Quotes of the Day

“You can suck my ass.” — E!’s Chelsea Handler to CNN’s Piers Morgan last night after he suggested she wasn’t a very good interviewer and saying, “I can help you.”

Uh oh.

“Unusually high number of critical replies to my column today from folks who haven’t read/understood it. Maybe my fault.” — NationalReviewOnline‘s Jonah Goldberg.

Reporter encounters stinky train

“A @wmata train filled w/ wet sheep would smell less like wet sheep than one filled with drenched people in suits.” — Dave Levinthal, senior political reporter for Center for Public Integrity.

Columnist gives props to Stewart for interviewing skills

“Points to Jon Stewart for being tenacious in his questioning of Al Gore about Al Jazeera.” — Politico‘s Roger Simon.

Editor blames mullet hairdo

“It’s always the people with mullets who break out the checkbook at the grocery store.” — Fox News Contributor and RedState‘s Erick Erickson.

Journo mixes up days of week

“Informed sources tell me that today is in fact Wednesday. Everything else about the last tweet was right though.” — National Journal‘s Scott Bland, who had written, “On Tues, Patrick Murphy appeared in a House Maj PAC video. On Thurs, he sent a fundraising email deploring the Citizens United ruling #FL18.”

Unimportant Q to Ponder: “There’s your friend. You guys speaking these days?” Anonymous journalist to FBDC last night at The New Republic launch party glancing toward Slate‘s Dave Weigel at the other end of the frigid room. More on the party coming up…

Politico Playbook publish time: 6:51 a.m. Morning Oopsy: While Playbook’s author screams loudly in his first item that he was “exclusively” reporting the upcoming Gridiron dinner speakers, the news of Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar being among the speakers was reported three weeks ago. Gov. Bobby Jindal as the GOP speaker was new. A special Happy Birthday to Politico‘s media writer Dylan Byers, whose birthday was exclusively reported in Playbook this morning. We’re even giving him these special chocolates.

 Senator brushes off reporter

“Tried to speak to Sen. John Kerry after his farewell speech but he wouldn’t let me finish the question.” — The Daily Caller‘s ambush video reporter Nicholas Ballasy.

Freelancer regrets uncontrollable tweeting… Read more

Quotes of the Day — Happy New Year!

Travel Bitches

“If an airplane itself could have influenza, I’m on it.” — Politico‘s Dave Levinthal.

“Guy behind me on plane whacks me w/ suitcase as putting it in overhead. ‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you.’ Cuz I’m REALLY tiny #HappyNewYear.” — Joanne Bamberger, mommy blogger, former news anchor and author of “Mothers of Intention.”

And a travel apology…“Off to Paris for a bit. Nice to see you again, turkish air. Please carry me safely to my destination and sorry for any anxiety exhibited.” — Seyward Darby, freelancer, former online editor at TNR.

Press aide tells everyone to calm down

“Folks out there w/ crazy theories about what’s going on in House. All ridiculous. Just figuring out best path forward. Stay calm, carry on.” — House Maj. Leader Eric Cantor aide Rory Cooper during fiscal cliff negotiations.

For a gay old time…

“Two tickets for @GayPimp‘s #GayestWeekendOfAllTime this March in Florida? Yes, please.” — Syndicated columnist and Bullfight Strategies’ Karl Frisch.

Loesch takes a breather from laptop

“I’ve not opened my laptop since December 21st. Rare. Christmas vacation was lovely, but am ready to roll up the sleeves again.” — Ex-Breitbart.com’s Dana Loesch, who is now suing her former employer. Considering the backlash she received after the Sandy Hook shootings, in which she accused President Obama of playing politics with the deaths of children, this may have been a welcome relief.

Breitbart newbie on first-name basis with U.S. leaders

“In case anyone didn’t notice, we have now officially jumped off the fiscal cliff. Thanks John , Barry and Harry!” — Breitbart.com‘s Matthew Boyle, who hopes to one day fill the shoes of the late Andrew Breitbart.

