Memo to Chris Wallace: Don't Wake Up Happy

Chris Wallace was in a great mood this morning because his guest lineup for Fox News Sunday this week was all set: a debate between the two candidates for U.S. Senate in Florida, Marco Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist, who he said, “Just plain don’t like each other.”

Imus wondered who would moderate the debate. “They’re not going to bring in Bret Baier or somebody?” he asked.

And with that, Wallace’s fleeting sense of euphoria disappeared.

The Democrats, however, were still riding more or less high after their passage of President Obama’s health care bill last Sunday. On a strictly political basis, Wallace believes the Democrats are much better off for having succeeded.

“People like winners,” he said. “Regardless of what you think of the merits of the bill, when you look at Obama this week, and when you look at Nancy Peolosi this week, you have a new kind of respect for them because they pulled it off.”

As for the people demanding to “take their country back” come November, Wallace thinks they’ll feel bad about the bill, continue to oppose it, and make as much noise as possible later this year.

On the flip side, “I think it will really energize a lot of the Democratic base, even Liberals who feel it doesn’t go far enough,” said Wallace. “It makes them feel better about being a Democrat, and better about voting for Democrats in November.”

But all Imus heard was that Wallace said “feel bad,” and not the more grammatically correct “feel badly.” After checking with Charles through the intercom, Imus could hardly wait to correct/belittle Wallace once he finished his diatribe. “I wanted to make him feel bad,” he said. A pause. “Or badly.”

Wallace insisted his grammar had been correct, but nobody cares, and Imus moved on, asking his irritated guest’s opinion on ABC’s decision to name Christiane Amanpour as host of their Sunday show “This Week.”

“It’s a curious choice,” said Wallace, who thinks Amanpour’s decision to focus more on international events will be an experiment in a timeslot normally reserved for inside-the-Beltway fare. “This would be a bit of a learning curve for Christiane, but she’s a smart lady. It isn’t brain surgery.”

Imus, for one, likes the way Wallace does his show. “Of course, you steal everything from Russet, God bless him,” he said, then tried to remember who would be on Fox News Sunday this week so he could promote it. "It's Ricky Martin and who?” Imus asked.

Wallace will interview Gov.Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio, who did not, despite Imus’s contention, record an album with Gloria Estefan back in the 1980s.

-Julie Kanfer