MAKING AN ENTRANCE AND AN EXIT: Host of “CBS This Morning” Gayle King walked into the Washington Hilton on Saturday night in an eye-popping kelly green gown by Vicky Tiel. On Friday night, she was spotted leaving the Turkish Embassy residence where The Hill was hosting its pre-WHCD party.

“Don’t hurt yourself.” — A St. Regis employee to guests of Friday night’s TIME-People party at which partygoers, many of whom were White House correspondents, received gift bags so heavy they could give you a hernia. More on the contents later…

Humility is…

“I have been told many times I look like @MatthewPerry. I just saw him at #nerdprom. He is far better looking.” — The Hill’s Managing Editor Bob Cusack.

Editor wants WHCD weekend to be more substantive

“It kind of sickens me when you’re here for the White House Correspondents’ Weekend that there are not more substantive discussions.” — Steve Clemons, Editor-at-Large for The Atlantic, who hosted a discussion over the weekend with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Sen. Joe Manchin (R-WVa.) at the Ritz. The banquet room was packed. Breakfast disappeared too fast. The discussion centered on American military power today. Attendees included BuzzFeed Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton, NJ‘s Brian Fung, Yahoo! News‘ Chris Moody, Newsweek-Daily Beast‘s Eli Lake and The Atlantic‘s Jay Lauf.

A plea for help

“Someone catch me up on the last 9 days of news.” — Politico White House Correspondent Byron Tau.

Important Q to Ponder: “In a cab going to the airport but our driver is sleepy so he has the window down – to freeze or get into an accident?” — Oversharing Sherri Shepherd, co-host of ABC’s “The View.”

HuffPost‘s Sam Stein “impressed” with Politico

ThinkProgress‘ Judd Legum: “Politico currently has 54 separate links to stories abt WHCA Dinner on its front page.”

Huffpost‘s Sam Stein: “I’m kind of impressed.”

And in Bob Schieffer, Claire Danes father-daughter news… 

“Someone asked Bob Schieffer if he was Claire Danes’ daddy.” — former White House reporter Myles Miller.

Some buzz on BuzzFeed Party

“CSPAN showing super long line for @BuzzFeed party. A lot of sad faces who can’t get in #buzzfeedbbq” — Washington Examiner‘s Charlie Spiering. And this from Roll Call HOH’s Warren Rojas: “Crowd in #BuzzFeedbbq just let out very self-satisfied collective whoop after @cspan live shot of line @JackRoseinDC #counterwhcd”

Psy or is it more like Sigh?

“Psy just walked by me. I feel somehow cooler. Or at least more relevant.” — WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza. Good thing Cillizza didn’t actually try to communicate with Psy.

Starting new pub is stressful

“Rare has oped from Jeb Bush today so big relief we can get the big names when so new. I’m on pins and needles every day.” — Rare Editor-in-Chief Brett Decker. See here. Will Jeb run or won’t he? Who knows, but his last graph sounds rather presidential. He writes, “American greatness comes from the power of individuals – not the government – to create wealth and opportunity through competition, innovation and empowerment. Not only must we pursue reform, we must do a much better job communicating how these reforms protect and promote the genius of America.”

More WHCD fallout…

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“What if you tweet and no one tweets back? There’s nothing worse than a friendless tweeter, right? You’re just out there wandering around in cyberspace.” — President Bill Clinton on Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” last night.

OH, THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS! “What’s pink and symbolizes DC? A politician’s tongue (also a blooming cherry tree)” — Reuters‘ Patricia Zengerle. “In DC. The cherry blossoms are blooming and it looks like we have have survived our long winter. Here comes the sun!” — MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough.

Black radio correspondent on ‘Accidental Racist’

“In fairness to #AccidentalRacist there seems to be no satisfactory way to talk about race in pop culture. earnestness invites mockery.” — NPR’s Audie Cornish reacting to Brad Paisely’s new country song with LL Cool J’s “Accidental Racist.”

NYT reporter wants to kick UK to the curb: It wasn’t all that!

“I lived in Thatcher’s UK during the ’80s. Hate to say it but it wasn’t all that — & Red Cross still won’t take my blood for fear of Mad Cow.” — NYT‘s Jonathan Weisman.

Real HuffPost Headline: “Grandmother allegedly hired grandson to kill her husband”

Journo bitches about booking his own plane ticket, another complains of getting a pitch for someone else and, still another just hangs out and enjoys a beer… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Has he been consulting the Dalai Lama?

