I thought the lesson of this free-food-a-thon would be that there is indeed such a thing as a free lunch if you're an intern in D.C. and that if you were into saving money, you could eat a free lunch every day. The real lesson is that regardless of your budget, you should eat a free lunch every day.

There were some bumps in the road to learning this lesson. My first attempt, for example, was a total bust. As I mentioned in one of my earlier reports, I headed to the Hotel George expecting to hear Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) give a talk in honor of Gay & Lesbian Pride Month. Shows how carefully I read when the only thing on my mind is scoring lunch on the house. The letterhead Hotel George uses for its daily schedule of events still announces that the hotel is celebrating Gay and Lesbian Pride Month every day of the month (which ended 19 days ago, by the way). I also got the vibe that Hotel George was an especially GLBTQ-friendly hotel. I’m guilty of stereotyping, I know, but the walls are hot magenta. Plus, the hotel describes itself as “a fresh, hip, and stylish … alternative to the traditional hotel chain” and a number of major gay and lesbian travel services prominently feature the George on their sites.

So you can understand why I thought Domenici was simply participating in the Pride program when I saw a reception in his name listed on the schedule from noon to 2 p.m. Actually, you can’t. Domenici has a 0% rating by the ACLU for his anti-civil rights voting record which includes support for a constitutional ban of same-sex marriage and opposition to prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation and to expanding the definition of hate crimes to include violence motivated by sexual orientation.

I took a step into the conference room where his reception was scheduled and noticed there was only room for about 15 at the lunch table. I asked the two men in pinstripes who had arrived what the reception was for.

“Oh, just another Domenici fundraiser,” was the answer.

I realized that even if I were a white male, fitting in here with a small group of big Republican donors would be a lot tougher than blending in with the Zeta Phi Beta crowd earlier in the day and reluctantly headed for the exit.

On the way out, I glanced at the list of other events happening at the George. There must be something about this place that makes it comforting for WINOs – Waverers In Name Only. Just a few hours earlier, Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) hosted a fundraiser in the same room Domenici was using. Reception spaces aren’t all these two senators share. Both, according to the Post’s Harold Meyerson, are “spineless specimens” who express deep reservations about “the folly of our course in Iraq,” but then vote against every measure intended to change that course. I know Voinovich best for saying the Bush administration “f*cked up the war.” Now I know Domenici best for f*cking up my plans for a free lunch.