The Pink Couch Lady
The pink couch lady is a mixed metaphor. In his first Congressional campaign,
in California in 1946, young Richard Nixon referred to the Democratic incumbent,
the actress Helen Gahagan Douglas, as the "pink lady," implying that she
was soft on Communism. To make the point clearer, the leaflets attacking
Ms. Douglas were printed on pink paper.
Ms. Blackburne chaired the New York
City Housing Authority early in the Dinkins administration. She was accused
of spending public funds extravagantly for her "inauguration," office furnishings,
including a $3,100
pink leather couch, and extensive international travel with an entourage. Ms. Blackburne resigned in 1972 under some
pressure, and the pink couch ended up in a homeless shelter, in part because
no other public official wanted to sit on it.