White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Christie Names Interim NJ Senator

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Seems like a Jersey Boy picked a Chiesa boy when it comes to Frank Lautenberg’s seat. Chiesa, the current New Jersey attorney general, was announced by Gov. Chris Christie to act as interim senator according to the New York Times.

This comes days after Newark Governor Cory Booker announced his own attempt to explore a Senate run before October 16th’s special election. This means all of the 2014 pundits desperate for a red-meat race will get their meal early this year in a race that’ll go through a Dem and GOP primary before the big show.

Best of all, this brings up the chance to do it all over again in 2014. Suddenly all the Hardballs, Newshours and New Days have a vested interest in the Garden State.

When Chris Christie Comes Calling at Politico Cocktails

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Last night may’ve been the Night of Many Book Parties in Washington. While entertaining a “audience of 500+” at Politico Cocktails, Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski got a surprise visit from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

“Is that Chris,” Scarborough asked in the middle of a self-proclaimed great story. “You son of a…” but Mika cut him off and let the good governor speak. Per Playbook: “Mika puts Christie on speakerphone to discuss his surgery, and their blunt conversations for her new book about body image, “Obsessed: America’s Food Addition – And My Own.” The audience of 500+ repeatedly applauds the chatty, jovial Christie, including when he tells why he kept the surgery a secret.”

Allen claims the event drew a larger crowd than even March’s Cocktails with Bill Gates. Which makes sense when you think about Washington having an on/off affair with people’s two favorite addictions on Capitol Hill: Starbucks and Microsoft.

Does Chris Christie's Surgery Look Like A Magic 8-Ball?

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Gov. Chris Christie and Secretary Shaun Donovan

Politico asks the question no one ever wondered: “What Chris Christie’s surgery means for 2016(?)”

It’s a story that hasn’t seemed to change anything about the New Jersey governor’s political legacy, despite constantly being brought up. Literally, Politico ran the fact that most New Jersey voters don’t care about his weight back in March. It goes to other sites too: HuffPost has been tracking “Chris Christie Weight” since 2011. Throw “Christie Weight” into Google, immediately get 22 million results from the last few hours.

So just why is the good governor’s health so concerning to us? Because it’s yet another dark horse for the 2016 presidential race. Going into the hows and whys of Christie deciding to privately have a surgery when his weight has been such a–sorry–massive issue to even be mocked on Letterman.

Maybe a surgery can just be a surgery and not turn itself into a monsoon in 2016.

POLITICO Scores With Bradley Cooper at Allbritton White House Correspondents Sunday Brunch

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George Clooney and Barbara Walters

Big News on the White House Correspondents Weekend Soiree front. In a release from Politico this morning, eyes widen and hearts raced with the name Bradley Cooper in the final paragraph. The Georgetown graduate who once worked at Cafe Milano is expected as a guest, so is top White House aide Alyssa Mastromonaco at the Sunday Allbritton brunch. Lucky Lady.

Here is Politico’s rundown.

POLITICO ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR 2013 WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER

Below are details on POLITICO’s coverage and involvement with this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner – beginning Friday with the release of POLITICO’s must-read WHCD guide and culminating on Sunday with the annual Allbritton-POLITICO Garden Brunch.

FRIDAY, APRIL 26:

WHCD GUIDE – Celebrity Politics: The Lines Blur Between Hollywood and D.C.
This annual magazine edition of POLITICO offers influential dinner attendees and readers alike a sneak peek inside Washington’s biggest weekend. The ultimate guide includes an exclusive interview with comedian and dinner headliner Conan O’Brien, an introduction to the WHCA board, profiles of scholarship and award winners, a look behind the scenes of the Washington Hilton and more. Nearly 40,000 copies of the magazine will be distributed around Washington including at more than 100 Starbucks locations. Stories from the magazine will also be available here.

WATCH LIVE: WHCA SCHOLARSHIP LUNCH – The White House Correspondents’ Association will honor its scholarship recipients at a luncheon on Friday at 1 p.m. POLITICO will livestream the luncheon’s panel discussion with the winners. Watch the event at POLITICO.com/live.

‘THE SCRUM’ PODCAST – POLITICO reporters will preview the weekend’s festivities, examine key moments from past dinners and analyze why Hollywood makes the pilgrimage to the nation’s capital each year in ‘The Scrum,’ POLITICO’s weekly podcast. Subscribe to each weekly installment of ‘The Scrum’ on iTunes.

SATURDAY, APRIL 27:

COMPLETE COVERAGE – As the one-stop destination for coverage of the WHCD weekend, POLITICO will have reporters at each of the biggest events, offering intel on everything from pre-dinner parties to late-night celebrations. Coverage will include live blogging, celebrity interviews, on-the-ground videos and must-see photo galleries. Get the latest in one click: POLITICO WHCD Complete Coverage.

WATCH LIVE: DINNER PROGRAM – Tune in to POLITICO to watch this year’s dinner, including red carpet arrivals, the president’s remarks and entertainment headlined by Conan O’Brien. Watch here: POLITICO.com/live.