A rare nod to CNN

“CNN is the only big cable news network doing fiscal cliff coverage right now. (I mean, if you’re a geek.)” — The Daily Caller and The Week‘s Matt Lewis on New Year’s Day.

And now, a New Year’s Eve observation on facial hair: “Back on CNN with the bearded ones–Wolf Blitzer and Robert Reich–at 8:30. All agree. No taxation of facial hair.” — Americans for Tax Reform Prez Grover Norquist.

The Self-Appointed Media Critic…

Read more

In an extremely effusive note, the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity announces today that “esteemed political journalist” Dave Levinthal is leaving Politico to join their operation. At CPI, he will be a senior member of the team investigating the impact of money in elections.

Levinthal started young. His first job in newspapers: Delivering the Buffalo News door-to-door at age 10.

At Politico since just July of 2011, Levinthal writes the pub’s Influence column and reported on campaign finance and lobbying issues. He will join the Center’s “Consider the Source” project, which was created to investigate the impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision on the 2012 election.

“Dave Levinthal is a talented journalist and one of the nation’s leading reporters in the areas of money and politics,” said Executive Director William E. Buzenberg. “We are delighted to have him join the Center for Public Integrity’s growing cadre of investigative reporters digging into political corruption.”

Before joining Politico… Read more

NJ has officially launched “Influence Alley,” a new digital community for news and analysis on the people, relationships,  companies, and finances that make Washington’s influence industry run. At the helm of the feature is former Politico reporter Chris Frates.

Things could get ugly. Some may recall the dust-up that occurred when Frates first moved to NJ in June and allegedly inappropriately used a list of Politico subscribers. Frates and NJ disputed the theft claim by Politico but still agreed to pare down the list. Another stinging detail: Politico‘s own lobbying blog is called “Influence” and is run by Anna Palmer and Dave Levinthal.

A media observer told FBDC, “I notice a pattern here: Politico has a real good idea, executes it well, so NJ copies them and executes it, well, not as well.”

Frates will essentially do just what he did at Politico – as described in an NJ release, he’ll report on fundraising efforts, advocacy campaigns, talent acquisitions, media buys, the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street, and all the news that lands at the intersection of money, politics, and policy.

Not surprisingly, NJ Editor-in-Chief Ron Fournier has high hopes for the new blog. “Anyone looking to be successful at their work in D.C. – or simply to understand why and how the levers are pulled here – needs the kind of insight and reporting that Chris Frates is producing at ‘Influence Alley,’” he said.

To sign up for the “Influence Alley” email newsletter visit here. Follow on Twitter: @InfluenceAlley.

UPDATE: Another “media observer” wanted to weigh in with an opposing view this afternoon. “Roll Call had a full-fledged special lobbying section before Politico existed and NJ magazine has covered lobbying for many years. And Legal Times long ago dubbed their lobbying coverage ‘Influence’ and I believe used the influence.biz URL. The point is that everyone copies everyone in this world, and the idea that Politico broke so much ground here is kind of silly.”

Politico‘s Congressional Bureau Chief Laura McGann is heading up a brand new team that centers on lobbying and campaign finance. Some may also know her work from Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab, where she was prior to Politico. She’s also the former founding managing editor of The Washington Independent and worked at TPM.

On an unusual note, she has a dog named FOIA.

So far McGann’s team members are Ken Vogel, Robin Bravender, Anna Palmer and Dave Levinthal.

The search is on to fill McGann’s former position.

See the internal memo from Managing Editor Bill Nichols.

Read more

Roll Call’s Anna Palmer and Dave Levinthal, editor of the Center for Responsive Politics site OpenSecrets.org, have been snatched up Politico.  Replacing Chris Frates, who abandoned his post for a gig at National Journal,  Palmer and Levinthal will take the reins of Politico Influence beginning mid-July.  Congrats to Dave and Anna!