Photograph by CBS News

Gavin Newsom, lieutenant governor of California, is pitching a new book. Photo by CBS News.

“Government should be as smart as Google,” Gavin Newsom said Friday at a party to celebrate the release of his book “Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government.”

The fete brought the Democratic lieutenant governor of California and former mayor of San Francisco to Washington to dispense some advice.

Newsom urged all freshmen members of Congress to get Twitter accounts — and tweet more than just their schedules and press releases.

“It has to be a two-way conversation,” he said. “Otherwise, don’t even engage.”

In the book, Newsom argues that Washington should embrace the digital revolution to better engage a disgruntled citizenry. For research, he talked to tech pioneers such as Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, and Evan Williams, co-founder and former chief executive officer of Twitter.

Newsom said his own staff was “petrified” when he opened his Twitter account (@GavinNewsom). Today the one-time host of a show on Current TV has more than 1,253,000 followers.

Politicians “have to meet people where they are,” he said.

Newsom, 45, has “a particular bias” toward running for governor — and “every expectation” that California Gov. Jerry Brown will seek reelection. For now, he’s determined to push through an economic development plan for his state.

Later this month, he’ll walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards with his wife, Jennifer Siebel, director of the 2011 documentary “Miss Representation,” about the lack of positive images of women in the media.

Tammy Haddad hosted the book party at the Jefferson Hotel. Guests included former Rep. Ellen Tauscher, Democrat of California and “Meet the Press” executive producer Betsy Fischer Martin. Newsom was scheduled to appear on the show on Sunday.

Stephanie Green writes for Bloomberg Muse — @stephlgreen @bloombergmuse

Original post is @GavinNewsom: Jerry Brown Watch by Political Capital.

One question former Sen. Chuck Hagel hasn’t been asked during his confirmation hearings for defense secretary: Does he like chocolate?

Chris Edwards would like to know. His family’s Edward Marc Chocolatier shop in the Pentagon is the Department of Defense’s unofficial purveyor of sweets, and is filled by soldiers and military officials during lunch hour. This week, the most popular item at the Pentagon store is a heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day.

Politicos are natural chocoholics, he says.

“It’s all about the euphoria,” said Edwards, who joined the business after working in government. “Chocolate enhances chemicals in the brain.”

The former special assistant to President George W. Bush and deputy chief of staff to Sarah Palin during her 2008 campaign has clients on both sides of the aisle.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi gave out Edward Marc chocolate medallions at the Inaugural Luncheon last month. Under former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, chocolates imprinted with her signature and the department seal were a favor at official dinners.

Palin’s affection for the peanut butter meltaway is memorialized in her book “Going Rogue.” Republican strategist Karl Rove says the salted caramels are his favorite. They retail for $12 for a box of eight.

The company is based in Pittsburgh, where Edwards’s great-grandparents opened a soda fountain in 1914. Today it is known as the Milk Shake Factory. Edwards plans to open one in the nation’s capital next year.

Stephanie Green (@stephlgreen) writes for Bloomberg Muse (@BloombergMuse), the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News.

Original post is Political Chocoholics Visit Pentagon Shop for Valentine’s Day by Political Capital.

Photograph by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray in this file photo.

Washington Mayor Vincent Gray, who is under investigation for allegations of misusing campaign funds, was upbeat and optimistic about his tenure over lunch at the Georgetown Ritz Carlton.

Gray was the guest and interview subject of Washingtonian editor-at-large Carol Joynt as part of her “Q & A Cafe” program, which is aired on local television.

Gray cited progress in the field of education, saying the District of Columbia has “the most robust early-education program in America.” He also said that unemployment has declined to almost 8 percent from more than 11 percent when he took office.

When Joynt questioned him about how his administration is seen by investors in the wake of his scandals, he saidm“I haven’t had one question from Wall Street. They look at the books.” (Two Gray aides pled guilty in federal court to misusing campaign funds and lying under oath. He is still under investigation.)

Gray acknowledged “the hugely changed population” in the District, but dodged questions about the possibility of a white mayor. City Councilman Jack Evans is among the likely white candidates to run against Gray next year. If Evans should prevail, he would be the District’s first white mayor.

At the lunch, Gray also waded into lighter subject matters, such as his fondness for bulk-shopping at Costco (he buys his cat food there) and his preference for San Francisco to win the Super Bowl.

Original post is Washington’s Mayor Sees Bright Side by Political Capital.

Photograph by Cliff Owen/AP Photo

A jazz trio performs during the reception at the Richard Nixon Centennial Birthday Celebration in Washington on Jan. 9, 2013.

Richard Nixon’s friends turned out for his 100th.

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and former Sens. Fred Thompson and Elizabeth Dole were among the politicos who turned out last night to celebrate Nixon’s centennial.

Hosted by the Richard Nixon Foundation, the cocktail reception and dinner at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington brought out old Nixon hands like Henry Kissinger and Pat Buchanan, who was the only one who uttered the “W” word all night: “Watergate.”

Buchanan, Nixon’s onetime speechwriter and a candidate for president in his own time, said he and other associates have been fielding calls from a Nixon-hostile press about Watergate around this centennial because they have nothing else to talk about.

Thayer Capital chairman Fred Malek, who is helping the foundation and Nixon Library raise its goal of $25 million for its centennial legacy campaign, said that the 37th president would take a very Nixonian approach to the fiscal cliff negotiations.

“He would be knocking heads together. He wouldn’t pussyfoot around.”

The evening ended with guests eating a birthday cake modeled after the house Nixon was born in.

Nixon’s brother Edward, and daughters, Tricia Nixon Cox, and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, were also present.

Stephanie Green writes for Bloomberg Muse.

Original post is Nixon Wouldn’t `Pussyfoot’ at Cliff by Political Capital.