When the ubiquitous Mike Allen was asked two years ago on MSNBC about his sleep patterns, he quoted his boss, Politico Executive Editor Jim VandeHei.

“Jim Vandehei says to be healthy, wealthy, and wise you need six hours a night, so I try for at least that,” Allen said. Sage advice, indeed. But what else does VandeHei say? Luckily, a new Q&A with him published in PaidContent is chock-full of Vande-isms.

For example…

On Politico staying relevant in the media realm:

“Anyone who thinks that because they have success today, they’ll have success tomorrow I think is a fool.”

There’s definitely more…

Read more

Messing up the name of your own publication is a no-no in most newsrooms. But Politico‘s Mike Allen achieved greatness this morning. We do take into account that Allen published his Playbook at 5:55 a.m. today. This is early — even for Allen standards. But will the high octane outlet now be available on the streets of Rome, a.k.a. “POLITCIO”?

This isn’t the first time that Allen tried to change the name of the publication. In late June, 2012, he fired off a Saturday afternoon edition of Politico Playbook. He called it “OLITICO Playbook.”

See today’s Oopsy… Read more

After Alex Pareene‘s Monday takedown story in Salon, which essentially laid all of “what’s wrong” with MSNBC at “Morning Joe’s” feet, Joe Scarborough is biting back.

Was he feeling touchy or just being proactive?

It seems like Pareene may have struck a nerve when he wrote that Scarborough’s show “is representative of everything wrong with contemporary political elite thinking.” He then swiped at the show’s April viewership, calling it “the lowest rated of the big three cable news morning shows.”

“Congratulations to the ‘Morning Joe’ team!” Scarborough tweeted Tuesday evening. “More people watched ‘Morning Joe’ in May than CNN, Headline News, CNBC and Fox Business. Way to go!!” What followed was a self pat on the back in the form of retweets that was so hard, it’s a wonder Scarborough can still stand up straight.

A sampling of Scarborough’s sticky-sweet RTs:

• “Best morning show ever!”
• “Great cast, solid reporting and realistic insight. Congrats!”
• “This is a total given, considering Morning Joe is the best morning show on tv in my opinion and has the best anchor team.”

This continued on for an additional 22 tweets.

And it didn’t stop on Twitter… Read more

A new development in the ongoing mystery that is Joe Scarborough‘s curious relationship with Politico.

At 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Politico published a blog post written by the Republican commentator and MSNBC host headlined “Marco Rubio’s Risky Gamble.” It’s a four-paragraph opinion piece about the balancing act Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is playing to avoid upsetting the conservative and moderate wings of the GOP.

The post only came three days after a separate Scarborough item, which is noteworthy considering how large swaths of time can pass between his posts. But even more noteworthy is that the Rubio item was posted already, in full, at Scarborough’s personal site three days ago (approximately 1.48 years in Politico time). Another element: Scarborough posted something new about Rep. Michele Bachmann‘s (R-Minn.) decision not to run for reelection on his personal site.

Why would Politico, a publication known for functioning in real time, post something so old? Read more

Next Thursday could get rough.

At 4 p.m. Mika Brzezinkzi will appear at Politics & Prose to promote her new book, Obsessed: America’s Food Addiction – and My Own. Then at 6:30 p.m. she heads to Politico Playbook cocktails at the Mayflower where she’ll be joined by Co-host Joe Scarborough. Together they’ll face the evil, formidable duo of Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei.

Watch out Mika! Maybe bow out now?

We’re joking, of course. With Politico and MSNBC increasingly solidifying an iron-strong bond with Joe writing a blog for Politico and Politico reporters appearing on their show several times a week, no doubt the interview will be as relaxed as can be as they have an “evening conversation” about politics and Mika’s new book.

Want to attend Politico Playbook cocktails? Sign up here.

Robert Allbritton, who owns Politico, ABC7 and NewsChannel 8, said he plans to “explore” the sale of the TV stations. The news was announced by Politico‘s Mike Allen in this morning’s Playbook. Playbook, in addition to being the feature that the White House wakes up to, is also occasionally a publicity hub for Allbritton.

“While it would be sad to see our TV partners in someone else’s hands, the 44-year-old innovator made clear this would be amazingly good news for POLITICO — and future new media companies like it that he plans to invest heavily in over the coming months. ‘This is the Golden Age of new media innovation, and I intend to stay on the leading edge of it,’ Robert said in an email to the staff. ‘So, I will be looking to invest in or launch media companies that follow the POLITICO model of dominating targeted coverage – and then using multiple revenue streams to profitably fund it.’”

