly employed “were” instead of “was,” Imus did not hear his guest’s astute point, and asked Wallace about President Clinton’s takeover in the White House press briefing room last Friday.
 
“I just loved it,” Wallace said dreamily of the incident, which happened after a meeting between Clinton and Obama. Though the two arrived at the briefing together, the current President left midway through because he claimed his wife was waiting for him. But Bubba stayed put for another 20 minutes, during which time he spoke with “a passion and a kind of common sense appeal that Barack Obama is unable to show,” Wallace said.
 
Later that evening, Wallace chatted with some “senior White House officials,” who said they were “delighted” by Clinton’s performance, and were happy to take “whatever hit” in the media to have “the most popular Democratic politician in America” endorsing their policies.
 
As for whether Obama has, as a writer at The Daily Beast pretentiously put it, “lost his narrative,” Wallace chuckled at the phrase but replied, “I think he’s regaining his narrative.”
 
“I know a lot of liberal Democrats were upset, but when you consider the beating he took in the midterms, plus the polls, which certainly indicate that Independents have soured on him, he’s got to move to the center,” Wallace said. “And getting in a fight with Nancy Pelosi and Jerry Nadler is not the worst thing to happen to him.”
 
Wallace had no opinion on the Senate not passing the 9/11 first responder health care bill, because there are only so many issues one man can follow. He is, however, all over tonight’s last episode of Larry King Live.
 
“I’m a sucker for those,” he admitted, then perked up as he said, “I’m looking forward to your last morning! Is that coming any time soon?”
 
Not before yours, Wallace.
 
-Julie Kanfer