Yesterday, Daily Caller editor and TV talking head Tucker Carlson kicked off our national hotel investment conference in DC, BLIS, by saying swift changes in demographics, free markets, religion, and ideology are having a profound effect on politics—citing Mitt Romney's recent support of a minimum wage hike as a prime example of how things have shifted. As for 2016, Tucker says that while Hillary Clinton is the presumed Democratic frontrunner, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is actually his pick to take the nomination, since her politics are more with the party than Hillary's.
450 hospitality pros have descended on the brand-new Marriott Marquis hotel in Washington, at 1,175 rooms the largest hotel in the city. We also heard Thayer Lodging chairman Fred Malek (right), snapped with Chicago hometown hero Gene Leone of Pircher, Nichols & Meeks. Fred says his firm won't buy anything unless it's convinced it can double operating income, and also says being conservative on leverage is the way to go. The former Marriott president (1981-1988) operates by a piece of advice JW Marriott Sr. gave him: "Success is never final... the best days are ahead."
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