Here’s the thing about bigwigs who come to Washington to do important things — you don’t actually have to know who they are to know how important they sound.

On April 25, The Atlantic and National Journal are hosting their first annual “Summit on the State of the Middle Class.” Along with a keynote interview with National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling by National Journal’s Ron Brownstein, the line-up of speakers is as follows:  Noel Anderson National Director of Program YearUp, Carol Thompson Cole, President and CEO Venture Philanthropy Partners, Paula Dwyer, Editor, Bloomberg View, David Madland, Director of the American Worker Project Center for American Progress, Mark Perry a Scholar from American Enterprise Institute and Tom Touchet, CEO of 24×7.

As part of the “Sidecar Conversation Series,” Capitol File  and P.J. Clarke’s are inviting a host of politicos and journalists to dinner to chat about the intersection of Hollywood and Washington.

National Journal‘s Ron Brownstein will moderate the event.

The panelists include: Roll Call “HOH” gossip columnist Neda Semnani, “Chasing the Hill” writer Brent Roske, “House of Cards” Exec. Producer Beau Willimon and President and CEO of ONE Michael Elliott.

Asked about the upcoming panel and what it will entail, Semnani told FishbowlDC: “In my opinion, Washington and Hollywood act as a mirror to the other. The interesting part is what each town reflects back at the other. In other words, how
much impact does, or should DC have on Hollywood or vice versa? Is Hollywood responsible for how it portrays Washington, politics and policy? Should it get it right? Likewise, does Washington have a responsibility over how our politicians and journalists interact with and are influenced by the cult of celebrity?”

With the White House Correspondents’ dinner coming up at the end of the month, the questions are timely.

Oddly no one from the site that epitomizes the intersection, Hollywood on the Potomac, is on the panel. No doubt there is no shortage of writers in Washington who are qualified to speak intelligently on the matter.

The dinner takes place on April 17 at Sidecar at P.J. Clarke’s.

Actress and pretend Senate hopeful Ashley Judd held court in Atlantic Publisher David Bradley‘s gorgeous kitchen last night at his pre-inaugural bash. The party, dubbed “Downton Bradley” for its hoity-toity guest list, was a who’s who of Washington D.C. where the living room was filled with everyone from TIME‘s Joe Klein, CBS Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett and CBS’s Norah O’Donnell to former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan with wife, NBC Chief Foreign Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, White House correspondent for ABC News Radio Ann Compton, WaPo and MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart, Debbie Dingle, wife of Rep. John Dingle (D-Mich.), whose surname persistently comes out “Dungle” on the iPhone, CBS Washington Bureau Chief Chris Isham, Atlantic Publisher Justin Smith, Hungarian Amb. Greg Szapry, Comcast Executive V.P. David Cohen, and AOL Co-founder Steve Case.

The dining room, meanwhile, had its own plateful of D.C. V.I.P.’s — former White House Press Sec. Joe Lockhart, former PBS’ Jim Lehrer (yawn), CNN and Newsweek/The Daily Beast‘s Howard Kurtz, BuzzFeed Bureau Chief John Stanton and reporter Rosie Gray, Roll Call HOH’s Neda Semnani and Warren Rojas, National Journal Publisher Bruce Gottlieb, NJ‘s new spokesman, Ben Fishel (former flack to ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Penistown), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Media Matters), reporter Chris Frates and Atlantic Spokeswoman Natalie Raabe, NJ National Correspondent Ron Fournier, NJ‘s Ron Brownstein and Washingtonian‘s Carol Joynt, who described her recent quick bout with the flu despite having a flu shot. Also in the dining room: Lobbyist Heather Podesta.

In the foyer was a male guest with a neck beard (see pictures after the jump), Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), lobbyist Jack Quinn and wife, Susanna, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and outgoing Sec. of State Hilary Clinton‘s former Chief of Staff Melanne Verveer.