Clearly it’s not easy to imitate the “POLITICO model.” Allbritton scrapped TBD, the online thingamjig that was supposed to zone in on local coverage but focused on all kinds of other crap such as how asparagus can make your urine stink, about a year after it began.

See the full memo from Allbritton here.

If nothing else, Politico, along with its Executive Editor Jim VandeHei and Chief White House Correspondent Mike Allen, come off completely self-aware in the latest installment of their “Behind the Curtain” series. That is, VandeHei and Allen know they’re in no small way a part of D.C.’s often narcissistic, cynical culture.

In the piece, Allen refers to himself as one of Washington’s “top journalists” and he and VandeHei speculate that Allen is the focus of “at least a chapter” in NYT Chief National Correspondent Mark Leibovich‘s forthcoming book This Town.

“We won’t love the book, either,” Allen and VandeHei write. “It is clear that POLITICO and [Allen's] Playbook are portrayed as enablers of the culture Leibovich lampoons.”

Aside from Politico‘s “Behind the Curtain” the story being largely about… Read more

A new feature in which we point out how journalists suck up to themselves, each other and others in a particularly buttery fashion.

A SWAK for FNC’s Ed Henry: In this morning’s Politico Playbook, Mike Allen slathers movie popcorn style butter onto White House Correspondents’ Association Prez Henry by calling him the “assertive guardian of the organization’s brand” for threatening legal action against GBK, a marketing firm that wanted to open a “gifting suite” for celebs attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this weekend. Come on, Mike Allen, this wasn’t necessary. Yes, yes, we all adore Henry for the de-celebrification of this year’s WHCD and for acting like he doesn’t know what BuzzFeed is. But stop the madness. For one thing, it’s too late to widen the hallways of the Washington Hilton so Ed’s head can fit through. For another, the news spoke for itself — the organization apologized. See the item in today’s edition.

FBDC Fever: Just to show we’re not immune, FBDC’s own Eddie Scarry tweeted out “Morning Chatter” last night, writing the following. By the way, hugs for Eddie. I appreciate the compliment and we factor stuff like this into raises, so don’t stop on my account.

Every single one of today’s Morning Chatter entries is good. ow.ly/kmg8o via @fishbowldc

— Eddie Scarry (@eScarry) April 24, 2013

Not that we’re doubting his skills or anything, but next week CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett will play in Politico‘s organized soccer event with the U.S. Soccer Foundation at Galludet University. He’s the sole journalist mentioned as a participant. No doubt he’ll be the shirtiest player there.

Players (yes, some will just be watching): Reps. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.); Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.); Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.); Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.); Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.); Luke Messer (R-Ind.); Jim McDermott (D-Wash.); Dave Reichert (R-Wash.); Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) (she’ll watch; an aide will be designated for a penalty kick); Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.); Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.).

Also participating: Jürgen Klinsmann, U.S. men’s national soccer coach; former U.S. national team players John Harkes, Cobi Jones, Eddie Pope, Claudio Reyna, Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak, Juergen Sommer; and members of D.C. United.

Speakers: According to a release from Politico, U.S. Soccer Foundation President & CEO Ed Foster-Simeon; Co-Chair of the Congressional Soccer Caucus, Rep. Chris Van Hollen; Politico Exec. Editor Jim VandeHei; Chief White House Correspondent Mike Allen; Johnson & Johnson’s Roberto Marques and Gallaudet University Provost Stephen Weiner. WTOP Radio’s Dave Johnson, who is also D.C. United’s television play-by-play voice, will emcee the event.

The event benefits Soccer for Success, the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s free soccer-based after-school program that uses soccer “as a tool to combat childhood obesity and promote healthy lifestyles for children in under-resourced urban communities.”

If you’re interested in playing or signing up your children for a clinic, visit here.

UPDATE: We’ll be updating the members of Congress who are actually playing soccer next week. The release was confusing and we’re getting clarity. For instance, as we added above, Slaughter will be watching only.

UPDATE 2: And now, a moment of clarity. Lawmakers who will actually play in the game are: Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.)’s wife; Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.); Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.); and Todd Young (R-Ind.). Rep. Adam Smith intended to play but now cannot make the event. We’ve changed the above to reflect that.

All others will participate in penalty kicks or designate a staffer to kick for them.

This is too much!

In Wednesday’s Politico Playbook, Mike Allen writes about the MSNBC Joe Scarborough‘s surprise 50th birthday party. Allen, a “Morning Joe” regular, posted a variety of pictures, including one of NBC’s David Gregory in the moonlight, he wrote about “Le Menu” — which included mini burgers and mini pastrami bites — and then he concluded with a big mass of sightings, which included none other than himself.