This morning he has dreamed up a new feature. It’s called QUALITY CONTROL. It’s bolded and in all-caps. And he doesn’t just want the little nitpicky bullsh-t crap that everyone gets (although that’s perfectly acceptable too), he wants the “larger truths” as well.

This should be fun to watch.

Have a look. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Politico‘s Jake Sherman on Monday published a story on a House Republicans effort to brand Rep. Paul Ryan‘s (R-Wis.) budget proposal purely as a way to balance the federal budget. The aim is to drive home “balanced budget” as a theme before Democrats can stigmatize the Ryan plan as an axe to social safety net programs.

Yahoo! News‘s Chris Moody had essentially the same story — seven days prior. Moody’s colleague, Olivier Knox, first noticed the similarities in the stories in a tweet Wednesday morning.

How similar are they? continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Huh, new pope was pretty hot in the sixties.” — Freelancer Moe Tkacik.

WHO BROUGHT  THE DONUTS? “Got a @DCDunkin and filling out Examiner’s really easy brackets.” — Washington Examiner‘s Paul Bedard with accompanying picture. Bedard’s known for bringing in donuts to the office. Most of the time he shares.

From the Dept. of AssKissery

“This is one lede that won’t get buried. #thelead w/ @jaketapper” — National Journal‘s Ron Fournier.

Meanwhile, Marty Rudolph of Twitterfame gives Tapper a big thumbs up: “@jaketapper Congrats on your First Show on CNN’s “The Big Lead With Jake Tapper” this Monday! I Enjoyed the Show & look forward to others.”

Fox News? Not quite.

“I have several things I’m pursuing right now and that’s not one of them.” — James Carville to FishbowlDC, batting down a rumor from CNN’s Alex Castellanos that he’s going to work for Fox News. Still, a cable news insider insists it’s not so far fetched. “Ailes loves James. James loves Ailes,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “If you’ve been dicked round, [Ailes] wants you. The one thing he loves is picking up people who’ve been fired. That’s like his favorite thing.” Carville recently parted ways with CNN and is shopping around for his next gig.

Pun Prowess: “Heritage & Cato are holding dueling gay marriage events Tuesday at noon. Why not just wed the two as one panel?” — Yahoo! News’ Chris Moody.

Journo complains about D.C.’s meteorologists

“A new annoyance with Washington: How can the weatherman be this wrong this often? No snow, kids. Not even rain.” — NYT‘s Jonathan Weisman.

Designer praises rice cooker

“The rice cooker really is a magical thing. Tomorrow morning, it will have oatmeal ready for me when I wake.” — NPR Interactive Designer Alyson Hurt.

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 8:47 a.m.

Reporter questions “mainstream media” practices: “I never see any mainstream media pieces on why the Republican party is losing its appeal to moderate voters. What’s up with that?” — Newsweek/The Daily Beast’s Eli Lake.

One journalist counsels another on snark and a reporter makes fun of an ex-congressman who served time in prison…

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

SHOWOFF: “Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico in Boca Grande, FL, 2/28/2013″ — FNC’s Brit Hume.

Conventional wisdom

“So non threat to Woodward is a problem cuz jr reporter might not be able to stand as courageously agst non-threat as Woodward. #truth.” – TPM‘s Josh Marshall.

Angry Ass Convo Between Two Journos

The conversation is between The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack and BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski.

John McCormack: “Politico article on abortion issue includes two quotes–one from Planned Parenthood and one, for balance, from ACLU”

Andrew Kaczynski: “@McCormackJohn Lot of balance in those Weekly Standard Chuck Hagel stories.”

John McCormack: “@BuzzFeedAndrew Well, at least they’re more balanced than Buzzfeed’s articles on gay marriage. Also: We don’t pretend we’re not ideological.”

Menendez: No more hooker q’s for now

“No questions for Menendez about his controversy. Seems he’s reached a point where he can talk about other things.” — Politico‘s Ginger Gibson on Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).

Producer is “all screwed up” when walking

“After living in London I never know which way to look for cars. Totally screwed me up.” — FNC Senate Producer Kara Rowland.

A little help from your friends

NYT‘s political correspondent Nick Confessore: “Packing and moving an apartment is like waiting for the Time-Warner guy, in hell, for infinity.”

