If you’re a political star gazer, the FNC pre-party to the Radio & TV Correspondent’s Dinner was the place to be Wednesday night as famous faces filled the room adorned in spring. As guests poured in and the party reached comfortable capacity, partygoers were greeted by a giant red Fox News emblem on the wall. If they were talent, well-known or just plain glam, photographers on hand asked them to strike a pose and then directed them across a bridge created especially for the party.

Fox News President Roger Ailes and his wife (above), Elizabeth, were one such couple directed to walk slowly across the bridge. The flashbulbs went wild.

Ailes is no wall flower. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) immediately engaged. “How are you?” Issa asked. In chimed Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), one of a few Democratic lawmakers there: “He’s fair and balanced,” Cummings said, cracking himself and those in his midst up.

Ailes also laughed. He then explained to Issa, who had begun bashing conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh, that Fox News is different. “We have a phone on the set,” he said. “Anyone can call and correct us on the set.”

Cummings said Ailes “has been really wonderful to us,” meaning the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). “We may have a situation where we disagree about things but it doesn’t mean we can’t socialize because that’s how I think you break through,” he said. “A lot of people will talk about each other but not to each other.”

Cummings said he has known “Roger” for years. When the congressman presided over the CBC, it was FNC that worked with the CBC to sponsor the presidential debates.

Meanwhile, in walked Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) alone. The senator briefly scanned the room, spoke to no one. Soon he sidled up to conservative radio personality Laura Ingraham who was decked out in an ice blue mermaid dress, sleeveless, with ruffles cascading to the floor.

“You look great, man” Ingraham told Specter, marveling at his appearance since the senator survived his cancer scare. “You’re a fighter.” Specter chatted comfortably with Ingraham for a long while. Later Specter’s wife, Joan, joined them.

FNC’s Jennifer Griffin was also there. In a sleek auburn bob wig, she explained that she, too, was recovering from cancer. The correspondent looked radiant and charmed the room of partygoers.

Roger Ailes with Valerie Jarrett. Photo courtesy of FNC.

Find out what Pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg calls his wife at parties and which journos and other V.I.P’s were there after the jump. Also, see more party pictures…

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No matter that the Obama Administration was once at odds with Fox News, officials are on the guest list and set to attend the only pre-party to the RTCA dinner Wednesday night. Those planning to be FNC guests for the evening include Obama’s Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowksi, Domestic Policy Council Advisor Melody Barnes and National Security Adviser Jim Jones, Special Master for TARP Admin Kenneth Feinberg and Sec. of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

We hear FNC’s exclusive invitation-only bash will be a room decked out in Spring. And what’s a party without famous faces in the crowd like Geraldo Rivera and Bill O’Reilly? (See list of Fox News talent to attend below.)

Other confirmed party guests: Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.); Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.); Gov. Ed Rendell; Rep. Elijah Cummings(D-Md.); Mo Elleithee, former Clinton campaign spokesperson; former Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.); Austan Goolsbee, Council of Economic Advisors; Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.); Deborah Hersman, Chair of National Transportation Safety Board; Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), Democratic strategist Joe Trippi; former Sen. John Breaux (D-La.); Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.); and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.).

Talent to Attend
O’Reilly; Shepard Smith; Bret Baier; Chris Wallace; Bill Hemmer; Megyn Kelly; Carl Cameron; Jennifer Griffin; Catherine Herridge; Shannon Bream; Rivera; and Alisyn Camerota

Fox News is the clear victor in those watching around-the-clock news of the tragic earthquake in Haiti. While ten FNC correspondents have been deployed to the region, including White House Correspondent Wendell Goler, who is still in the Dominican Republic and D.C. correspondent Griff Jenkins, who just arrived today, this weekend viewers will watch Geraldo Rivera join the coverage. (Above right is a shot of him covering an expose on Staten Island in 1972.)

Greta Van Susteren attempted to go to Port au Prince Thursday, but her plane was not permitted to land in the city and she returned to Washington. “I gave Griff my sleeping bag (he also has one) to give to anyone who needs it plus I have given him the supplies I have,” Van Susteren wrote on her blog, explaining that Jenkins drove to Ft. Pierce, Fla. to catch a 4 a.m. cargo flight to Haiti.