It was the kitchen, however, that was the apparent nerve center of Bradley’s house. With beautiful creamy couches and a blazing fireplace, and the surprisingly down-to-earth Bradley in the corner chatting up guests, it was there where we spied on Judd mingling with D.C. insiders such as HuffPost‘s Howard Fineman, who wore a bright pink tie and signature mane of longish silver locks, Bloomberg View‘s Margaret Carlson. Judd was accompanied by an unidentified partially balding man. Also roaming the kitchen was Fineman’s sister, Elizabeth Schroeter, in from Colorado. Asked about her brother, Schroeter said he was a “really good guy.” Judd, with a red flower in her hair, struck various poses throughout the night. Most noteworthy, however, was her stick straight posture, even when sitting, and her ability to stick her chest out when engaged in casual conversation. Let’s just say she was well aware that flashbulbs were capturing her every move.

Out on the enclosed patio were more guests to gawk at and grill.

(Pictured above left: Atlantic Publisher David Bradley)

Read more

Quotes of the Day

CNN Producer for Piers Morgan Tonight Brad Parks: “Passing time between live shots at the CNN Grill photo booth.”

Mrs. Ralph Reed to Convention Security: Lighten up!

“When I lived in Iran growing up & we were under martial law…security was not as bad as it is at the @GOPconvention!!! Geez…lighten up!!” — Jo Anne Reed, wife of Ralph Reed.

Taxicab Confessions: Tampa 

“My cabbie in Tampa is singing along to ‘Do That To Me One More Time’ while we sit in traffic. Kinda awkward.” — The Hill‘s Howeesha Kurtz, a.k.a. Judy Kurtz.

Uh oh. Is HuffPost‘s Arthur Delaney okay? “I’m drunk and lonely.” — HuffPost‘s Arthur Delaney. Labor journo for InTheseTimes.com Mike Elk replied, “Call me maybe?” HuffPost‘s Amanda Terkel apparently borrowed stole Delaney’s gadget and tweeted the following:  “At a wings place in a Ramada, next to a strip club. Take that, fancy parties.”

Journo gives lip to TODAY Show

“Shut up Today Show.” — The Hill‘s Alexandra Jaffe to the TODAY Show. On Monday, TODAY ran a segment on mirror fasts. This means, as they explain it, “foregoing looking at yourself in the mirror for a week, a month, even a year.”

Reporter Starstruck by NBC’s David Gregory

“Just walked by @davidgregory. #StarStruck Saw that dude on TV yesterday morning.#GOP2012” — D.C. Correspondent for MedPageToday.com David Pittman, who clearly needs to have his head examined. Psst….Pittman, Gregory is not a celebrity. MedPage Today provides medical news for clinician. Is there a clinician in the house?

Questions to Ponder: “When ratings show people tuning out of politics at record levels, why do cable channels think 24-7 convention coverage is a good idea?” — Salon‘s David Sirota. And from Columbia J School’s Emily Bell: “Given there are a lot of journalists covering the #RNC who is actually producing interesting coverage? (serious question)”

Convo Between Actor Rob Lowe and CNN’s Piers Morgan

Lowe: “What does it mean, if anything, that the Fox News crawl is so much slower than CNN?”

Morgan: “Means we’re quicker, smarter.”

Ouch! “Hey @JoeNBC: Any time you want to man up and take control of your own show would be nice. #Coward” — Breitbart.com editor John Nolte, showing that it’s not just the MSM that gets whacked by the conservative media outlet.

HuffPost Howard Fineman‘s admission: “I rarely if ever get in shouting matches on TV but did on @hardball_chris just now with former GOP chm Steele about the Romney welfare ad.”

How to Win Friends and Influence People at the RNC: “Convention Coverage Rule #2115: Condescend to other reporters by not admitting to having read ‘their take’ from last night.” — Politico‘s Patrick Gavin.

How to irk Politico‘s Ben White: “Whiny Tweets complaining about too many journalists covering too little news in Tampa are not wrong, they are just boring.” He later added, “How do Floridians and other swing-staters tolerate all these political ads? I’d throw my TV out the window.”

Boybander Revelations…“Thing I learned today: Reince Priebus reads the sarcastic things you write about him.” — Slate‘s Dave Weigel. And from TPM‘s Brian Beutler: “I wish politicians really would speak in dog whistles so I’d be incapable of hearing their garbage.”

Public Admiration Society: “Great line from @RonBrownstein: ‘Very patriotic convention — the floor is red, the seats are blue, and the delegates are white.’” — The New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza quoting National Journal‘s Ron Brownstein.