NYT‘s Washington Bureau Chief David Leonhardt: “@nickconfessore Just wait until you’re simultaneously unpacking and waiting for the Time Warner guy.”

Goofball FLOTUS pool report

“FLOTUS pool report from @jestei ‘I am sorry I am unable to provide you with the lid, as FLOTUS has none. (Stock pots, maybe.)’” — NYT‘s Jonathan Weisman. A “lid” in pool reportese marks the conclusion of a day’s formal events.

Necessary Tweet of the Day

“I’m going to try stovetop smoking salmon tonight. (I decided I needed more alliterative cooking processes.)” — Slate and NYT‘s Farhad Majoo.

Uh oh. “Anyone else ever mean to send a text and send a Tweet instead just by force of habit? Dangerous.” — Politico‘s Ben White.

See who made our FishbowlDC Fan Club Board. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Oscar coverage, attendance

“I just used a port-a-potty while wearing a tux. #glamour#oscars” — WaPo‘s Dan Zak.

“I love that my ticket for the Oscars tonight specifies ‘formal’ attire.” — Garance Franke-Ruta, senior editor, The Atlantic, whose work in ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, was made into an Oscar-nominated documentary, “How to Survive a Plague.”

Editor dreads need for reading glasses

“Getting gray hair didn’t bother me. Hitting 40 was no big deal. But new realization that reading glasses are necessary isn’t sitting well.” — The Hill‘s Managing Editor Bob Cusack.

Sighting: rapper at DCA

“SPOTTED – @2chainz at DCA Washington Reagan National Airport this morning #DMV” — Marky Mark, a.k.a. Mark Wilkins, DC Celebrity. 2 Chainz’ real name is Tauheed Epps. His previous nickname was Tity Boi.

Dana Perino: a slave to travel size products

“Very glad to have found @3floz - products to save a woman traveler’s life. Take THAT airport security lines!” — FNC’s Dana Perino.

“On our way to the Oscars.” – Former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, with wife, Elizabeth.

D.C. Oscar Observers

• “Reese Witherspoon says she let her 13-year-old pick out her dress. It shows.” — Roll Call’s Meredith Shiner.

• “Seacrest, you really don’t need to stoop down to talk to Little Q.” — Conservative freelancer Lisa De Pasquale.

• “I know everyone loves her… but every time Kerry Washington opens her mouth and I’m watching, I swear I lose brain cells.” — D.C. socialite Katherine Kennedy.

• “It is now time for me to turn off and stow electronic devices. BUT HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SEE WHAT ANNE HATHAWAY IS WEARING? Ugh.” — The Daily Caller‘s Taylor Bigler.

• “Somebody get a box for Ryan Seacrest to stand on.” — Paul Brandus, of West Wing Reports and a columnist for The Week.

• “Whoever is pregnant lady in the black lace cap sleeve dress, it suits you vvery nicely. you are w/channiing tatum who suits well too. #Oscar.” — NPR’s Kitty Eisele.

• “OMG, Beasts of the Southern Wild won’t win because it’s too good to win, too good for this world!” — NYT‘s Jonathan Weisman.

• “John Travolta introducing the muscials tribute is pretty gay.” — BuzzFeed‘s Chris Geidner.

Splish Splash…“Just gave the one-week-old a bath. To thank me, she drenched me with urine.” — BuzzFeed Political Editor McKay Coppins.

Um, use the rear entrance

“TONIGHT: Fashion Industry Sunday Party in DC at Huxley w/sexy deep house and live sax. Open bar 8-9pm! Use rear entrance, knock twice!” — Real Housewives of D.C.’s favorite stylist Paul Wharton.

D.C. journo finds a new pet peeve and more D.C. scribes offer Oscar observations, some are even worth reading… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Convo Between Two Journos

This morning’s conversation is between Salon’s Glenn Greenwald and The Guardian’s Jim Newell.

Greenwald: “As this CNN panel discusses ethical issues of Hillary’s huge speech fees, anchor changes topic to… Michelle’s bangs.”

Newell:  “I will dress up like Hillary Clinton and give speeches for a ramen cup, if anyone’s interested.”

Greenwald: “There may be a market for that.”

Judgmental Journo

“The Gawker is an amusing little gossip smut site. But I can’t say I’ve ever read a single item with any real social value on The Gawker.” — Politico‘s Ben White.

Happy Belated Birthday Stanton! 