Nielsen Ratings for Wednesday, Jan. 13

TOTAL DAY
FNC: 1,501,000 in total viewers (426,000 in A25-54)
CNN: 942,000 in total viewers (337,00 in A25-54)
MSNBC: 449,000 in total viewers (129,000 in A25-54)
HLN: 320,000 in total viewers (137,000 in A25-54)

Nielsen Ratings for Thursday, Jan. 14

TOTAL DAY
FNC: 1,524,000 in total viewers (411,000 in A25-54)
CNN: 913,000 in total viewers (328,00 in A25-54)
MSNBC: 434,000 in total viewers (130,000 in A25-54)
HLN: 335,000 in total viewers (143,000 in A25-54)

The funniest part of Washington Whispers columnist Paul Bedard’s videos is the laughter he sometimes can’t contain while he reports on topics such as “Dueling Mustaches” at Fox Business Network. The network now includes the mustachioed duo of John Stossel and Geraldo Rivera, the U.S. News & World Report gossip columnist reports.

Rivera, who perhaps has the more interesting mustache, has been Stossel’s mentor ever since Rivera brought Stossel to ABC’s “20/20″. Bedard discusses the “great whiskers debate” over which gentleman has the better mustache.

Good Morning FBDC! Check out front pages of the country’s newspapers at newseum.org.

NEWS NOTES | NEWSPAPERS | TV | RADIO | ONLINE | BOOKS

NEWS NOTES

Yesterday, we saw countless commentators and anchors recall memories of Senator Kennedy in the daytime, and hour-long specials produced in the evening. WaPo‘s Howard Kurtz notes that much of the coverage has a “personal tone” lent to it by the reporters who brought us that coverage. He wrote:

“There was an unmistakably personal tone to the tributes, the anchors and correspondents sounding as though they, and the country, had lost a friend. Diane Sawyer talked about Kennedy’s megawatt smile. Andrea Mitchell called him “the greatest senator of our generation.” Brian Williams, who had flown during the night to Hyannis Port, observed: “I hope his Irishness… isn’t lost in all this.” Geraldo Rivera called him a “mentor.”

…Washington can be the smallest of towns, and many in the media recounted touching encounters with the late senator. Chris Matthews, a Type 2 diabetic, spoke of Kennedy calling him with advice after the “Hardball” host had an attack of hypoglycemia. Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist, recalled on CNN that when his father had received a cancer diagnosis, Kennedy called and “gave me the name of one of the world’s foremost experts in cancer treatment. He said, ‘He’s expecting your call. I just talked to him.’ And he helped pave the way to get my father the treatment that, frankly, saved his life.”"

And from Slate‘s Jack Shafer: “Not everybody in the press adored the Kennedys, of course. But those who did-like famed New York Times reporter, editor, and columnist James “Scotty” Reston-attended to the family’s legend like priests on retainer.”

Politico captured these Kennedy memories from various Washingtonians, including CBS’ Bob Schieffer and former Kennedy press assistant Terri Robinson.

NEWSPAPERS

E&P: The Boston Globe literally stopped the presses at about 1:30am to change the paper’s front page and several inside pages to include the Kennedy’s death yesterday.

E&P‘s blog takes notes of where leading newspapers placed the first mention of the Chappaquiddick accident in their Senator Kennedy obits.

FamousDC poked fun at Politico yesterday for its extensive coverage of Senator Kennedy’s death on the web. Today, the paper was out with a special edition, “Remembering a Legend.” (h/t Playbook)

TV

The Daily News‘ David Hinckley commentates that yesterday’s cable coverage “lined up as neatly as the punch line in a joke about the alleged political agendas of those channels.” He writes:

“On the left: MSNBC, which went wall-to-wall Kennedy the entire day, interspersing fresh reactions with warm remembrances of his life and times.

On the right: Fox News, where Kennedy was the main story all day – but where it was often used as an opener to discussions of the health-care plan he endorsed, which faces heavy criticism and an uncertain fate.

In the middle: CNN, which stayed wall-to-wall longer than Fox and incorporated more Kennedy features, but broke off as well for other stories.”

C-SPAN has already announced that it will air live coverage Senator Kennedy’s Celebration of Life memorial service from 7-9pm tomorrow and on Saturday, the funeral mass from 10:30am-12:30pm and the burial service at 5:30pm at Arlington National Ceremony. We’ll have more coverage plans on FBDC later today.

RADIO

Nancy Reagan joined “The Ron Reagan Show” on Air America last night to discuss Senator Kennedy. You can listen in now here.

And former CBS News correspondent Roger Mudd, who famously asked Senator Kennedy why he wanted to be president just before officially announcing that he would run, called into Sirius XM Radio’s POTUS show. You can listen to that interview here.

ONLINE

WebNewser takes notes of Kennedy video coverage on the web.

And msnbc.com is opening Kennedy coverage to their readers with FirstPerson.msnbc.com.

BOOKS

Senator Kennedy’s memoir “True Compass” will go on sale September 14th, according to the publisher and via NYT. The autobiography has been five years in the making.

HAT TIPS: mediabistro