POLITICO DINNER GUESTS – POLITICO is honored to host more than two dozen leading names in business at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Some guest highlights include: Marty Durbin, incoming CEO, ANGA; Steve Case, co-founder, AOL; Jim Cicconi, Executive Vice President, AT&T; Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America; Don Baer, CEO, Burson-Marsteller; Tita Freeman, Executive Vice President, Business Roundtable; Clyde Tuggle, Senior Vice President, and Matt Echols, Vice President, Coca-Cola; Maria Pica Karp, Vice President and General Manger, Chevron; Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO, GE Transportation; Gary Cohn, COO, and John Rogers, Executive Vice President, Goldman Sachs; David Drummond, Senior Vice President, Google; James Murren, CEO, MGM Resorts; Mark Penn, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft; Wes Bush, CEO, Northrop Grumman; Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President, Qualcomm; and Eric Spiegel, CEO, Siemens. Additionally, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck will be joining POLITICO.

SUNDAY, APRIL 28:

ALLBRITTON-POLITICO GARDEN BRUNCH – For the fourth consecutive year, POLITICO Publisher Robert Allbritton and his wife, Dr. Elena Allbritton, will open the doors of their Georgetown home for an exclusive, invitation-only brunch. Invited guests include: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), actress Kerry Washington, White House Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard, Hollywood couple Ed Burns and Christy Turlington Burns, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling and Allison Abner, actor Bradley Cooper, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, actor Daniel Day-Lewis, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, CBS President David Rhodes, Jordanian Ambassador Alia Bouran, British Ambassador Peter Westmacott.

Miss America Goes Back To Jersey

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Daily Beast Bipartisan Brunch
After six years, Miss America is returning to her rightful place on the Atlantic City boardwalks.

The Miss America Pagent announced this morning that they’re going back to Jersey and will announce it later today at a live press conference from the historic boardwalks. Annoucned by Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, news of the deal was broken by the AP.

(photo by Bruce Boyajian)

“For decades, the Miss America organization has awarded scholarships to thousands of young women to help further their goals of higher education and achieve their dreams,” said Acting Governor Guadagno. “New Jersey is proud to once again host the Miss America Pageant here in Atlantic City. We are confident that Atlantic City’s famous boardwalk and variety of restaurants, shops and entertainment venues will showcase the city’s vibrancy and attraction to the participants and many visitors that will attend the Miss America Pageant every year.”

“We are so very proud to bring Miss America back to her birthplace in Atlantic City,” said Sam Haskell, III, the Miss America Organization’s chairman of the board. “We are grateful to Governor Christie and his staff for helping make this possible. Throughout the decades, Miss America has evolved into an organization that enables over 12,000 young women to enter and participate in our scholarship program each and every year. Today, Miss America remains an iconic symbol, and our roots have always stayed connected to Atlantic City. Our proud heritage is rich in history, having been named by USA Today as one of the Top Ten pieces of Americana remaining in our great country today.”

“We now look to the future as we prepare for our most exciting television event ever for Miss America with the support of our network partner, ABC,” said Art McMaster, MAO’s president and CEO. “The return to Atlantic City will allow us to showcase our Miss America events in the place where it all began almost 93 years ago.”

“Miss America is as much a part of Atlantic City as the beach and Boardwalk,” said Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson. “It is great to see this event come back home. It could not have happened without the leadership of Acting Governor Kim Guadagno.”

“I cannot think of a better way to reintroduce the country to Atlantic City,” said John Palmieri, executive director of the Casino Reinvestment and Development Authority. “The return of Miss America to Atlantic City is indicative of the tremendous progress CRDA and its partners are making in revitalizing the city.”

Board action by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) and the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority (ACCVA) is expected later this month to finalize the multi-year agreement that brings Miss America back to Atlantic City. The CRDA, ACCVA, and the Atlantic City Alliance (ACA) all played key roles in forging the agreement that will attract even more tourists from around the world to America’s premiere gaming and vacation destination.

Since taking Office, Governor Christie has taken strategic, comprehensive efforts to ensure New Jersey continues to be a leading destination for sports and entertainment events. The Governor’s actions will result in hundreds of millions of dollars in economic growth benefiting businesses – large and small – throughout New Jersey. Additionally, numerous concerts, tournaments and events are making New Jersey a must-stop venue for sports and entertainment.

Social Networking and the 2010 Election

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Socnet

Now that the dust has settled and the 2009 election results have sunk in, the pondering and pontificating by the pundit elite (and not so elite) continues on cable news and online media sites about what the results mean for the president and the nation’s political future. Much of what is discussed is, and will continue to be, partisan in nature (as is the nature of cable news) and quite frankly, without much merit or solid research beyond party talking points and Wikipedia entries.

President Obama discusses SAVE awards at White House

Discussions have been playing out on MSNBC, CNN and Fox News on whether Obama’s coattails are still strong; whether 2009 elections are a prediction of the 2010 midterms; whether the GOP can turn 2 key gubernatorial wins into a midterm Congressional movement, and so on. Most of these are unknowns, but there is one major continuous thread of the ’08 and now ’09 election cycle that is guaranteed to be part of every successful future campaign whether GOP or Dem or Conservative or Independent: the integrated use of social media and online communications (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, SMA, web 2.0, etc), combined with an authentic, engaging candidate, must be paramount within a campaign’s overall strategy in order to be successful.

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