“It’s @dcbigjohn‘s birthday. Be afraid, whiskey.” — NPR freelancer Lizzie O’Leary on BuzzFeed Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton, who, as it so happens, was dabbling in whiskey last night: “Back in the old District of Chaos. To the whiskey cave!” And this: “Thanks for all the birthday wishes folks. If you’re a bottle of Jameson in the DMV urrea, get your affairs in order cause I’m comin’ for ya.”

Life at HuffPost gets barfy

“Ten wings, 1 minute 43 seconds. New personal record!!!” — HuffPost‘s Amanda Terkel. Followed by this: “Ew. Sam Stein just barfed.” And then this: “For the record, I love wings. But I did not eat that many. That tweet was not from me.”

Unnecessary Tweet of the Day

“The cat is unusually happy that I am home, even for a cat who is always happy when I come home.” — Erik Loomis, a blogger at Lawyers, Guns and Money.

Anonymous Tipster to FishbowlDC: “Mike Allen mentioned Judy Kurtz twice in Playbook today for her birthday. Once as The Hill’s Judy Altscher (??) and once as Judy Kurtz.” Read here.

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 4:32 a.m.

Anonymous Tipster to FishbowlDC: “Honestly, FUCK MIKE ALLEN! What an asshole! Politico is regarded by EVERYONE in D.C.’s media as the most obnoxious, self-promoting, shameless outlet there is — BY FAR. For Mike Allen to go to such extended lengths to hit the NYT with a supposed ethics lesson in Playbook is just ENRAGING!” (To put in proper context, on Saturday, Allen called the NYT and specifically Jonathan Weisman on the carpet for printing a “carbon copy” of a story on its front page after Politico ran theirs on Thursday. For this, Allen gave NYT the “No Shame Award.” But he didn’t stop there. He went on to give the NYT the “Playbook Facts of Life” in which he said, “You can’t try to pass something off as new, when the people who care the most about the topic have read the same thing 24 hours earlier. You’re The New York Times: Be confident! Acknowledge the conversation around a topic you’re imbuing with your unique authority. A clever way to needle Cruz, and give readers a priceless insight into the Washington ecosystem, would have been to say ‘emailed in a statement that was identical to one he provided to Politico.”" Weisman didn’t take Allen’s lecture lightly. He wrote on Twitter, “Utterly absurd. Story was in the works for weeks. You pull the trigger when you think it’s ripe. Public story.”)

Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“DC, take it from Coco Pebbles Chanel: it never hurts to be prepared.” — The Hill’s Howlma Kurtz, a.k.a. Judy Kurtz with accompanying picture.

Mixed feelings: “TWIITTER, I HATE YOU…. OK, I LOVE YOU” — HuffPost‘s Sam Stein. NYT‘s Jonathan Weisman was less confused: “TV seems dull compared to Twitter. Reading my feed I eagerly turned on cable and … Meh.” And Assoc. Editor of The Atlantic Brian Fung slammed the medium: “Glad to know that even in the midst of a hurricane, the Internet is still capable of kicking up monstrously dumb debates. Whew.”

Dork in the Storm

“My wife just remembered we had a bunch of small airline-style bottles of booze squirreled away. #yesplease.” — MSNBC host Chris Hayes.

Morally outraged.

“Protip: Tweets that make political jokes about storm that’s killed at least five people are maybe not worth sending.” — Politico‘s Maggie Haberman.

“Twitter is great and all but it’s proving tonight why journalism with real reporting and sourcing is essential.” — The Hill‘s White House Correspondent and resident Michelle Obama Fan Club Prez Amie Parnes.

“My wife gave birth to our three children at NYU. Horrifying to think of what’s going on there now. Horrifying.” — Conservative writer and professional Twitter fighter John Podhoretz, affectionately known as PodWhore.

“Has the storm past DC and we are through the worst of it? Swear I can’t tell from the coverage.” — CNN Democratic Analyst Hilary Rosen.

“Sandy has taken down Buzzfeed AND Huffington Post! The horror!” — The Times of London‘s Matt Spence. Reacting to the news, Breitbart.com‘s John Nolte remarked sarcastically, “That’s a shame.”

Powerless.

“Lights out here in McLean, Virginia” — The Daily Mail’s Toby Harnden, who will join the UK Sunday Times in January. He posted the accompanying photo.

