Hot Topics but No Heated Discussions As Amy Holmes Sits In on 'The View'

Washington Post - In her usual TV talking-head gigs, Amy Holmes debates matters such as whether Alcee Hastings should head the House Intelligence Committee and the consequences of Don Rumsfeld's resignation. Yesterday's topics? Where she likes to Christmas-shop, her recent breakup with a boyfriend, and how hot that Daniel Craig is!

So it went as the former Bill Frist speechwriter sat in as guest co-host with the ladies of ABC's "The View." Producer Barbara Walters has said she's looking for a minority woman to replace Star Jones Reynolds-- does yesterday's show mean Holmes is a contender? "I just looked at it as a great opportunity," the D.C. resident told us.

Holmes, who has mostly been doing TV work since leaving Frist's office this summer, said she had some apprehension that her GOP ties would set her up for a battle with feisty liberal hosts Rosie O'Donnell and Joy Behar. "I was told before going on to think of it as a dinner party: You want to get your points in, but you don't want to be rude." But there were few cracks, even as Holmes showed photos of herself meeting Bush, Cheney and Clinton. (Was that our former colleague and her long-ago squeeze Lloyd Grove in the background?)

Elisabeth Hasselback asked if she had ever written a speech she didn't agree with. Holmes replied, "I worked with other people on the staff to develop [Frist's] policy positions. . . . It was a privilege."

O'Donnell gazed at Holmes with an I-hear-ya nod, then added : "You're very pretty."

"They were professionals about putting me and other guests on the show at ease," Holmes said later. "I didn't have the feeling I was dealing with divas. It can be more of a pit fight to be with Paul Begala on a cable show."