CNN’s Eric Kuhn and Peter Hamby at The Mayflower Hotel

Partygoers: CNN’s Ed Hornick and QGA and FBDC’s Matt Dornic

Outgoing CNNer Eric Kuhn turned out a good bunch last night at elegant Mayflower Hotel to send him off  with good vibes for his star quest out to Los Angeles, where he has taken a job with United Talent Agency. CNN’s Eliot Spitzer did not make a cameo at the party — many were deeply saddened as Spitzer has fond memories of the hotel.

Media mogul David All, who played party host along with Maegan Caberry, warmly greeted FishbowlDC upon arrival but quickly yanked my co-writer Matt Dornic aside for a little talking to about an item he had written. I was going to stick around and rough up the former press sec to Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) if need be, but I had to get Dornic back because at a previous party my Fishbowl Husband told some guy in a camouflage jacket that my role at the party was to hit on the male guests. (So I left him on his own for that one. He came away from All virtually unscathed.)

Kuhn was in good spirits. He said he had already gone out to LA to find new digs, and accomplished the task in three days — it was the last apartment he viewed, but he said he knew immediately that it was the one. One aspect to the trip he wasn’t anticipating: driving. A native New Yorker, Kuhn – no kidding – doesn’t really know how to drive and hasn’t since he was 16. While in LA, some woman in a neighboring car pointed out that his car was smoking. Kuhn had forgotten about the hand break.

Throughout the evening, Kuhn continuously invited guests to come out to LA to lunch with him — to haunts where movie stars like Matt Damon might convene like the Ivy and such. The Ivy was immediately dismissed as trash.

CNNers who turned out for the party included political producer Peter Hamby, CNN Situation Room producer Eric Weisbrod and CNN.com political reporter Ed Hornick.

Find out who else showed up after the jump…

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Today we feature the last in our From the Road interviews during the Midterm election coverage. The interview is with RealClearPolitics‘s Erin McPike, who has spent the past few months crisscrossing the country with her colleague Scott Conroy. McPike was in Portland when we checked up on her. She moved on to Seattle where she spent election night and stayed at a hotel near the water.

Note to readers: Our From the Road feature will continue. Are you hitting the road for work? Let us know about it at FishbowlBetsy@gmail.com or FishbowlDC@mediabistro.com.

What is your biggest impression of the campaign trail? You know how people say Washington is out of touch – no matter who is in charge? The Beltway IS a bubble. Joe Klein took a similar road trip and wrote about it in his cover story for TIME; he said his personal Beltway Bubble “turns out to be more a state of mind and a set of habits than an actual place.” He’s right.

Describe your stay in Portland. It’s a lot bigger than expected. Coffee shops, nice people, outdoorsy, rainy, full of character. On Saturday we asked a hotel clerk how long it was supposed to rain, and her good-natured response was, “Probably till May.”

How have the campaign staffs treated you? In Oregon, they’re all delightful. Campaign staffs in most areas we’ve been are generally very helpful. Talking to staff in person is always better than on the phone.

What have you been eating/drinking there? We’ve been in wine country for several days, which is fine with me. Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir have never been favorites of mine, though, but they are big up here in the Pacific Northwest and pretty good here. My colleague, Scott Conroy, makes fun of me because my favorite beverage is milk, and I can’t get enough of it. Scott drinks IPA almost exclusively. We’ve eaten a lot of oysters and a lot of junk.

Is McPike looking forward to returning to “real life”? Find out…

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Just ignore Gov. Mark Sanford and ex-wife Jenny (who divorced in March). The person countless journos were talking about last night was CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby, who, if you look carefully, appears between the once wed couple.

Hamby looks to be in a state of mild shock over the Sanfords greeting each other (or else the shock was being so close to the famed marital train wreck). The event was a party for South Carolina gubernatorial victor Nikki Haley supporters.

Hamby’s one-word response? “Wow,” he wrote over Twitter.

Real Clear Politics’ White House Reporter Mike Memoli remarked: “He’s bordering on stalking.” And Politico‘s Jonathan Martin weighed in, saying, “There for history.”

> Update: Hamby has changed his Facebook picture to reflect the events of Tuesday night. Take a look.

Mediocre blackberry pic of Matthews and Freeman by yours truly.

Renowned actor Morgan Freeman graced DC last evening for a screening of “Invictus,” which hits theaters December 11th. Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon, it’s the story of South African President Nelson Mandela’s campaign to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup event in his first term.

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews hosted a Q&A with Freeman at National Geographic after the screening, which received a standing ovation from a nearly full theater that included the likes of Fox News’ Chris Wallace, CNN’s David Bohrman, Kevin Madden and President Obama’s right-hand man Reggie Love.

“You can’t tell Mandela’s whole story in a movie,” Freeman said of the rugby storyline he convinced Eastwood to direct. Matthews first opened questions to South Africans in the audience– “you portray Mr. Mandela very well” and “the movie was emotional,” women at the screening said to Freeman.

The “Invictus” star admits he has yet to see the film, though he will when it premieres. “I’m terrified… I’d much rather believe you when you say it’s good,” he said.

As for who should play Obama in a movie, Freeman definitively says “Denzel,” as in actor Denzel Washington.

Also in attendance: USA Today‘s Susan Page, MSNBC’s David Shuster, Bloomberg’s Julianna Goldman, ABC’s Rick Klein and David Chalian, WaPo‘s Jonathan Capehart, CNN’s Gloria Borger, Paul Begala, Sam Feist and Peter Hamby, Politico‘s Mike Allen, Jonathan Martin, Ken Vogel and Kiki Ryan, CongressDaily‘s Erin McPike, Time‘s Jay Newton Small, Roll Call‘s Shira Toeplitz, CBS’ Laura Strickler, Matthew Cooper, Karen Finney, Lee Brenner, Mark Adelman, Mark Paustenbach, Taylor Griffin and Michael Feldman, among others.

Warner Bros. and Mandela Day hosted the screening.

Former campaign embeds Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe‘s book on Sarah Palin is out this week, and friends and colleagues feted the CBS reporter and former Fox reporter at last night’s DC book signing and party.

Conroy and Walshe signed books and read an excerpt to a crowd at Borders downtown. They also took about 30 minutes of questions from the audience, which will air on C-SPAN’s Book TV this weekend.

Earlier yesterday, Conroy visited his old stomping ground at Georgetown University. He had planned to do a book signing, but the campus book store was not selling his book (yet)– a funny story he shared over drinks last night’s book party at Agraria.

Steve Chaggaris, Rob Hendin, Jane Chick, Michelle Levi and Fernando Suarez were there from CBS. Sasha Issenberg, Mike Memoli, Jonathan Martin, Mike Madden, Erin McPike and Peter Hamby were also around to celebrate at Agraria in Georgetown. Attorney Ben Ginsburg, who was national counsel to the Bush-Cheney and Romney campaigns, also attended.

“Sarah From Alaska: The Sudden Rise and Brutal Education of a New Conservative Superstar” is published by Peter Osnos‘ PublicAffairs. And Chaggy, McPike and Hamby all got shout-outs in the book’s acknowledgments after the jump.

More photos after the jump…

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Good morning Washington.