“NoVa storm update: Power out. Water in basement. Reading Cat in the Hat to 3-year-old by flashlight.” — The Atlantic‘s Molly Ball.

“Feeling stir crazy so went to neighborhood Izakaya place. Returned home to find cable + Internet down.” — The Atlantic‘s Garance Franke-Ruta.

“First electricity flicker. 4:32 p.m.” — HotAir‘s Mary Katharine Ham.

“Afraid for your power? Both the Gtown and West End Ritzs are offering $229 ‘Sandy’ rates for locals. Beats a night in the cold dark!” — Washingtonian Editor Garrett Graff, who likes to appreciate the finer things in life such as Scotch and beautiful hotels.

“And my power just went out here in North Bethesda Maryland. It was a good run folks.” — The Daily Caller‘s Matthew Boyle.

Journo upset about stew and other random complainers

“Sandy is whistling here in my neighborhood. Not as loud as a train coming through the alley or dump truck moving down the street. But loud!” — Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile.

“Afraid the storm-related low pressure is causing my stew to tenderize freakishly slowly.” — Slate economics reporter Matt Yglesias.

“Suddenly, insisting on having a top floor apartment seems like a bad idea. Sounds like debris is hitting my roof!” — The Daily Caller‘s Publicist Nicole Roeberg.

Storm Chasers

“The wind outside my window has very quickly gone from interesting to extremely troubling.” — MetroWeekly‘s Randy Shulman.

“Flying debris now showing like a fast-motion movie through my back window.” — WaPo‘s Erik Wemple.

Comic relief

“El Chucko de Schumer esta hoggingo el microphoño! Que learno to shareo!” — Miguel Bloombito, expressing the media whore tendencies of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).  If you’re not following him, you must: @ElBloombito.

“Anderson Cooper is doing a phoner on CNN so I have no idea how tight his shirt is. Therefore I have no idea how bad things are.” — NBC News’ Shawna Thomas, who later claimed to borrow a variation of a joke from SNL’s Seth Meyers.

“Sexual CNN Headlines.” — NYT comm asst. Jordan Cohen with accompanying picture.

“Oh thank God, David Corn is about to give us his perspective on Sandy on Hardball. Storm coverage is complete now.” — TownHall‘s Derek Hunter.

“Watching CNN coverage of Sandy giving me PTSD. Just put on my CNN windbreaker and started interviewing neighbors w/a plastic microphone.” — former CNN anchor Miles O’Brien.

See which blogger feared the storm might make her pregnant and what advice could MSNBC Contributor Meghan McCain possibly have?

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Gotta be 65 degrees on a terrific autumn night” — FNC’s Chief White House Correspondent Ed Henry.

Anticipatory Storm Complaints

“Approaching big storm prep: batteries, check. Canned food, check. Emergency generators, check. Full-page apology ad from Pepco, check.” — C-SPAN Communications Director Howard Mortman.

“.@PepcoConnect Let’s just say that your track record as regards restoring our power is somewhere between abysmal and catastrophic.” — Yahoo! News‘s Olivier Knox.

“@OKnox Why doesn’t PEPCO just shut off our power now and get it over with?” — NYT‘s Jonathan Weisman.

“My boyfriend: Buying all the toilet paper from the grocery store before everyone else gets there. #BePrepared” — Lisa Rowan, vintage blogger.

Compliment or Insult: Who really knows?

“Your always-perfect hair reeks of pure #journalism,” a follower writes in to FNC’s Bret Baier, who, of course, responds, saying, “Good to know -thanks- I’ll try to keep it together.”

Ana Marie Cox “endorses” Obama

“It’s true: I have chosen to endorse Obama because I’m proud to have someone of the *human* race as President. So there.” — The Guardian‘s Ana Marie Cox. Does a pundit do endorsements? Do they really need to? Pretty sure we already new the progressive Cox was for Obama.

Journo Love

“Go @AprilDRyan! She’s interviewing Obama tomorrow at 5:40 p.m. in Oval Office. First member of WH press corps to do so in months.” — Politico‘s Jennifer Epstein on American Urban Radio White House Correspondent April Ryan.

Breitbart.com Editor needles BuzzFeed Political Editor

“Source tells me @BuzzFeedBen‘s BuzzFeed Politics is something of a laughingstock. Actually, herds of sources tell me this.” — Breitbart.com‘s John Nolte, still smarting from BuzzFeed‘s McKay Coppins story on internal Breitbart.com matters.