Jason Grumet‘s Bipartisan Policy Center has managed to bring both parties together for one night in hosting “A Century of Service” to honor the public lives of former Republican Sen. Maj. Leaders and BPC Founders Howard Baker and Bob Dole. The event is Wednesday evening.

Among the VIP attendees: Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Maj. Leader Harry Reid, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Pat Roberts, Sen. Lamar Alexander, former Sens. Tom Daschle, George Mitchell, Bill Frist, Trent Lott and many others will gather at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium.

As the D’s and R’s come together, hopefully complaining about the elite or liberal media can wane for one evening only.

The invite-only GOP-honored soiree is expected to draw a host of journalists including Ron Brownstein and Ron Fournier of NJ, James Bennett, The Atlantic, Ann Compton and Jonathan Karl, ABC, Peter David, The Economist, Politico‘s Patrick Gavin and Reagan lover James Hohmann, Jim Engel, Fox, , Roll Call‘s Neda Semnani, The Hill‘s Judy Kurtz, Capitol File‘s Sarah Schaffer, The Examiner‘s Paul Bedard and Nikki Schwab, MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, and CNN’s Kathleen Koch.

More details can be found on the homepage of the BPC’s website here.

It’s ugly time once again for NJ and Politico.

On Jan. 25 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. NJ, in conjunction with The Atlantic, will host a State of the Union debriefing at the National Press Club. The description: “Our interlocutors —James Bennet of The Atlantic, Ron Brownstein of National Journal, Jackie Calmes of the New York Times, and Major Garrett of National Journal in addition to our audience — will put Republican and Democratic Hill leadership in the hot seat to dissect the President’s address, assessing how President Obama’s case statement for the year will impact November’s outcomes.”

Meanwhile, on that very morning, Politico is also hosting a State of the Union debriefing. Theirs is being held at the W from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Politico‘s invitation doesn’t list their guests, but we have a feeling Mike Allen will be all over it. UPDATE: We checked in with Politico’s event staff. They’re not releasing their names just yet. Stay tuned…

In NJ Magazine this week:

Charlie Cook on President Obama’s approval rating, Ron Brownstein on the flat tax and Jamie Tarabay takes a look at the potential peril of Libyan rebels murdering Qadaffi. These can be read for free here.

Behind the paywall (a sampling):

*Brownstein election analysis

*In-depth look at House races such as Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), governor’s races

*Major Garrett on how 2013 could play out: “Regardless of whether a Republican or Democrat is in the White House in 2012, the reconciliation process will be key to advancing GOP objectives in Congress.”

Atlantic Media Chairman David Bradley announced today that Andy Sareyan is joining the company as Executive Veep of Atlantic Media Company and President of National Journal Group. In a release they call Sareyan “one of the country’s most accomplished media executives.”

Among his tasks will be to work alongside NJ Editor-in-Chief Ron Fournier, Editorial Director Ron Brownstein and Magazine Editor Charles Green to expand the publication’s agenda, which includes “transitioning from a subscription model to a full-service membership model.” He sees potential: “They already have a world-class editorial team that creates products read by some of the most influential people in America. It’s hard to imagine a stronger base for growth.”

Sareyan was most recently President of Consumer Brands at the Meredith Corporation, which publishes Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Parents, Fitness, More, American Baby, Traditional Home, and Midwest Living. Before joining Meredith, he spent 18 years in a number of leadership roles at Time Inc.

Bradley summed up his new hire, saying, “At least by ambition, Atlantic Media recruits for two qualities – force of intellect and a spirit of generosity. With Andy, we get both – and an animating gift of leadership. Andy is extreme talent arriving at the company at an hour of extreme growth. We are at that uncommon moment when every brand is growing rapidly. Andy’s assignment is to grow us faster still.”

CNN anchor and daytime’s new heartthrob Anderson Cooper will moderate the Tuesday, Oct. 18 debate presented by CNN and the Western Republican Leadership Conference.

The debate, which will air live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. (ET), will broadcast from The Venetian Resort in Vegas. Voters from the 16 states and territories that make up the Western region of the U.S. will be in audience to pose questions directly to the candidates. Let’s hope Newt Gingrich doesn’t give them the Chris Wallace treatment.