Overheard…

“Overheard on the Romney press bus: ‘I think Meat Loaf is two words.’ ‘Yes, it is two words.’ — NPR’s Ari Shapiro.

See FishbowlDC’s Fan Club Board after the jump as well as thoughts from a media observer… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Any jackass can talk about bombing Iran.” — MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, post debate late night.

“I think we all love teachers.” — CBS “Face the Nation” host and presidential debate moderator Bob Schieffer. This is how he firmly ended one of the segments as Mitt Romney gushed about teachers.

Important Question to Ponder: “What do I get @twitter for our 4th anniversary together?” — WaPo‘s Ed O’Keefe. Answer: A divorce. (Just kiddng with you, Ed.)

Journo’s heart warmed by Fresh Prince

“Will Smith was a groomsman in Alfonso Ribiero (aka Carlton Banks) wedding. That warms my heart #freshprince.” — ABC News’s Karen Travers.

The Relationship Expert

“Romney and Obama really don’t like each other. Reminds me of the very worse episode of Love Connection.” — “Love Connection” game show host Chuck Woolery.

Blogger declares journos’ “shallow”

“Is it too much for reporters who don’t cover and don’t have any knowledge of for policy to refrain from grading a for pol debate? #shallow” — WaPo‘s “Right Turn” blogger Jennifer Rubin.

Mom to the rescue

“My mom fact-checks that Air Force Academy basic cadets trained with bayonets this summer. Source: My sister goes there.” — Politico defense reporter Leigh Munsil.

“1st debate my mother texted she was upset Obama lost. 2nd debate texted she was happy. Now, no text. My focus group says, Viewership down?” — WaPo‘s Tim Craig.

Huh?!

“Last Nicki Minaj quote tweet was meant as a text to a friend. Sorry, at least I didn’t pull a chick from the newsroom and tweet racy pic.” — MSNBC Contributor and Daily Beast Columnist Megan McCain.

Righty writer makes fun of Specter (too soon?)

Q: “Why is the weather so wonderful today?” A: “Oh, that’s right. Arlen Specter is still dead.” — the always classy conservative writer and former TWTer Robert Stacy McCain. Former Sen. Arlen Specter died last week after a lengthy bout of cancer.

See the best in Debate Observations…and find out which D.C. insider is hanging out with Cinderella.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Someone wrote me an email and said they thought the Secret Service was going to intervene.” — Politico‘s Mike Allen early this morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

By Far, Funniest Reaction of the Night

“Mitt shot his whole wad in the first debate.” — D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton. Whoa, Eleanor, HUH?! WaPo‘s Mike DeBonis tried to come to her defense, saying, “To defend Eleanor Norton a bit, she’s an aficionado of antique muzzle loading firearms. I hope.”

Sweet and Sour Reaction to Candy

“Candy Crowley holding the reins tight tonight…no shenanigans in her house.” — NBC’s and E!’s Ryan Seacrest.

“Best & worst moment of debate was Candy correcting Romney – she was right, but I’m not sure she should have inserted herself in that way.” — Roll Call‘s Emily Pierce.

“Righties already trying to make this about the Qs and moderator.” — Politico‘s SENIOR political reporter Jonathan Martin in what may be his first understandable tweet in awhile. Congrats JMart!

“I’m terribly disappointed in Candy. I defended her today, and I was wrong.” — Houston Chronicle political blogger and Newsbusters’ Kathleen McKinley.

“Ok Candy, you better facilitate, not follow-up!” — Conservative blogger Matt Mackowiack.

“Candy Crowley proved why these media fact checkers are toxic liars.” — Breitbart.com’s John Nolte.

“(I worked with Candy Crowley at CNN and think she’s terrific)” — CBS News investigative journo Sharyl Attkisson.

“A lot of anger on the Twitters at Crowley for challenging Mitt. You see, that isn’t supposed to happen.” — WaPo lefty blogger Greg Sargent.

“I must say that if you aren’t drinking some Jack Daniels during this debate you really are missing something.” — Roll Call Columnist and Political Analyst Stuart Rothenberg.

“Who won the debate tonight? Candy Crowley. She knew her facts and made sure she pointed them out to her opponents. She’s got my vote.” — Author Jonathan Krohn.

Debate Recap: Top Quotes

“If Sec. Clinton is responsible for the security failure in Benghazi, who is responsible for 8 days of of b.s.about what happened that day?” — FNC’s Brit Hume.

“As a woman voter, I feel very wanted tonight!” — ABC talk show host Katie Couric.

“OMG. Panelist on FOX News just said ‘BULLSHIT!’” — ABC7′s Mike Conneen.

“I was filing during that Libya exchange, but holy living fuck.” — TPM‘s Brian Beutler.

“Candy Crowley halts Romney in his tracks, calling him out live in real time on an incorrect Libya statement.” — NYT‘s Ashley Parker.

“I’m excitable – but politics is about emotion as well as reason. My view is Obama halted Mitt’s momentum in its tracks.” — The Daily Beast‘s Andrew Sullivan.

“Watching the @politicolive show again on dc newschannell 8. Forget how fun it was to watch, albeit kind of a train wreck.” — QGA and longtime Senate flack Jim Manley.

“The town hall debate format makes me feel bad about the human condition, like that “What Would You Do” hidden camera show. #sighbinder” — Digital media exec Kenny Day.

“Bottom line: Obama was far more aggressive this time, these 2 men don’t like each other and this race is still a toss-up.” — The Hill‘s Managing Editor Bob Cusack.

“No one puts baby in a binder.” — National Journal‘s Chris Frates.

“Ok, goodnight everyone. tucking myself into my binder for some shuteye.” — AtlanticWire Senior Writer Jen Doll.

“Chris Matthews is wetting his pants in joy, gibbering like a meth freak on laughing gas.” — Conservative blogger and former TWTer Robert Stacy McCain.

“Bottom bottom line: Obama shows up big timme and wins. Is it enough to reverse the polarities?” — HuffPost‘s Howard Fineman.

“MSNBC fawning. Fox News fuming. A pox on both your houses.” — WaPo‘s Dan Zak.

“Love switching channels. MSNBC says clr Obama win, CNN, eh, slight Obama edge. Fox still talking about Benghazi.” — NYT‘s Jonathan Weisman.

“Did Van Jones just call Mitt Romney a ‘DOUCHE’ on CNN – @CNNSituationRoom? Wow, didn’t think that was permitted.” — former Eric Cantor Spokesman Brad Dayspring, who now works as senior adviser to the YG Action Fund.

Greta sees hot pink and blue

“Yes, it is true…both wives in a hot pink (or at least on my monitor it looks like hot pink but faces can be bluish on my tv monitor)” — FNC’s Greta Van Susteren.

Important Q to Ponder: “Do I have time to make pierogies before this debate? Yes, yes I do!” — The Washington Examiner‘s Nikki Schwab.

Something else to Ponder: “How, in a country as powerful and dynamic as ours, could bindersfullofwomen.com not already be taken?” — WSJ‘s Neil King.

The Observer

“You keep it crazy, Bobby Jindal.” — Ronan Farrow, son of Mia and Woody Allen, reacting to post debate interviews from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Farrow is a writer, human rights lawyer and formerly Sec. of State Hillary Clinton‘s Special Adviser for Global Youth issues.

And another journo eats chicken…

“Chicken in pot, my debate night tradition. Thanks, Herbert Hoover!” — blogger and pundit Craig Crawford. Anonymous writes in, “That’s a sweet tradition, but his shicken looks like a dog’s dinner.”

Good rap quote from whitest guy in Washington

“Mystikal: That’s right my meat and potatoes come from my lyrical label I throw my rhymes for No Limit like Jeff George throw for the Raiders” — NBC’s Luke Russert.

Ouch!

“Joe Scarborough will suck-up to a guest, then trash-talk them 24 hours later. Tells you all you need to know…#MSNBCfail” — The Daily Caller TV Reporter Jeff Poor.

Peter Ogburn and Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Photo credit: Jonathan Ernst for NYT.

Oh, what a concidence! “A photo of Jonathan Weisman interview [Sen.] Claire McCaskill [D-Mo.] alongside a Jonathan Weisman story about Claire McCaskill.” — Politico Jake Sherman puts two and two together in a morning observation. In his piece, Weisman writes that Republicans like Karl Rove are out for blood to make sure she loses. He writes, “In their advertisements, Ms. McCaskill’s face is sometimes bloated, sometimes goofy, sometimes exhausted.”