Eight presidential contenders will participate in the debate: Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, businessman Herman Cain, former House Speaker Gingrich, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

CNN’s live and on-location coverage surrounding the debate will begin with CNN Newsroom on Saturday, Oct. 15 and continue through American Morning on Wednesday, Oct. 19. Programming from Sin City along with Cooper will include Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, John King, T.J. Holmes, and Carol Costello. CNN political contributors and analysts also on hand will include Gloria Borger, Ron Brownstein, Alex Castellanos, Ari Fleischer, David Gergen and Mary Matalin. CNN en Español’s Washington anchor Juan Carlos López will host live analysis on that network before the debate starting at 7:45 p.m. (ET). At 8 p.m., CNN en Español will take the debate live with simultaneous interpretation followed by more analysis with CNN en Español’s team of political contributors. The debate will also be carried live on CNN International.

Media event planning can be a dirty business in Washington. In many instances it’s tough to tell who is playing copy cat, but some things are clear: publications are vying to host pointedly similar events and competing for guests and warm bodies to fill their audiences. Getting the events underwritten is no small task. This is also where things can turn sneaky.

We recently reported that Politico was hosting a year out election event to be held the morning of Nov. 1. They sent word via a “Save the Date” note. As it so happens, NJ is hosting a twin gathering on the very same morning. They circulated information about their election preview among D.C.’s community of sponsors and advertisers prior to Politico‘s notice back in March. But word travels fast in Washington — these are some of the same sponsors and advertisers with whom Politico also negotiates.

“Events are definitely a business,” said an industry insider who didn’t want to be quoted by name. “They provide great exposure for media organizations, and they are good opportunities for professionals in D.C. to get in-depth briefings on political and policy issues, but they are also a real contributor to most media companies’ bottom lines.”

NJ‘s election preview event is being underwritten by the National Assoc. of Homebuilders and United Technologies. Yahoo! News is a co-sponsor and the outlet’s journalists will participate in the event. Sessions have been planned. An agenda can be found online. Politico, meanwhile, hasn’t revealed their underwriters, locale or agenda — announcements are expected next week.

To be sure, special outside guests are a hot commodity for these media affairs. Initial email invites from NJ to panelists, ABC’s Amy Walter, CBS’s Bob Schieffer and NBC’s Chuck Todd,  went out the end of July. Still, Politico also secured Todd and Walter, with Todd receiving his invitation from NJ prior to Politico. With Todd and Walter being NJ alums, it’s no shock they’d want them to participate. Just like networks, the dueling event organizers can space them at different times, but the double booking has to be causing some to squirm. Politico‘s other gets: Former Bush Spokesman Ari Fleischer, former White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton, CBS’s Norah O’Donnell and CNN’s Jessica Yellin amid several unknown names from the Des Moines Register, St. Pete Times and Charleston Post Courier.

NJ and Politico are utilizing many of their own reporters and editors for the events, so from a guest’s perspective it comes down to who do you want to hear more? From Politico you’ll see the usual suspects of Executive Editor Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Senior Political Reporter Jonathan Martin. From NJ there’s Editor-in-Chief Ron Fournier, Ron Brownstein, Charlie Cook and Matthew Cooper.

Different faces, but the concept is the same. Does Washington really need identical events from sparring publications all on the same morning? And if this all seems more than petty, it is except for the fact that these events are vital in gaining a publication significant exposure, buzz and ultimately revenue.

A source at Politico, who spoke on condition of being nameless, argues their event will be richer in content, offering a nearly identical theme to NJ‘s event and a list of  participants: “Although the topics are similar, and we’re delighted Amy and Chuck can join us, we really feel our event is different: we have panels covering a wider range of topics with a broader group of people on stage. We have had a great response since our invitations went out at the end of September and believe our half-day event will be the place for kicking-off the countdown to November 2012.”

NJ Publicist Taylor West, counters, saying, “The National Journal events team is one of the most respected and successful in Washington because they invest the time, preparation, and thoughtfulness that it takes to put together premier events. Our 2012 Election Preview event is no exception, with a can’t-miss slate of confirmed participants, in-depth sessions on each of the critical parts of the upcoming election cycle, and more exciting guest announcements to come. For folks looking for substance and strategy – not spin – this event will deliver the goods.”

Despite the clawing and infighting involved in executing these events, insiders insist these events are key to a publication’s success or failure.