“Bliss…they’d have to give Joe and I an extra hour.” — MSNBC’s Al Sharpton on this morning’s “Morning Joe” on the remote possibility that Mitt Romney could pick Rick Santorum as a running mate. He’s referring to the extra time he and host Joe Scarborough would need to discuss the pick.

Journo’s ‘pretty toes’ get noticed

“Was hit on while getting on the bus. His line: ‘Can I call you sometime? You have pretty toes.’ Um.” — Greenwire‘s Jessica Estepa.

From the Dept. of Bragiculture…

“Thanks Yolanda.” — Current TV’s David Shuster who retweeted @JesyQ: “I miss you David but glad you’re happy where u are. You were one of the best MSNBC contributor/journalist. IMO”

Um, and another thing: “Bartenders of Earth: Stop putting limes on bourbon-based mixed drinks. Thank you for your cooperation.” — Sommer Mathis, Editor, The Atlantic Cities.

Dressage: Is it a joke?

“Finally watching dressage. This is a ‘sport’? Chess is more athletic than this.” — Politico White House reporter Byron Tau.

Deep thoughts with Stephen Tschida

“Have you ever thought about all those people you read about who are dead and think wow I’m alive right now. Just hope it lasts a while.” — ABC7′s Stephen Tschida.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Um, ABC?” — WSJ‘s Jonathan Weisman on ABC report on male orgasms. Weisman was responding to this: “Karezza: Men Say Best Sex Comes Without Orgasm” Read here.

Munro stays.

“In other news, the WH Correspondents Assn says it won’t punish the Daily Caller reporter who heckled Obama at Rose Garden event last month.” — HuffPost‘s Jennifer Bendery on The Daily Caller‘s Neil Munro, who heckled President Obama during a speech.

Journo Travel Complaints

• “What’s w/ DC power? Stuck on Acela 5 minutes from Union Station. Grrrr.” — The Daily Beast‘s Robin Givhan.

• “Looks like I spoke too soon – Bad weather hit as we were taxiing and now my @Delta jet is sitting on the tarmac, getting rained on – #weep” — NRA News’ Cameron Gray.

Pooler writes of Second Lady’s ‘midsection’

VPOTUS Vegas Pooler Tovin Lapan, of the Las Vegas Sun, dared to write about Dr. Jill Biden‘s “midsection” in a Pool Report Tuesday, writing, “The second lady, wearing a yellow dress with a large bow around the midsection, and matching yellow jacket, also greeted everyone.” He addressed Veep Joe Biden‘s attire, saying, “Temperatures in Las Vegas surpassed 100 degrees, and Biden ditched his jacket from his navy blue suit after his speech…With his sleeves rolled up, and wearing a navy blue tie spotted with white sailboats, the vice president shook the hand of every veteran…”

Breitbart.com Editor Takes Another Whack at Buzzfeed

“Buzzfeed is the TMZ of left-wing politics: Creepy, petty, and mean. Ann Romney in erectile dysfunction ads, stalking fundraisers. My God.” — Breitbart.com’s John Nolte, who has been relentlessly hammering away at Buzzfeed backing Team Obama for several months. Smith had no comment on Nolte’s remark, but instead directed me to his piece this morning on trolls and the business of engaging them. See here. Ahh…timeliness, we love that!

Dare to dream…

“A Chinese-style high-speed train between NY and DC would take 1 hour and 40 min.” — NYT Washington Bureau Chief David Leonhardt.

Take Note: At high noon Politico‘s wild bunch of LIVE journos — With Exec. Editor Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen in charge, what could possibly go wrong? Juana Summers, Patrick Gavin, Reid Wilson, Charlie Mahtesian and First Politico Son James Hohmann will hopefully be hamming it up for today’s livestream show. Watch here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

On Wednesday Senate flacks — both Democrats and Republicans — will host a party for NYT‘s newest Washington reporter Jonathan Weisman. Weisman recently made the move to The Grey Lady from WSJ.

While a party of this nature is definitely uncommon, one of our sources put it like this: “Well, he’s been around awhile. It is the Times.” Another reacted this way to the idea of flacks throwing a welcome party for a reporter: “Yuck.”

The “informal/formal” party, as it was described, will be held at Johnny’s Halfshell at 6 p.m.

Like most people, Weisman’s reputation is muddled. From those we spoke with, this is what we heard: He’s smart. He’s sweet. He’s can be a know-it-all. Rubs some the wrong way. But…not a bad guy after awhile.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.